Mark A. writes: I believe I have a 1965 Half dollar that was struck with silver, not clad. I’ve had it for about 20 years now. When I called stores to ask about it when I was a kid I was shrugged off. I recently did some research wondering if it could have been a silver proof that was made that way and removed from a holder. No silver proofs were made in 65 though. Have you ever heard of silver 65 halves before? Should I send this coin in for certification?
The standard composition for half-dollars from 1965 -1970 was clad silver. They weigh 11.5 grams and have a outer layer of .800 silver and .200 copper bonded to an inner core of .209 silver, and .791 copper. Total silver content is .1479 troy oz of silver (40% silver content). Copper-Nickel clad Kennedy half dollars weren’t minted until 1971.
There is an extremely rare 1965 Kennedy half minted on a 1964 .900 blank. You can identify the two simply by weighing the coins on a gram scale. 1964 Kennedy half dollars weigh 12.5 grams, silver clad Kennedy Half dollars weigh 11.5 grams.
If your 1965 Kennedy half dollar weighs 12.5 grams, we strongly recommended you send it for authentication and certification. See Grading Services on the CoinSite Links page.
