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Message:: [QUOTE="V. Kurt Bellman, post: 2546180, member: 71723"]I have a grocery store in my area, a small chain that is family-run, that is kind of known for regularly circulating half dollars in change. I'm used to getting a Kennedy half about half the time I'm paying in cash. That's unusual thing Number 1. Number 2 - I was handed a VERY new-looking half last night. I figured it might be a modern NIFC somehow. The red on the edges was slapping my retinas silly, so I knew it wasn't silver. The date was 1971, the first clad year. Number 3 - I have looked at it under a 10x loupe that is my standard "go to". I cannot find even the slightest of contact marks on this coin - it is PRISTINE! No marks on the obverse or reverse. Number 4 - I am about 60 miles from the Philadelphia Mint and we almost never see Denver coinage here. It's ALMOST as if it doesn't exist. This pristine half is a 1971-D. Number 5 - For as mark-free as it is, the reverse strike is really quite mushy. The relief is high, the letters are strong, but everything from the eagle's head down to the stripes on the shield are basically without detail. The wing feathers are strong, but the tail feathers not so much. The obverse is strong and crisp. There are some radial flow lines on the fields but not as much as usual on these. Given the condition and the year, my theory is it is a coin fairly recently cut from a 1971 Uncirculated Set. What think ye'?[/QUOTE]