My bank never has half dollars but I usually ask anyway, just in case. Luckily, last visit they had a couple so I swapped a dollar bill for them. To my amazement one was a 2009-D and the other was a 2010-D. Am I right in thinking that these were only available in roll and bag quantities from the mint and none were released into circulation? If so that would indicate that these were 1)spent by mistake or 2)spent because the original owner needed to spend them rather than save them. Has anyone else received any recent halves from non-numismatic channels? I'm not sure when the mint ceased releasing halves into circulation but I'm thinking it was around 2000. Barberpolecat
You are correct they were not released for circulation. Some collectors buy rolls and bags, search them for very high grade coins or errors and then dump the coins at the bank even though they had to pay a premium to get them.
I hadn't thought of that angle. You could tell that the two I received had been handled some but there was no friction wear. I'd say they are now MS 63 or 64. I hoard half dollars as I come across them - as you'd expect the hoard is pretty limited (a few dozen) since for all practical purposes halves do not circulate at all.
Yes. But much better than just sitting on them as the collecting market for these is fairly narrow which makes them just another 50 cent piece. I have multiple rolls from Mint Bags which would cost more to sell than they are worth. When the time is right, they'll be off to the bank without a second thought. It's the price one pays for collecting these.
