Before 1971, Half dollars were silver, and are removed from circulation by investors and collectors or melted down. But since 1971, there have been about 2.5 billion of them minted, including nearly ten million in 2013, none of which have any melt or numismatic value. Where the hell are all these Kennedy half dollars, and why does the mint need to keep making millions of new ones every year?
They’re not making millions every year, just a few for collectors.
As to where they are, mostly in storage at banks.
The same place as all the $2 bills, Sacagawea dollars and other currency that people think is unusual or possibly collectible. They hang onto them and hoard them so they don’t stay in general circulation very well. It doesn’t help that cash register coin trays don’t usually have a place for them and cashiers are reluctant to give them out as change even when they get them.
Casinos use a lot of them too.
OK, slight change to the last post - Kennedy half dollar mintage figures - Wikipedia
Roughly 4 million are being minted, but that is the number that collectors want and to replace the few being pulled from circulation. They used to mint 50 million a year. Compare that to the 7 Billion pennies made each year - Lincoln cent mintage figures - Wikipedia
Las Vegas.
Mostly parked in the various Federal Reserve Banks with the Eisenhower Dollars, $2 bills and things like that.
You can order them by the box if you really want some.
When I lived in L.A. (until late-2003), Tito’s Tacos was a reliable place to get half-dollars in your change. If they’re only for collectors now, maybe they’ve stopped.
There are plenty available for circulation, sitting in storage bins at banks and the Fed. If anyone wants them they can get them for use, but very few people want them.
I bought one of those battery-operated home-use coin sorters and, although it has a slot for dollar coins, it doesn’t have a slot for half dollars. It came with one dollar coin wrapper and it took me forever to get that filled.
Silver was removed from US coinage in 1965, not 1971. The only silver Kennedy half-dollars in circulation were minted in 1964. Starting in 1965, they became the clad copper and nickel “sandwich” coins.
ETA - Actually, on checking, I am in error and you are right. I apologize for questioning you.
And you would be wrong.
From 1965 to 1971 the silver content in the Kennedy half dollar was reduced from 90% to 40%
The problem has very little to do with individuals “Hanging on to them.” Stan Collender: [INDENT]In 1999 and 2000, I headed the team that was hired by the U.S. Mint to increase consumer awareness of the new “Golden Dollar” coin. … Thanks to it’s color and design, not to mention an aggressive (and eventually award-winning) marketing campaign, the Golden Dollar was embraced by consumers. Within 3 months consumer awareness – which was all we were hired to do – was at 85 percent and people were lining up for hours outside Wal-Mart stores to get them.
But unless you went to a post office and bought stamps from a machine, you seldom got a Golden Dollar in change. The reason had nothing to do with consumers refusing to use it: Instead, businesses refused to order the coins and so didn’t have any to give to consumers. [/INDENT] Coins are apparently more expensive for Walmart et al to handle than bills. Remember, they ship them in armored trucks. For the taxpayer, coins are a lot cheaper than bills over the course of their lifespan. But consumers don’t stock the tills. http://capitalgainsandgames.com/blog/stan-collender/1910/dollar-coins-make-budget-sense-you-likely-wont-get-one-change
Yes, I edited my post while you were replying to it. I didn’t think anyone would jump on it so quickly. That’ll teach me to check first, not after I post. I acknowledged my error and am suitably chastened.
It is about time the U.S. Mint started withdrawing the $1 bill from circulation, I think.
I was actually inside a bank today for the first time this year and asked if they had any half dollars. They did not. I did get the 6 $2 bills they had.
I didn’t think to ask about ordering anything. You do this through the bank? The Mint sells uncirculated coins for a hefty markup, which I’m not interested in.
The answer is due to several factors. The firs year they came out, they were snatched up by everyone – not just coin collectors – so they just did not circulate. It had little to do with the silver content because that year every coin (except the penny) was silver. Sandwich coins came in the next year; the Kennedy half dollar kept some silver, but reduced the percentage.
But by then, people were no longer carrying half dollars. One big factor was a change in cash registers from five coin recepticals to four. You could only keep quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. Since a half dollar could be replaced with two quarters, and you never received more than one half dollar back in change, merchants ddn’t keep a spot for half dollars. If they got one, they:d toss it under the drawer. So half dollars went into the registers, but they didn’t check out. And if merchants aren’t giving them out in change, they don’t circulate.
I just got back from Europe, where the smallest bill denomination is 5 EU.
What this means is: you always end up with a pocketful of change. It takes some getting used to.
Smallest bill is Canada is $5. We have the $1 “loonie” coin (it has a loon on it), and the $2 “twonie”. So you’d have a similar situation up here.