1965 Special Mint Set

I was at a local show today and picked up a '65 special mint set for no other reason than the price seemed right. $8.....think I payed $4 back in the day for a set. The envelope was sealed, but I'm sure it was due more to the storage of the set. I don't kid myself. The mint shipped these things unsealed. Well, I get home and open the set up. Of particular interest to me is the Kennedy which is supposed to be a 40% silver piece. I check the "third side" and danged if I can find a hint of copper. I immediately break out the set that I bought way too long ago for comparison. There is an obvious copper presence on that one. Now with the way the mint produced these 40% "Kens" I'm sure that it would be reall easy for the silver to flow over the copper and hide the copper color on the edge. And with me not having a scale to weigh the coin, I'm just not gonna be sure. Does anybody know if a few 90% planchets somehow got mixed in with the production of the '65's? Gotta find a scale real cheap. Any who, some pics....

 

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The reason that you see no copper stripe is because the core is not pure copper like the 1971-date coins. The core is a .791 copper-.209 silver alloy and doesn't show as a copper line on the edge of the coins. The entire half dollar from 1965-1970 is made of alloy, albeit two different ones. (The outer alloy is .800 silver .200 copper.) The 1971-date halves are copper-nickel bonded to a pure copper core.

 

Mike beat me to it.

 

OK, thanks gentleman. But why do I see the hint of copper in my 'old' set, and not this one?

 

you shouldn't. None of the silver clad kennedys have a stripe

 

Searching rolls back in the late 70's for silver halves , all you had to do is look at the sides of the roll for the telltale grey side or the lack of a copper stripe . Wish I had all those 90 % and 40% halves today .

 

Many times, when I purchased a coin or coin set like the SMS Kennedys, I looked at them for quality and anything special that I knew of. But, with all I've learned, here at CoinTalk, I really have to go back and re-examing a whole slew of coins for all the new stuff I've picked up here. It seems I've got a lot of work, (fun), ahead of me.

Thank you all for sharing your knowledge with us.

 

I think it's the degree of toning as to whether or not you can see the copper color. Looking at some of my sets, on the ones that show no toning/haziness the copper color is very evident. The others are darker to varying degrees and look like yours. You can still see the band of core that is a little different tone than the rest of the coin.

 

I surfed around last year and found a 1000 gm digital scale for less than $8 with free shipping on eBay. It shipped from China and took 3-4 weeks to arrive. But I checked it with some coins straight away and the dang thing was on the button ! I mean a Morgan weighed in at exactly 421 grains. It has 6 modes, so you can weigh for shipping up to about 35 ounces. Frankly, it's one of the best buys I made. I may be able to find the dealer if you want to check them out.

 

OK, some more pics. This is the one from the original purchase in '65.

 

Thanks gary, I appreciate it. With all the craft items my wife orders from China, we already got the State Department guys camped out on the front lawn......

 

Yeah, you're probably right. Still, would be cool it it were a 90%'er. I'll just have to purchase the scale. It's probably a good idea to have one anyway.

 

Never hurts to check. 'Twood be very cool.

 

Green18:thumb:
I am a very active Kennedy collector. As when he was running for President he gave a speech at our court house steps in Catskill N.Y. and I was behind the step & shook my hand and form that day on I just got the bug as I already was in to coins.I can still recall that 1st day I was standing line to get 5 roll of Kennedy half dollars .
Me & G in the links below are the most active Kennedy Collectors??? but not sure who other are:thumb:
http://www.cointalk.com/t75985/
http://www.cointalk.com/t49093/

 

I'd have to say 99% of the 40% halves I've seen show a light copper core. I have seen coins like the OP's, maybe I should have weighed them.

 

Are you saying it could be a cupro-nickle clad planchet? Those didn't come out till 1971.

 

I've never understood it when people say you can't see the "copper" core on the edge of the 40% silver halves. I've almost never had a problem seeing it. On some coins it isn't as vivid as on others, and it is nowhere near as bold as it is on the coppernickel clad coins but I have rarely had a problem seeing it. Heck I can even see it on the top two edge pictures in the OP. It isn't BOLD, but it is clearly there.

 

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