# Where are all the Kennedy half dollars? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 24, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394 "2014-10-24T20:41:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/1 "2014-10-24T20:41:35Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/2 "2014-10-24T20:43:47Z")
They’re not making millions every year, just a few for collectors. > **[Kennedy half dollar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_half_dollar)** > > The Kennedy half dollar, first minted in 1964, is a fifty-cent coin issued by the United States Mint. Intended as a memorial to the assassinated 35th president of the United States John F. Kennedy, it was authorized by Congress just over a month after his death. Use of existing works by Mint sculptors Gilroy Roberts and Frank Gasparro allowed dies to be prepared quickly, and striking of the new coins began in January 1964. > The silver coins were hoarded upon their release in March 1964 by colle... > [@](#): > > Even though ample supplies of circulating half dollars are now available, their circulation is extremely limited. Since 2002, Kennedy half dollars have only been struck to satisfy the demand from collectors, and are available at a premium through the Mint. As to where they are, mostly in storage at banks. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/3 "2014-10-24T20:44:48Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/4 "2014-10-24T20:46:39Z")
**Where are all the Kennedy half dollars?** In a bank in the middle of [Beverly Hills](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8YdlJMQy-8). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/5 "2014-10-24T20:47:50Z")
Casinos use a lot of them too. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/6 "2014-10-24T20:48:33Z")
OK, slight change to the last post - [Kennedy half dollar mintage figures - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_half_dollar_mintage_figures) 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](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_cent_mintage_figures) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/7 "2014-10-24T20:49:12Z")
Las Vegas. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/8 "2014-10-24T20:57:13Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/9 "2014-10-24T20:57:27Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/10 "2014-10-24T21:01:35Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/11 "2014-10-24T21:08:05Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/12 "2014-10-24T21:08:12Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > 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? 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. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/13 "2014-10-24T21:10:35Z")
And you would be wrong. From 1965 to 1971 the silver content in the Kennedy half dollar was [reduced](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_half_dollar) from 90% to 40% ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/14 "2014-10-24T21:16:24Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > 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. 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](http://capitalgainsandgames.com/blog/stan-collender/1910/dollar-coins-make-budget-sense-you-likely-wont-get-one-change) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/15 "2014-10-24T21:19:18Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > And you would be wrong. > > From 1965 to 1971 the silver content in the Kennedy half dollar was [reduced](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_half_dollar) from 90% to 40% 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. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/16 "2014-10-24T21:25:18Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > 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](http://capitalgainsandgames.com/blog/stan-collender/1910/dollar-coins-make-budget-sense-you-likely-wont-get-one-change) It is about time the U.S. Mint started withdrawing the $1 **bill** from circulation, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/17 "2014-10-24T21:30:50Z")
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. > [@Chimera](#): > > 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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/18 "2014-10-24T21:44:59Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/19 "2014-10-24T21:54:59Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > It is about time the U.S. Mint started withdrawing the $1 **bill** from circulation, I think. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394/20 "2014-10-24T22:11:14Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > 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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-kennedy-half-dollars/702394.md?page=2)