1964 Kennedy half dollar

[CoinsForU]

I have a 1964 Kennedy half dollar. Value 

[JKK]

Probably not much above melt, which at this moment is $5.77. Those are very common even in unc.

[Mohawk]

Yeah....I'd say around melt as well.  1964 Kennedys are extremely common.  I'd venture to say that they are the single most common 90% silver Half Dollar that the US ever produced.

[Just Bob]

1 hour ago, JKK said:

Probably not much above melt, which at this moment is $5.77. Those are very common even in unc.

Although it may be hard to believe that a 90% silver coin that is 55 years old, and is almost never encountered in circulation anymore, is considered common, that is the case. You have to keep in mind that : A. There were over 400 million half dollars minted that year. B. The coin commemorated a popular president who had been assassinated the previous year. C. This was the last year that the mint produced 90% silver coins for circulation. All of these factors combined to make this a coin which was plentiful, and was saved by collectors and non-collectors alike. There are likely several hundred thousand to several million of these coins still existing.

[Mohawk]

30 minutes ago, Just Bob said:

Although it may be hard to believe that a 90% silver coin that is 55 years old, and is almost never encountered in circulation anymore, is considered common, that is the case. You have to keep in mind that : A. There were over 400 million half dollars minted that year. B. The coin commemorated a popular president who had been assassinated the previous year. C. This was the last year that the mint produced 90% silver coins for circulation. All of these factors combined to make this a coin which was plentiful, and was saved by collectors and non-collectors alike. There are likely several hundred thousand to several million of these coins still existing.

From what I've seen, I'd say there's still millions laying around.  I think that had some event happened differently and the 1964's were not removed from circulation in large numbers at the time of issue, they'd likely be up there with the Bicentennials as the most commonly encountered Kennedy Halves, they're THAT common.  There are clad dates that actually far scarcer than the 1964's.  The 1982 P and D come to mind for me.

[Just Bob]

47 minutes ago, Mohawk said:

From what I've seen, I'd say there's still millions laying around.  I think that had some event happened differently and the 1964's were not removed from circulation in large numbers at the time of issue, they'd likely be up there with the Bicentennials as the most commonly encountered Kennedy Halves, they're THAT common.  There are clad dates that actually far scarcer than the 1964's.  The 1982 P and D come to mind for me.

As I was typing my earlier post, I had, in the back of my mind, the big silver boom of 1980, as well as several other times since then, when huge numbers of silver coins were melted. I wonder how many '64 Kennedy halves were in those groups. 

Edited to add: For those who don't remember, silver went to $50 an ounce in January of 1980.

[Mohawk]

37 minutes ago, Just Bob said:

As I was typing my earlier post, I had, in the back of my mind, the big silver boom of 1980, as well as several other times since then, when huge numbers of silver coins were melted. I wonder how many '64 Kennedy halves were in those groups. 

Edited to add: For those who don't remember, silver went to $50 an ounce in January of 1980.

That's a good point Bob.  I did factor that into my thoughts......however, even if half of them were melted, that's still over 200 million that are left and I wouldn't be surprised if that's in the neighborhood of actual survival rates.  Let me put it to you this way.  My favorite coin shop is in an old bank which has been repurposed, but it still has the vault and the safe deposit boxes.  They use them for storage.  The safe deposit boxes they have are big, old metal things, I'm not exactly sure of the size but it was about two feet long and maybe 5"x5" aside from that.  They have at least one of those filled with just 1964 Kennedy Half Dollars.  It was unbelievable!  The owner said that if they weren't 90% silver, he wouldn't ever buy anymore.  When I worked at a different coin shop that also sold sports and Magic: The Gathering Cards, they literally had three of the largest size of card storage boxes filled with just 1964 Kennedys.  If 1964 Kennedys weren't silver, they'd be a plague on the market and it could be argued that they are a plague on dealers when silver is tough to move.  Those are just my experiences, but from what I've seen, 1964 Kennedys exist in ridiculous numbers, even after the 1980 melts. Which I wasn't around for.  I was just a very early term fetus gestating in Adana, Turkey in January of 1980.....I didn't come on the scene until August of 1980, but I've studied records and materials from that time quite a bit, though obviously not in 1980

[Capone1929]

Hello All, I'd just like to add I have an NGC Graded MS65 (population of MS65 is 5709 NGC census) it is lightly toned and in the NGC price guide it is valued at $45.00! Now I do add on value do to it being slabbed and toned but $45 isn't much and that's for a near perfect slabbed & toned 1964 Kennedy! So I'd agree that there isn't a whole lot of value in them much over bullion price in less than those ideal conditions.(In its defence) It is a key date! It is a 90% silver and iconic coin! It is a worthy coin in any collection, even if there is not a whole lot of value do to their high mintage! I personally have always liked them even if they are a lower teir of coin, but I do like the Franklin Half quite a bit more and even those aren't much better in value, but a little better as far as value goes! The 49' Franklin low mintage is decent for comparison to the 64' Kennedy.

[szugelder]

On 2/24/2019 at 11:32 PM, Mohawk said:

That's a good point Bob.  I did factor that into my thoughts......however, even if half of them were melted, that's still over 200 million that are left and I wouldn't be surprised if that's in the neighborhood of actual survival rates.  Let me put it to you this way.  My favorite coin shop is in an old bank which has been repurposed, but it still has the vault and the safe deposit boxes.  They use them for storage.  The safe deposit boxes they have are big, old metal things, I'm not exactly sure of the size but it was about two feet long and maybe 5"x5" aside from that.  They have at least one of those filled with just 1964 Kennedy Half Dollars.  It was unbelievable!  The owner said that if they weren't 90% silver, he wouldn't ever buy anymore.  When I worked at a different coin shop that also sold sports and Magic: The Gathering Cards, they literally had three of the largest size of card storage boxes filled with just 1964 Kennedys.  If 1964 Kennedys weren't silver, they'd be a plague on the market and it could be argued that they are a plague on dealers when silver is tough to move.  Those are just my experiences, but from what I've seen, 1964 Kennedys exist in ridiculous numbers, even after the 1980 melts. Which I wasn't around for.  I was just a very early term fetus gestating in Adana, Turkey in January of 1980.....I didn't come on the scene until August of 1980, but I've studied records and materials from that time quite a bit, though obviously not in 1980

youngster...

[Mohawk]

Just now, szugelder said:

youngster...

Yes, I guess I am.....young-ish at any rate  

[szugelder]

1 minute ago, Mohawk said:

Yes, I guess I am.....young-ish at any rate  

Off topic - August 1980 at I was at Fort Dix, New Jersey for basic training. Got there by Amtrak from Cincinnati - almost feels nostalgic now. 

[Mohawk]

19 minutes ago, szugelder said:

Off topic - August 1980 at I was at Fort Dix, New Jersey for basic training. Got there by Amtrak from Cincinnati - almost feels nostalgic now. 

You were in the service? Very nice and I thank you for it.  So were my parents....both Air Force during Vietnam, but neither of them went to Vietnam.  That connection is how they ended up living in Turkey.  They were stationed at Incirlik Air Base in Adana in 1976 and stayed in Turkey for almost two years after their periods of service ended in 1978, though my dad kept working at Incirlik as a civilian.  I missed being born in Istanbul (where they were sending women to have babies because the maternity wards at the hospitals were better there than what was available in Adana in 1980) by a matter of months and was instead born in Rochester, NY, which is a far less interesting place of birth than Istanbul   But that's ok.  I take solace in the fact that I least gestated in Turkey.