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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;gboulton, post: 1013456, member: 27043&quot;]By odd chance, Kennedy halves happen to have become my latest obsession in the hobby...</p><p><br /></p><p>A few things to consider regarding these coins:</p><p><br /></p><p>1) IME, and seemingly from posts in the roll searching thread, it appears that these carry the highest probability of finding silver in pocket change or by roll searching.&nbsp; My own guess is that they simply don&#039;t circulate much, and as a result, the silver coins stand a lower chance of hitting the pocket of someone who recognizes them for what they are.&nbsp; Remove also those who &quot;know pre-65 is silver&quot; but are unaware of the 40%-ers, and you raise the likelihood of a score by quite a bit.&nbsp; Having said that, ime at least, they&#039;re also among the hardest to FIND in the wild.&nbsp; Many banks simply will NOT order them for any reason, and I&#039;ve even had some refuse to sell me loose halves they had sitting in plain sght.</p><p><br /></p><p>1a) Retailers usually LOVE to get rid of the things, IF you can find any...so keep that in mind.&nbsp; Never hurts to ask. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>2) Look around for the years (primarily, but not exclusively, since 2002) that Kennedy halves were NIFC.&nbsp; Some of these NIFC years can carry a BIT of a premium, and are found in circulation at a surprisingly high rate.&nbsp; You&#039;ll need to find them in AU condition at a minimum to make the find worth while, but keep your eyes out.&nbsp; Redbook, Wiki, and plenty of other sources can tell you what years/mints were mint-set only.</p><p><br /></p><p>3) Along those same lines, Kennedy &quot;oddballs&#039; seem to make their way into circulation at an uncharacteristic rate as well.&nbsp; For example, the bicentennial coins were issued in both clad AND 90% silver mintsets and/or proofs...BOTH can be found in circulating rolls within a fairly reasonable number of rolls searched.</p><p><br /></p><p>4) Arguably THE key date of the collection, and unlikely to be found in circulation, is the 1998 matte finish Silver Kennedy half proof.&nbsp; It was issued as part of a two-piece set that year, honoring JFK&#039;s brother Robert.&nbsp; Not unusual at all to see quality examples going for $200+</p><p><br /></p><p>Now...just a couple personal notes here...ymmv, of course.</p><p><br /></p><p>First, I like the Kennedy half as an educational tool.&nbsp; For MANY reasons, not least of which being their relative scarcity in the wild, they present a great many teachable moments.&nbsp; From explaining the concepts of mintages (and the resulting skipped years), to introducing a child to the late President...even to the interesting bicentennial reverse...all the way up to the rather complex differences of 90% vs 40% silver...lots and lots of ways to use the Kennedy half as a teaching tool for kids, new coin buffs, you name it.</p><p><br /></p><p>Second, and perhaps most educational imo, I feel Kennedies are among the EASIEST coins to cut your grading teeth on.&nbsp; The wear points are very consistent, and very visible.&nbsp; The types/amounts of wear that place a coin in a certain grade are QUITE distinguishable ime.</p><p><br /></p><p>============</p><p><br /></p><p>All in all, certainly my favorite of modern coins, and really a quite stunning set even when assembled from circulated examples, imo.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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