Got a box of Halves. Now what?

I know I'm supposed to look for halves that have anybody besides Kennedy on the front, and look at the sides of them to see if they're all silver. But are there any particular dates I should be looking for on the Kennedy's? Also, it looks like someone took a black marker and made dots on most of them. I hope this isn't something all collectors do....it seems really bad.

 

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I think wikkipedia helped me. 1964=90% silver 1965-1970=40% Silver.
Anything else i should know? ie: rare years?

 

Aj

Not really any rare years, besides the silver ones you already mentioned. Kennedys are just too "new" (i.e. only 40 years old) to have anything really rare yet.

I enjoy saving up the bicentennial halves (the date is 1776-1976, and it has the Independance Hall on the reverse) just because they look cool. I have a roll of them already, and I figure if I hold onto it for a bit, it'll eventually go up in price. Otherwise, most Kennedy Halves are worth 50 cents, and maybe up just a little more in perfect condition.

Good luck looking for silver, though! Hope this has helped!

~AJ

 

There were some silver 1776-1976 halves that you might find, but they were not released for circulation. But because of stupid coin thieves, or from kids who decide to spend their coin collection, some do make it.

 

keep all 1970 and earlier coins (they are silver), also keep any 1987 ones too (they were never released for circulation and have very low mintages as far as kennedy's go), finally keep anything dated 2001 or later (the most recent years have not been released into circulation and they have a premium). Oh yeah, keep anything with an "S" mintmark since those are proofs.

Good luck and have fun!

 

You can also look on the reverse for the missing FG on the 72D 74D and 83P. Also, recommend you set aside any well struck coins with few bag marks, especially those minted in the 80s. If you want a real collector’s challenge, create a full Kenney set in MS 65 or better grades.

 

Kelso,
Be sure to check the dates on all the coins. Do not rely on looking at the rim to determine if they are silver. Sometimes the 40% silver coins have stronger copper presence on the rim and/or the rim is toned enough to appear as a newer strike.

In addition to those mentioned above, if you have good eyes and a gambling attitude keep you eyes open for the 1974-D DDO. The motto "we trust" is doubled.

 

Excellent, excellect advice. I usually pull any silver as I open each roll, then look over every individual coin for anything rare or unusual. A few times I have missed a 65-69 coin because the copper band was so vibrant that I thought it was minted much later.

 

Went through the entire box last night. Found no silver at all. I did keep a few really nice looking ones from the mid 90's. Over half had black marker on them like they had already been searched. I think this''ll be my last box. I'm just going to get one roll a week. But I want to thank all of you for your help!!

 

Are you in the greater CHicago area? I have done the black dot treatment to a handful of boxes (I use a sharpie) when I've had a bad run and was concerned that I was getting the same coins over and over again. If you are getting my coins I apologize, but I promise I didn't ruin anything too valuable and the thing about sharpie on havles is that it comes off with just a little circulation. I actually haven't had to do this in more than 6 months.

Don't get frustrated with a little bad luck, searching halves is all about averages and the only way to win when searching halves is to search in bulk. Keep at it and your luck will improve.

 

Cave troll, I'm a little ways south of st. louis. also, all the dots were on the face and never on the back.

 

yeah, that's where I left them, was it every coin in every roll that was marked or just some of them? I'm intruiged by how halves that I sorted and returned and were run through a counting machine at my bank in suburban Chicago could reach you in St. Louis intact 5 months later. hmmm, interesting indeed...

 

Not EVERY roll in the box was marked. But if one coin in a roll was marked, all the coins in that roll were marked. Also, most of the coins were machine wrapped in white rolls that said "brinks" and some others were in brown rolls made by hand.

 

hmm, very strange. all mine come in unlabelled yellow on white wrappers and when I return them my bank opens all the rolls and runs them through their counting machine. maybe I'm not the only one using that method to mark kennedys?

 

I went through a period where I was getting 1971-1972 Kennedys that were marked with a spot of white nail polish on Kennedy's cheek. Another time I found several coins that had been blotted in the same place and in the same way with a red magic marker. It is interesting to see what some folks do to coins.

 

Oh yeah, keep anything with an "S" mintmark since those are proofs.

Good luck and have fun![/QUOTE]


I found an S proof in a roll today. I knew something was different when I could see Kennedy's age lines around his eyes. Dosen't look like it has any schratches on it, just a llot of finger prints. How do I clean this thing without scratching it? Paper towl? Can I use water?? I'll post a pic when I get home later tonight.

 

Kelso-

DO NOT GIVE UP! I have been playing the half game for about the last year, and sometimes only get 1 or 2 keepers out of $200 worth. But then it happens.. Went by a credit union last Friday and just asked if they had any halves, (sometimes yes sometimes no) and they said they were just getting ready to bag them up for pick up.Evidently there is some service here that goes around and picks up change from the banks and that way they don't have to mess with it. They had $1000 face ready to go. I could not afford to get the whole lot, so asked them for $500 and told them I would pick up the other $500 in a few days. They were very accomidating, even tho there counting machine was broken and they counted out my $500 by hand!!! Anyway, after going thru them, had 14 1964 silver, 1 1960 Franklin, and 49ea 19 65-69 40%'ers!!!
Will pick up the next bunch tommorrow, and am so excited I will probably not sleep tonite! Anyway, long story long- keep checking and try different banks and soforth! good luck and good hunting!~

Your fellow hunter-
Rick

 

Here's a pic of the proof I found in a roll. You can really notice the finger prints on this scan! Anything I can do?

 

I'd try some acetone to remove the fingerprint. There are a lot of posts about using it, so I won't make this too long.

1) Well ventilated area
2) No smoking or flame - very flammable
3) Dip in the acetone and let is sit for about 2 minutes - no plastic bowls/etc
4) Take it out and rinse it with distilled water
5) Some people prefer to apply a paste of baking soda w/distilled water
6) Just remove all of the acetone
7) A very good rinse is important so you don't get spots

Lay the coin out to dry.

With the fingerprint like that, you've got nothing to lose.

NOTE: Do not use a qtip to apply the acetone, rubbing will actually scratch the surface. Also the acetone reacts with the plastic in the stick.

 

That is still a nice looking proof to have been found in a roll, fingerprints or not. Two of my last three trips for halves have yielded proof coins. They are always a nice little bonus. I've found seven in the last 9 months:
1981-S
1984-S
1986-S (2)
1990-S
1993-S
1997-S