Every half dollar dated 1970 or earlier contains silver, which makes it worth many times its face value. Coins from 1892 through 1964 are 90% silver, and the 1965 to 1970 Kennedys are 40%. Later half dollars are copper-nickel and worth fifty cents, apart from a few varieties and collector issues covered below. A handful of dates run into the hundreds or thousands, and a few have sold for six figures.

Checking your own coin takes about a minute. Start with the date.

Half Dollar Silver Content by Date

Silver content is the single biggest factor in what a half dollar is worth, and the date tells you almost everything.

The values below are based on a silver price sitting around $67 per troy ounce as of September 5, 2026.

Two things to take from that table. Silver value is a floor rather than a ceiling, and it moves with the market every day, so the dollar figures shift while the silver weights never do. If silver has moved since this page was updated, multiply the weight in the fourth column by the current silver price to get your own number. A 90% half dollar always holds 0.36169 troy ounces, whatever the market is doing.

The important line is 1970. Anything dated 1970 or earlier holds silver. Anything after that is worth fifty cents unless it is a known variety or a high-grade uncirculated coin.

Half Dollar Values by Type

Kennedy half dollars, 1964 to today

The Kennedy is the half dollar most people find in a drawer, and its value depends almost entirely on the year.

The 1964 issue is 90% silver, so even a worn one carries the full silver value shown above. From 1965 through 1970 the Mint dropped to 40% silver. From 1971 onward, circulating halves contain no silver at all.

No regular-issue Kennedy is genuinely rare, but several are worth noting:

• 1970-D - Never released into circulation. It was sold only inside 1970 Mint Sets. Uncirculated examples typically bring around $20, and top-grade coins have reached the low thousands.
• 1987-P and 1987-D - Also Mint Set only, with 2,890,758 struck at each mint. Because collectors saved the sets, these run about $1 to $15.
• 1964 Special Mint Set - Roughly a dozen are known to exist. One graded SP68 sold for $156,000 at Stack's Bowers in August 2019.
• 1964 Accented Hair proof - An early proof variety with heavier hair detail above Kennedy's ear. Around $50 to $90 in PR65 and into the thousands in the highest grades.
• 1972-D No FG - The designer's initials FG are missing from the reverse. Roughly $300 to $500 even worn, and one uncirculated example brought about $2,485.
• 1974-D doubled die - Look for doubling in the words IN GOD WE TRUST. Around $40 to $50 uncirculated.
• 1982-P No FG - About $20 to $30 circulated and $150 or more uncirculated.

Franklin half dollars, 1948 to 1963

Every Franklin half dollar is 90% silver. Condition is what separates a melt coin from a collector coin.

Franklins are graded partly on the Liberty Bell's Full Bell Lines, meaning the horizontal lines across the bottom of the bell are complete and unbroken. That detail carries the value. PCGS estimates only about 200 examples of the 1953-S exist with Full Bell Lines in any grade, and an uncirculated one runs around $30,000. The auction record for the date is $69,000, set at a Bowers & Merena sale in 2001. The same coin without those lines is worth a small fraction of that.

The dates to check:

• 1949-S - 3,744,000 made, and the classic key date of the series.
• 1955 - The lowest mintage of any Franklin made for circulation at 2,498,181. Collectors noticed that number at the time and put away rolls, so uncirculated examples turn up more often than the mintage suggests.
• 1953-S - Over four million were made, so it was never scarce, but the dies were worn and the bell lines came out soft on nearly every one. Condition decides what it's worth.
• Bugs Bunny - A die clash left marks at Franklin's mouth that look like buck teeth. It shows up on several dates between 1948 and 1963, with 1955 the best known.

Franklin half dollars are worth at least the value of their silver, and a few are worth thousands. The bell tells you which is which.

Walking Liberty half dollars, 1916 to 1947

The Walking Liberty half dollar is 90% silver, and widely considered one of the best-looking American coins ever struck. Common dates from the 1940s trade close to melt value. The early years are where the money is.

The dates to check:

• 1921-D - 208,000 issued, the lowest mintage of any circulation coin in the series.
• 1921, Philadelphia - 246,000 issued.
• 1921-S - 548,000 issued.
• 1916-S - 508,000 issued.
• 1938-D - 491,600 issued.

On a 1917 Walking Liberty half dollar it's worth checking which side the mintmark is on. Early that year the D or S sat on the front below IN GOD WE TRUST, then the Mint moved it to the reverse near the bottom left. San Francisco made 952,000 with the mintmark on the front and 5,554,000 with it on the back, so the front ones are much scarcer. On worn coins the difference is small, but an uncirculated 1917-S with the mintmark on the front sold for $40,800.

The 1921s are the main ones to look for, along with a few other select years and 1917s carrying the mintmark on the front.

Barber half dollars, 1892 to 1915

All Barber half dollars are 90% silver. Worn ones are easy to come by and trade close to melt, but coins that kept their detail are genuinely scarce. PCGS calls Fine examples scarce, Very Fine very scarce, and Extremely Fine rare.

The dates to check:

• 1892-O - 390,000 issued in the first year New Orleans made them.
• 1892-S - Over a million were made, but they are still hard to find with detail.
• 1893-S - 740,000 issued.
• 1896-S - More than a million struck, though they were poorly distributed.
• 1897-O - 632,000 issued.
• 1897-S - Not especially low mintage, but tough in higher grades.
• 1904-S - 553,038 struck, and many were never released and were likely melted.
• 1913, 1914, and 1915 - The final Philadelphia issues, at 188,000, 124,230, and 138,000. The 1914 is the lowest of any Barber half.
• 1892-O Micro O - A variety struck with an unusually small mintmark. Just over fifty are confirmed, making it the rarest coin in the series.

Seated Liberty halves came before these and run across several design types with very different values, so anything older than 1892 is worth having looked at by a professional.

The 1776 to 1976 Bicentennial half dollar

This answer disappoints most people, but nearly every Bicentennial half dollar is copper-nickel clad and worth exactly fifty cents. Hundreds of millions were struck at Philadelphia and Denver, and plenty are still in circulation.

The exception is the silver version. The Mint sold 40% silver Bicentennial halves in special three-coin collector sets, and those hold the same 0.1479 troy ounces as a 1965 to 1970 Kennedy.

How to tell if your half dollar is worth money

• Check the date. 1964 or earlier means 90% silver. 1965 through 1970 means 40%. 1971 or later means no silver unless it came from a collector set.
• Look at the edge. Hold the coin sideways. A 90% silver coin shows a uniform grey-white edge. A copper-nickel coin shows a bold copper stripe running through the middle. The 40% silver halves fall in between and show a faint copper line, so use the date to identify those.
• Find the mintmark. On Kennedy halves from 1968 on it sits on the obverse below the portrait, and on the 1964 issue it is on the reverse near the eagle's claw. On Franklin halves, look on the reverse above the Liberty Bell. On Barber halves it sits on the reverse beneath the eagle, and on Walking Liberty halves on the reverse at the lower left, apart from 1916 and early 1917 coins that carry it on the front.

One thing to note: Do not clean, polish, or dip your half dollars. Cleaning strips the original surface and can cut a coin's value in half or worse, and any dealer or grading service will spot it immediately.

Selling your half dollars

Two mistakes cost people the most money. The first is spending silver halves at face value or taking them to a bank, which pays fifty cents for a coin holding many times that in silver. The second is selling an unsorted collection by weight, which prices a scarce date exactly the same as a worn common one.

A dealer who handles both bullion and collector coins will sort by date and grade before making an offer. Sometimes everything really does just sit at melt value. Other times there may be a 1921-D in the bag!

Bring your half dollars to St. Louis Park Gold & Silver at 4825 Minnetonka Blvd, right off Highway 100, or call 952-217-5488 first. We check every coin, quote against the live silver market, and pay cash or check. There is no charge and no obligation to sell. You can also read more about how we buy and sell rare coins or buy and sell silver.

Frequently asked questions

Which years of half dollars are worth money? Anything dated 1964 or earlier, because those coins are 90% silver and worth many times face value in metal alone. Halves from 1965 through 1970 are 40% silver and worth roughly 40% as much. The table on this page gives the current figures at today's silver price. Beyond silver content, the dates that bring the most money are the 1921-D and 1921 Walking Liberty, the 1949-S and 1953-S Franklin, the early Barber issues, and a handful of Kennedy varieties.

Are 1776 to 1976 half dollars worth anything? Almost all of them are worth fifty cents. The Mint struck hundreds of millions for circulation in copper-nickel. The only Bicentennial halves with real value are the 40% silver versions sold in collector sets, which carry an S mintmark and hold the same silver as a 1965 to 1970 Kennedy.

What makes a 1971 half dollar rare? Nothing, in most cases. 1971 was the first year the Mint struck half dollars with no silver at all, and more than 450 million were made across Philadelphia and Denver. A 1971 half is worth fifty cents unless it is a flawless uncirculated example or carries a known die variety.

How do I tell if my half dollar is worth anything? Check the date first, then look at the edge for a copper stripe. If the coin is dated 1970 or earlier, it holds silver and is worth well over face value. If it is newer, check the mintmark and the condition. Do not clean it either way.

Are half dollars still made? Yes. The Mint stopped striking half dollars for general circulation after 2001 and produced them for collectors only through 2020, then resumed circulation strikes in 2021. They remain legal tender, but banks rarely stock them, which is why they seem to have disappeared.