Collecting The 1968 Half Dollar| Second Last Year For Silver Half Dollars In Circulation

Andrew Spaeth — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:52:51 +0000

The 1968 half dollar was the second last year that Kennedy Half Dollars contained silver in a circulation strike.

The circulation strikes for these 40% silver halves were all minted at the Denver Mint. The mint struck 246,951,930 examples of the 1968 half dollar, all having the D mint mark. This is the third highest mintage for silver Kennedy half dollars.

The San Francisco mint struck 3,041,506 proof examples of the 1968 half dollar, that were never released for circulation. These have the S mint mark. This was the first year Kennedy proofs were minted in San Francisco. Up until this date, all the proofs were minted at the Philadelphia Mint. These were meant for collectors and to be included in proof sets. If you find a 1968 half dollar with an S mint mark in circulation, it is likely that it was broken out of a stolen proof set and spent.

The 1968 half dollar contains about .1749 ounces of pure silver.

Multiplying this number by the spot price of silver will give you the bullion value of a 1968 half dollar. At the time of this post silver was trading at about $16 an ounce, making 40% silver half dollars coin worth $2.80 per coin.

Because of the introduction of clad coinage in 1965, the 1968 half dollar was frequently hoarded and not often circulated because it had silver content above its face value. As a result, most will be in a high grade, with fewer circulated coins showing up. Coins for collecting should be bought in a higher grade.

A popular way to collect the 1968 half dollar is by buying them by the roll.

A roll of these halves will contain 3.5 ounces of pure silver. Multiplying by the spot price will give you the value. At the time of this post the bullion value would have been $56 a roll. Uncirculated bank rolls will carry a premium above the bullion value.