I can't fathom a reason...

Greetings Collectors,

I had to email my buddy again just to get it "one more time" right from the "horses mouth". I asked him did he really bust up 100 "Special Mint Sets" to make up these five rolls? He said again, "He did". I would never call someone a liar pertaining to something like this but, for the life of me, I just can't see "destroying" that many sets to obtain the Kennedy halves just to put them into rolls. I've seen hundreds of these 40% silver halves just lately, and literally thousands of them over the last 20 years and there is definitely a different look between one and the other. All of these look just like a "non-cameo" proof.

I envision the multitude of broken plastic cases, not to mention, where did all the other coins go? This is a question worth asking. Anyway, I've looked at most of the coins and none appear damaged. In fact they are as close to perfect as a coin can get, looking at them with the naked eye. There is always a risk one runs when breaking any coin out of a plastic holder. This guy said he has busted up thousands of these SMS sets to get at the silver halves. Knowing this, what I want, is a roll of the 1970-D Kennedy halves, which is the only Kennedy that "had to be obtained" from busting into the 1970 mint set. My friend says he has several rolls of this date, but is hesitant to "come off" of any, just because of the coins scarcity. I'm really gonna have to do something in order to obtain one of those rolls because it's a must if I am to have a roll of each 40% silver date & mint there is.

Since I have never been a collector of the Kennedy half, early on I thought that the only rolls I would need in the 40% series, was the 1965-1969 date run. And of course the '70-D as well. I have studied further and found that there are a multitude of dates that make up all of the silver Kennedy halves. This whole thing started when I finally completed my silver eagles in "roll form". Earlier this year I started to acquire a roll of each date & mint for the Franklin halves as well. Now the Franklin's alone, will indeed be a very tough goal to complete. I stand currently at 12 rolls of the 35 dates/mints that I need for completion. I fear that this may be a goal that for anytime in the foreseeable future, is one that I won't be able to finish. This daunting task was what made me decide to try a roll of each on the silver Kennedy's because it appeared "do-able". I think besides the 1965-1970, the only other 40% Kennedy half is the Bicentennial. Is this true? Or are there others? I know (I think) that starting in 1992 silver proof Kennedy halves are all 90% silver?? Now with all the 40% silver coins along with the 90% 1964 & 1964-D, I am only looking at the "S" mint silver Kennedy's from 1992 -onward? Am I correct?

Wow what a task this has ended up being. A very fun & rewarding task, but a very expensive and much more detailed task that I had at first thought. Oh well, goals are just that, "Goals". I will do my best to "chip away" at it/them and hopefully one day I will be able to say, "mission accomplished"! Boy oh boy, this is one "great hobby". I leave you with a pic of the most beautiful shiny 40% Kennedy halves I own. All 100 of these are superb specimens. In retrospect, I wonder just how many "intact" special mint sets there are, left in "captivity"???

Happy Collecting!

WKF

Silver to gold ratio is at 52.614