GTG: 1970 D Kennedy Half

Reveal time: Eddie and Collecting Nut stole part of my thunder. The ‘70D is the key date of the normal series Kennedys. Yes, 2,500,000 were minted. However, they were only available in special mint sets. One would think that because they were in mint packaging, they would be all high grade MS. On the contrary, due to deterioration of dies, few are ultra gem grade. 1970D was the last date of the 40% Silver JFK halves, so the dies were really beat up. This coin, while being very lustrous, shows some die clashes on the cheek, and delamination in the fields. The highest grade for 1970D graded by PCGS is 67+, and that is a $5,000 coin. At 67, it goes for $800, or more. This is a 66, and as it is, they go for $300-500. The date is a Kennedy conditional rarity. Well-struck specimens can sell even higher. This one is an okay, but far from hammered strike.

 

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Well I got this one and after stealing some of your thunder, so you may keep the coin and accept my apologies. Sorry but I couldn’t resist.

 

70D could only be found in a Mint set. Not sure what the give away was?

 

Special mint sets were only for 65, 66, and 67. By 1970 regular mint sets were back.

 

MS 66 was my guess before the reveal...a few minor scuffs/ticks away from a 67

 

True; the 70-D was part of regular mint sets (it was a business strike as opposed to the 65-67 era, which was in between business and proof). None were made for circulation though, so the mint set was the only way to get them.

 

I can absolutely verify the fact that any assumption that these coins would automatically grade gem or higher - just because they were in a sealed Mint Set - is false. In fact, I'd say out of the 100-125 of these I own (I'm not exactly sure and I'm not in the mood to dig them out of my safe behind the barn in the middle of the woods) most of them would be in the 63 range. Only a handful would be 64 and above, and maybe (maybe) two or three might get close to 66. All were taken directly from sealed mint sets.

Some of them look more like they were intentionally thrown out into the Mint parking lot for a few days and run over by every employee on the way in and out of work.

 

So absolutely true. The handling of the SMS sets in the 60s were pretty rough. The handling by mint employees of the 1970 mint sets was absolutely horrendous, and far worse. Gem coins are not common for this date, and high grade gem coins are true conditional rarities. That is one of the main reasons that 1970D is such a key date for the Kennedy collector.

 

There have been some coins that were so delightfully bad, I almost considered keeping them...just as examples of the kind of quality control back then.

 

here is mine, only MS-65 but paid 25.00 so I think that was a fair deal.
Marks in front of the face are on the holder. These where seller pics. Once my Macro attachment is here I will get better pics.