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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;giorgio11, post: 739571, member: 17094&quot;]I can answer that one because I lived through it, like a lot of the older collectors and dealers on this forum. And I buy and sell a lot of Kennedy halves! Silver prices were rising back then, and coins were getting hoarded for numerous reasons. So after 1964 all 90% silver coins (dime, quarter, half dollar) were no longer made. A 90% silver half dollar (unworn) contains 0.3617 ounce of net pure silver. But the silver price still made a net-40% Kennedy half feasible. After 1970 even that would have made them go into the melting pot, as they still contained 0.1479 ounce of net pure silver.</p><p><br /></p><p>The longer answer to why a coin shortage occurred is more complex and includes the spread of automatic vending machines and coin telephones, the dealer-to-dealer Teletype system which spurred speculation in BU coin rolls (remember the 1950-D Jefferson nickel and the 1960 Small Date cents?), the introduction of the Kennedy half which ironically increased hoarding, and other factors.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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