How can one tell the difference between the silver and the copper-nickel 1976-S Kennedy Half dollars? Do the edges look different? Thanks.
The 1976S 40%Ag proof and unc. will look just like the 1965 - 1970 kennedy halves from the side. Something I don't recomend unless you pulled this coin out of circulation, dropping it on the table will produce a distinctly different sound than the copper clad will. The core will usually look silver, but occasionally can have a slight copper color to it.
Weigh your bicentennial halfs: 12.5g = 90% silver proof 11.5g = silver clad 11.34g = cu-ni clad .If you don't have a sensitive enough scale, just use a pencil balance to compare the questioned coin(s) with pre-'65 and post '64 halves.
Thanks for the great replies folks. It looks like my coin is of the copper-nickel variety. I acquired the coin in question as part of a larger ebay coin purchase and the seller had listed the coin as "silver". I guess he was mistaken because this coin has that distinctive copper ring running through the center of the edge. Still a nice coin though and definately a Proof issue.
The problem there is that the silver clad and copper clad tolerances overlap. It's fine if your coin's weight is at the opposite side of the tolerance, but for a planchet that weighs 11.4g, the weight doesn't really show anything. If someone is in doubt, just bring the coin to a coin show. You will find that most of the dealers can tell if it's silver just by looking at it. Ask 10 dealers and you will find most of the answers will agree, if not all (you will still always get that one person who doesn't know, but doesn't want to admit it, so they just guess).
There's another easy method you can do at home. Take the coin you are unsure about and place on the table next to a clad example - side by side. Then cover both with an ordinary tissue. The silver clad coin will show thru the tissue as whiter and brighter.
