When did half dimes cease circulation? Found one metal detecting!

I didn't think half dollars were circulating anymore anyway? Aren't the ones made for the last several years just been collector items?

 

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Half Dollars have been NCLT since 2002

 

I remember my mom giving me SLQs for lunch money in the early 60s.

 

All halves minted after 2001 are not intended for circulation. You can still get halves, though. Sometimes my bank has them (when I can get inside, which I can't now because of Covid). I get a few rolls, save the ones I want and spend the rest. I try to look for the "No FG" varieties but have never found one yet. Someday I will.

 

To be frank, the half dollar died in 1964 when the Kennedy coin was introduced. Before then you would get them in change now and then. After that they were almost all hoarded.

I ran into several hoards and accumulations of coins held by non-collectors that had many clad Kennedy coins in them. I told the people the truth. Spend them; they are worth face value. The silver thing seemed to cause a lot of confusion. This was before the coin became NFC in 2002.

 

I've seen multiple reports here of full rolls (or even boxes) of 2018-P halves showing up at banks. Either collectors are giving up on them, or the Mint decided releasing them into "circulation" made more sense than sitting on them.

 

I wonder if the Nevada casino's still use half dollars for their slot machines. They did keep the Morgan and Peace silver dollars circulating long after they were dead in most areas of the country.

 

Las Vegas uses them to pay out Blackjack when when it would be 50 cent on the dollar

 

Thanks for the info guys. My Grandfather ran a small grocery in the 50's and 60's. When I was a kid my father and I would go through the coins in the evenings to look for scarce coins. In the 60's he found an 1909s vdb. He sold it for $31.00 and bought my mother a bathing suit with the money. We'd occasionally find circulated commeratives. Also silver dollars. He'd emphasize saving "s" minted coins.

 

Was your Grandfather's grocery store in California ?

 

The last time that I know for sure that a half dime circulated was last summer when I spent one as part of my "prime the pump" initiative.

 

Did someone accept it at face value?

 

Once I convinced her it was real. I haven't done so since everything closed down for Covid. Now, that I think of it, it must have been summer of 2019 when I did it, not last summer, but I would quite often spend junk box pieces as a lure to new possible collectors.

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/do-you-prime-the-pump-for-new-collectors.260907/