1970 half dollar

What matters about 1970

The last 40% silver half dollar. The 1970-D was distributed only inside mint sets and was never released into circulation, so it is scarce despite being a modern coin.

Identifying it

A 1970 half dollar is a Kennedy, designed by Gilroy Roberts (obverse) and Frank Gasparro (reverse). The obverse shows John F. Kennedy facing left and the reverse the Presidential Seal, or Independence Hall on the Bicentennial issue. It measures 30.6mm across.

Mint mark: Reverse in 1964, none from 1965 to 1967, then obverse below the neck from 1968 onward.

The edge is less decisive on this one than on a pre-1965 coin. A 1970 half is silver-clad rather than solid, so a faint line can show at the rim, but it will not be the obvious orange-brown copper stripe of a modern clad half. Weighing it settles the question: 11.5g is 40% silver, 11.34g has none. All four checks.

The rest of the jar

This is the part people get wrong. From 1965 the dime and the quarter were copper-nickel clad with no silver at all. The half dollar was the only denomination that kept any, and it kept 40%. A 1970 quarter is worth twenty-five cents; a 1970 half is not.