1971 P half dollar...SILVER!!!!!!

when I opened the box I saw that it looked silver as this was an ender (wish I took a pic) but when I pulled the edge down it said 71 and not 70 as I could only see the 7. so I disregarded it and went through the box at random. when I dumped the roll out I saw the silver edge and realized it was the 71 I had eyed already. wasn't I surprised.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I doubt this is silver.
But this has been mentioned before. People are cleaning up at the mint. And production is halted at this time. Because you can't pick up a planchet, put it in your pocket and go home with it, it is always possible that a stray silver planchet that was found in a weird place, (jammed in a machine, or something) was just tossed into a bin of clad planchets by a member of the janitorial crew, and it ends up getting coined.
This scenario is completely innocent and possible. Look at the cents which were coined on copper planchets. And not the 1983-D. There's a 1989-D and others. So it is possible to have a later date half on a 40% planchet.
The scenarios I don't like is when someone intentionally coins an error coin, and smuggles that coin out of the mint, and later it is sold for 5 figures. Those coins to me are illegal, and should be confiscated and destroyed.

 

Philadelphia never struck any 40% silver halves. The last silver halves they struck were the 90% 1964's. I'd say what you have is an under weight clad half struck on rolled thin strip that someone plated. (It's too heavy to be on quarter strip stock) It might have had some small value if someone hadn't silver plated it. Now? fifty cents.

 

I am not convinced. it does not have a plated look to it. in hand you might have a different opinion. if you are an open minded individual, let me ask you this... what are the odds of me pulling a coin out that "APPEARS" silver and just so happens that the coin is 2g under weight and the letters and details look weak?? pretty coincidental...don't you think? you never know. I am HOPING that is silver... but I am saving the cartwheels until after I get professionally looked at.

 

Being so called "open minded" has, most regrettably, become a crutch for far too many to simply ignore facts or reality. Perhaps the true "open minded" approach here would be to reasonably and logically overcome Conder's explanation of why the possibility of this being as hoped is so incredibly remote.

Either way, though, if you're indeed going to have it "professionally looked at", perhaps it's best to simply wait on the results. Please do be sure to update this thread once they're in. Good luck!

 

Even though I think it looks silver, in order for yours to be genuine, there would have to be multiple major errors

* A 40% clad ingot would have to be rolled too thin.
* Thin, underweight planchets would have to make it past inspection.
* A thin planchet would then have to get stuck in a tote or a piece of equipment.
* That tote or equipment would then have to be sent to Philly, something which does not appear to be a standard practice.
* The thin planchet would have to be dislodged from its resting place and make it into a tote holding copper nickel clad half dollar planchets, then struck.

Could it happen?????

I’m not trying to be mean and you’ve said that $$ is tight, but you really need some proof in order to keep claiming it’s a 40% error. There are too many things stacked against it being an error.

Have you gone somewhere that has an accurate scale as recommended a few days ago? You could also go to a coin shop or “we buy gold” place that has a hand held XRF to see what’s on the surface. 100% silver = plated. 80% silver = 40% planchet (look it up in the redbook). 0% silver = regular 1971 half. Until you do that, or pony up the cash to send it to a TPGS, then it’s just wishful thinking. I honestly hope you found something. Either way, it would be nice to share what you find because it does look odd

 

This is what I would be looking into, I found this table with quick google search but you may be able to find a better info chart somewhere
http://www.pdxcoinclub.org/articles/Foreign Coins Struck at US Mints CWNA article with table.pdf

 

In 1971 the US minted coins for Israel, Liberia, Nepal, Panama, and the Philippines. At least these are the only countries PCGS has on their registry list for 1971.

The only silver one was for Israel, but it weighs 26 grams and is 37mm around. Plus it was minted at the San Francisco mint.

 

I am not insisting it is silver only that it looks silver. All I said was I am not convinced its plated not that it isn't. Anything is possible. Could even be counterfeit. But until it comes back no one can say with 100 percent certantity that it isn't.

 

Yes I admit that would be long odds, but not as long as the odds of a silver coin being struck at a mint that had not struck silver coins since 1964 (1966 for dimes and quarters) and was in a completely different building than it was in back when they did strike silver.

Did some calculations and I came up with this, a half dollar planchet punched from strip intended for five cent pieces would weigh........10.4 grams. And it would be solid "silver" in color.

 

I sent this out to mr. Diamond today along with a few others. We will find out soon enough. Maybe your calculations is what is going on. Maybe it's a counterfeit. Can't wait to find out.

 

What the heck is a "plated look"??

 

What the heck is a 40% clad ingot??

 

Ingot was probably the wrong term. I was referring to the "as made" roll of the clad metal stock (in this case 40%).

Now that you got me thinking, I was assuming the mint gets a stock roll and then rolls it down to the specific thickness (Dime quarter, half) and the mint could have rolled this 40% stock to the incorrect thickness. Does anybody know if the mint bought 40% clad metal at the final thickness or did they roll it after receiving?

 

Ahhh.

I only asked because responses are recorded and researched by those who don't know any better.

As for clad coin stock rolls. From what I understand, the US Mint handled the production of Clad Stock from start to finish back then. Perhaps Conder knows the exact dates.

 

In the early days of the clad production the ingot were made up of three ingots the outer copper nickel or 80% silver ingots were expl sively bonded to the center ingot. That means exactly what it sounds like the three ingots were bound together and then shaped explosive charges were used to bond the three together. Naturally the Mint did not do this themselves. The final product would be a clad ingot. Later improvements in high pressure rolling mills and improvements on preparing the surfaces of the ingots allowed the ingots to be pressure bonded in the rolling mills.

To the best of my knowledge once they began using clad composition all the strip production was handled by outside firms with the mint receiving the finished strip and doing the steps from blanking through finished coins.

 

Just curious... didn't I see mike diamonds name in here? If so... Maybe you could ask him to comment on what he sees in hand so we can all know together?

 

An accurate weight, in grams
or grains, would be the easiest
way of determining what it is.

Based on what I see so far in
the thread, it's plated.

I'll wait for an accurate weight to
confirm this.

And, if take a razor blade and put
a cut IN BETWEEN the reeding, I'd
bet you'll see copper.

(If it's something else, a cut INSIDE
the reeding, between two reeds, would
not affect the value of the coin)

 

Non plated one vs. Plated.

 

It's already on its way to mike. Do you not find it odd that a coin that has a silvery look that I pulled out just happens to be 2 grams light? If not a mint error is a counterfeit possible? Is there any other possible way it could be a mint error or intentionally made at the mint? Or is plated the only explanation? Ty.