1976 Kennedy half dollar. Is it silver???

Hi, i just joined a few minutes ago and kind of new at the whole coin thing. I wonder if someone can tell me what the heck i have here. I was going through some rolls of Kennedy half dollars. I found a 1976 bicentennial mirror silver colored kennedy half with mirror silver color reeded edge. I thought maybe a proof but NO MINT MARK??????

 

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looks heavily polished or plated

 

AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGG.......hold the coin by it's edges!

 

Could be?? I started thinking it was chrome plated??? I had a couple of better side pics but wouldn't load them

 

If it's an "s" mint then it could be a 40% but looks plated to me.

 

If you weigh it, you can tell if its silver.

Silver 11.5 grams
Clad 11.34

 

i was thinking about the weight, i guess its time to get a scale. Thanks

 

How much does chrome weigh??? LOL

 

No mint mark at all, when i firs saw it i thought for sure it would be an S mint

 

Generally, coins should be held by the edge, but in the case of this particular coin, it makes no difference how it's held. It has no value over face. It's been plated and is NOT 40% or 90% silver.

 

Still Rick, we must encourage collectors to hold coins properly.......heck, I even hold 2x2's by the edge.

 

it looks way to shiney for my gritty hands... im going to say its been cleaned and over polishesd

 

NOT proof @ all

 

Welcome to CoinTalk. Of course your question has been answered but it gives me an opportunity to post a link to a previous thread:
http://www.cointalk.com/threads/ike-dollar-dansco-complete-with-all-proof-issues.223412/#post-1650228

Silver coins in a folder or album can be easy to detect if you view the pages through a piece of tissue paper. The technique has been described here at CT several times. The silver alloy coins appear much brighter when viewed through the tissue paper than do the clad (non-silver) coins. Check out these photos depicting the pages as seen through tissue. You can easily determine which coins are silver.

Did anyone find this information of interest?

 

Silver is the most light reflective element.

 

Collect89:

That is the first time I've seen that and yes, it was very informative. Thank you for the education!

 

That is why it is used to make mirrors.

 

A silver plated clad coin will produce the same results.

 

Only the proof and uncirculated S mint halves were 40% clad. This looks like a plated P mint.

 

That tissue thing is so cool!!!! Being new at this i never heard that before and cant wait to try it. Thank you all for your welcome, comments and advice including you Rick for the advice of holding coins on the edge. I know this is basic information but new to me so thanks again for all your advice and patients. Mike