I've put off asking these two questions for awhile cause they're not technical. But now and then, they keep coming back to me. I know there are a few senior members here and I'm wondering - if you don't mind - if I can pick your brains about your memories of the following: 1. 1964 Silver Did the government make a general announcement about that year being the last year that the half dollars, quarters, and dimes were to be minted in silver? Or did the announcement come after the fact? Did hoarding begin right away or was the public mostly indifferent since silver was only around $1 an ounce? 2. 1986 Silver Eagle When this was released, what was the general reaction? Was there disappointment that the design was just a rehash of the earlier Walking Liberty Half Dollar? Just curious. Thank you!
1964 - I was just ending my Army enlistment and hadn't been actively collecting. Heck, the Army was only paying me $180/month before taxes. And I was headed home to go back to college so there was no spare cash to pursue collecting. So I missed the Gov't announcement whenever it happened. 1986 - I was active during the 70's but coin collecting was on hiatus in the 80's thanks to the Hunt brothers. So once again I missed the announcement. I wouldn't start again until the 90's.
I was not born for the first date and for the second i was a teenager that only cared about coins to drop them into video games at Aladdin's Castle.
In 1964 (my mid-20s) the government informed people that Silver coins and Silver certificates were generally being discontinued. People were not concerned as the coins were readily available in change, until individuals started collecting silver coins, which was when we started generally seeing a "spike" in pricing, eventually being stopped by the Hunt Brothers litigation in the 1970s-80s? I believe that the birth of the ASE made individuals aware of mint products, and the beauty of a common-place coin design. JMHO
Hoarding really began when they announced and minted the 1964 JFK half dollar. That's why they produced so many millions of them. People wanted them as a memento of our martyred President. That's also why there are a lot of MS-grade examples of them today. They were going to also reintroduce a silver Peace dollar in 1964 and quite a few were actually produced at the Denver mint, but those plans got scrapped when the price of silver rose to the point where it became impossible...and those coins were all melted.
In 1964 I was 10 years old. Didn't know or care at that time. In 1986 the design was very well liked where I lived. I think it's still popular.
It must be - for it to last all these years. I've always been curious whether there were any "complaints" that it was a copy of the Walking Liberty Half. But maybe in 1986, the public had already generally forgotten about that half dollar design. Hahaha. Yeah - I knew it was going to be tough to go back that far in time. 1986 is already far enough.
I was in the service in 1964 and expecting my first child in January 1964. It seemed to me that the end of silver was not a big deal at the time. But it didn't take long for people to start hoarding them. I liked the new ASE since the Walking liberty Halves were a favorite of mine.
Thanks for sharing. When I was researching this topic (which is quite hard to do), the general feeling I got was that many in the public did not immediately hoard the silver coins - even though it was the last year. I thought that was interesting and thus wanted to ask people who might remember, whether that was indeed the case. Thanks again.
This Coin World article may answer the 1964 clad coins question: https://www.coinworld.com/news/prec...world-1963-numismatics-circulating-coins.html I was in high school during that period and I wrote a paper for an American Government class on the silver coin problem. My paper was written in May 1965 before the clad coin decision was made. I received an 'A' for the paper.
Wait... I thought in 1965, they already abandoned silver? Thanks for the link! Will check it out tonight.
Congratulations for your 1965 paper report, and especially for your submitted succinct explanatory article, having dates and values more attuned to my memories. Those dates and values should resolve discussions based on the believed diminished memories of us aged individuals. JMHO
I was running a paper route back in 1964 and even after the announcement that silver coinage was to be discontinued, I still received plenty of silver quarters and half dollars on collection day. In fact, I couldn't wait to see the new clad coins.
They kept producing half dollars at 40% silver until 1969, when they discontinued silver coins for circulation entirely
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/89/s2080/summary "The Coinage Act of 1965, Pub.L. 89–81, 79 Stat. 254, enacted July 23, 1965, eliminated silver from the circulating United States dime (ten-cent piece) and quarter dollar coins. It also reduced the silver content of the half dollar from 90 percent to 40 percent; silver in the half dollar was subsequently eliminated by a 1970 law. There had been coin shortages beginning in 1959, and the United States Bureau of the Mint expanded production to try to meet demand. The early 1960s was a time of increased use of silver both in the coinage and in industry, putting pressure on the price of silver, which was capped at just over $1.29 per ounce by government sales at that price. The silver in a dollar's worth of quarters would be worth more as bullion than as money if the price of the metal rose past $1.38 per ounce, and there was widespread hoarding of silver coins. Demand for the Kennedy half dollar as a collectable drove it from circulation after its debut in 1964. The Bureau of the Mint increased production, helping reduce the coin shortages by May 1965, but government stocks of silver were being rapidly reduced, and threatened to run out by 1968. After extensive study by the Treasury Department, President Lyndon B. Johnson in June 1965 recommended that Congress pass legislation to allow for silverless dimes and quarters, and debased silver half dollars. Although there was some opposition, mainly from legislators representing Western mining states, the bill progressed rapidly through Congress, and was enacted with Johnson's signature on July 23, 1965." I can't find when it was introduced.
So I guess the gist I've gathered from various articles are correct: there was no panic hoarding after all.
I was born in 1958 so I was too young to remember 1964 first hand, but I do remember by the late 1960's, people were saving silver coins. Not panic hoarding, but more a novelty as they realized that silver had been replaced by worthless base metal. I recall friends and family plucking wheat pennies and buffalo nickels from circulation as a novelty as well. In 1986, special mint issues were still a new thing, so I remember the new eagle being met with general excitement.
From the linked Coin World article... Over the next few years, silver coins disappeared from circulation in accord with Gresham’s Law that bad money drives out good. By 1970 silver coins had all but disappeared from circulation.