Half Dollar Coins FAQ
The most collected half daollars are: Walking Liberty Half Dollars, Franklin Half Dollars and Kennedy Half Dollars.
Some of the most collected half dollars include:
Flowing Hair (1794–1795): This was one of the earliest designs of the half dollar.
Draped Bust (1796–1807): This design had variations including the Small Eagle (1796–1797) and the Heraldic Eagle (1801–1807).
Capped Bust (1807–1839): This design also had variations, including the Large Size with a motto (1807–1836) and the Small Size without a motto (1836–1839).
Seated Liberty (1839–1891): This design had variations including the No Motto (1839–1866) and With Motto (1866–1891) versions.
Barber (1892–1915): Named after its designer, Charles E. Barber.
Walking Liberty (1916–1947): A popular design that was later used for the American Silver Eagle bullion coin.
Franklin (1948–1963): Features Benjamin Franklin on the obverse.
Kennedy (1964–present): Introduced in memory of President John F. Kennedy, with the 1964 version being the last 90% silver half dollar for circulation.
In general, half dollars from 1964 and prior are 90% silver and half dollars from 1965-1969 are 40% silver.
Half dollars that contain silver include:
Flowing Hair (1794–1795): 90% silver.
Draped Bust (1796–1807): 90% silver.
Capped Bust (1807–1839): 90% silver.
Seated Liberty (1839–1891): 90% silver.
Barber (1892–1915): 90% silver.
Walking Liberty (1916–1947): 90% silver.
Franklin (1948–1963): 90% silver.
Kennedy (1964): 90% silver.
Kennedy (1965–1970): 40% silver.
Kennedy Bicentennial (1976): Only the collector's sets produced during this time contained 40% silver.
A pre-1965 U.S. half dollar contains 90% silver. The total weight of a half dollar is 12.5 grams. To determine the silver content in troy ounces (ozt):
First, calculate the weight of the silver in grams:
0.90 (90% of the coin's weight) × 12.5 grams = 11.25 grams of silver.
Now, convert grams to troy ounces. There are approximately 31.1035 grams in a troy ounce:
11.25 grams ÷ 31.1035 grams/ozt = 0.3617 ozt of silver.