Last week I took the opportunity to buy 2 boxes of Kennedy Halves. I didn't have high expectations when I started searching, but c'mon... Couldn't there have been more than just 1 40% half, out of 2000 coins! The one that I got from the 2 box search is a 1965 P. It's blast white, with some tarnish on the cheek, jaw and neck. Looks like the coin has never seen circulation. What caught my eye was when I opened the roll, and saw one white rimmed coin among the 19 other clad coins. My first thought was that it was a 90% silver coin, but when I pulled it to look, it was 1965... Which is supposed to be 40% silver.... The rim of the 1965 looked like a 90% silver coin's rim - it was all the same white, with nothing indicating a clad layer. It didn't look like two different metals "sandwiched" together, like a typical clad coin. I looked at a few other 40% silver clad Kennedy rims, and they all had the same appearance of two metals "sandwiched" together (granted, none of the comparison coins were blast white). Are you always supposed to be able to see the seperation of the clad and core metal, on the rim of clad coins? The first picture is of the rim of the 1965 Kennedy that I am asking about. The second picture is of all silver clad Kennedy Halves, with the 6th coin from the top being the 1965 in question.
It is not uncommon for a clad coin to look like this. Sometimes it happens that that the cladding gets pushed down and covers the edge thus hiding the clad layer. Easy way to know for sure is to weigh the coin. The 40% silver weighs 11.5 grams, the clad weighs 11.34 grams. If you don't have a scale, take it to a jewelry store and they can weigh it for you.
I think the Op suspects this coin may have been struck on a 90% (1964) planchet...which would weight 12.5 gms. Although highly unlikely, Breen-5274 notes the existence of some 1965 coins minted on 90% planchets. This was likely due to some blanks being left in the hopper as both issues were in production simultaneously...in early 1965. The 1965 90% silver is listed as Extremely Rare (4-12 known to exist). If it weighs 12.5 gms, I would have it graded and attributed right away. Oh...and stored in a safe place.
Or just balance it on a popsicle stick with another coin of a known composition and remember the heavier one will go down and the lighter one will go up on the "teeter-totter".
Yes, that was basically what I was thinking. I did weigh it - 11.53 grams. As always good info from good people. Thanks for the help.
Quite true, I wasn't even paying attention the date he reported, just explaining how a clad coin doesn't always look like a clad coin
Of the 200+ 40% Kennedy halves that I have, well more than 90% of them look like clad coins with three distict layers. A very few of them look like the one above and when I find one like that, it always intrigues me.
They can be found both ways. But since the 40% coins have an outer layer of .800 silver it is more common for them to not show the clad layers on the edge.
You are probably getting more circulated 40%'s (already returned and ordered from bank). I normally find them with the silver rim (50+ at this point), and I normally get whatever the bank has (not ordering boxes).
That is true in most instances I've found. I used to get many rolls of halves from the banks and finally gave up. Usually looks like they all been looked over hundreds of times by now.
When they are BRAND NEW just out of the press it is not that unusual for the 40% coins to not show the separation on the edge clearly. That three layer appearance comes from the oxidation of the higher copper content of the center layer. If due to a lack of handling, and storage under the proper conditions the oxidation does not take place the edge will retain the silver appearance. And of course it is always possible for the outer 80% silver layers to get smeared down over the 20% silver layer during the blanking process.
Many of the 40% halves I have found have the edge of a 90% coin although some are not as white as others. I also have some that look like the clad coins of today. Most important thing is that you found silver, congrats.
