it's just plated, I've found a small handful of them in the last year. there are gold plated halves also.
electroplated just means that your coin is an ordinary half dollar that left the mint like normal, but someone later altered it by adding a very thin layer of some other metal to the outside of it. The plating looks like it may be silver, but it's such a thin layer that it's worth nothing at all. Even if it was gold plating it wouldn't be worth even a cent. The plating process already destroys any numismatic value a coin might have had. That half is worth 50 cents.
Vs a coin dipped in molten silver? So, what does the "sheen" of an electroplated coin look like anyway or are you just guessing? For that matter, what other types of plating are there for silver other than "electroplating"?
I've found 2 electroplated quarters. I've kept them just because there interesting. And hey if you keep your half your only hanging on to fifty cents. And it's good for a conversation piece if nothin else.
I saw a handful of plated coins at my LCS and they all seem to have that overly-glossy, sequined, Las Vegas kinda look - like Elvis should be spending them at the liquor store for a pint of Thunderbird. As far as plating goes, you're right - probably electroplating is the only process used any more, but there are a variety of others.
