When did half dollars disappear from circulation?

I just turned 40 and in my lifetime, half dollars in circulation have been as rare as hen's teeth. Were they ever common in circulation? If so, was it at the time of the release of the Kennedy half when they started to disappear? I've read that the Kennedy halves were hoarded as keepsakes when they came out. Were Franklins and Standing Liberty (and older) halves common in circulation before 1964?

 

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The Mint continued releasing half dollars into circulation until about 2001, but the coins never gained a great amount of popularity partly because most of the earliest vending machines, even pay telephones, would not accept them.

People hoarded the 1964 Kennedy for two reasons: 1) it was released just months after his assassination, and 2) it was the last year of the 90% coinage.

Chris

 

Halves started disappearing from circulation during the middle to late sixties. Like Chris mentioned above, a lot of folks hoarded the Kennedy halfs after their release into circulation. As a kid at that time I found it very difficult to obtain a few.....the banks would get a shipment in and they would promptly disappear in a matter of hours. I was always late getting there when word of their arrival reached me.

I saw them quite frequently in my neck of the woods. I did manage to put together an entire set of Franklins in circulated condition. Still got that set.......

 

For what it's worth, I have found 3 Franklins, 0 '64 Kennedys, and probably 8 or 10 40% Kennedys since I've been working at the store since March.

 

When I worked the till back in the late ninety's a few found their way into my register. Funny how many people today don't even know what a half dollar looks like. Yesterday at the store I'm fumbling for some change and the kid behind the counter exclaims 'is that a half dollar'? when he spies my pocket piece, which is a silver eagle........

 

You can get all you want from your bank: rolls and rolls, boxes, and bags. Spend them freely. Clerks will find them inconvenient; and every day, by ones and twos, they will make their way back into the banks to be rolled, boxed, and bagged. The biggest problem is that vending machines do not take them. Our local bus line does. That has not been true in every city I have lived in since 1970.

 

Quite true. About seven years ago, I paid for an item at an establishment with a half-dollar in the mix of cash I handed over, and the cashier obviously thought it was a dollar coin. I realized it when she gave me 50 cents more back in change.

I've had a teenager working at a DQ tell me, "just a second" when I handed her six SBA dollars to pay for a frosty treat. She had to ask her 21-year old coworker what they were, and if it was real money.

 

So true... and that's why I can sell common date circulated clad halves for 2x face at the local flea market. Afterwards, I stop at the local bank branch (two blocks from the flea market) to replenish my supply at face.
Back in the early 1950's, halves were quite common, with a mix of Walkers and the "new" Franklins. My 50c a week allowance was always a half.

 

Thanks to everybody for their input. I like hearing stories about how things were in the past. Hopefully this forum will exist for many years, and your knowledge will be accessible to younger generations in the future.

 

last week i asked at my local bank if they had any half dollars, the teller said " yes i have 2" and handed me 2 ike dollars, of course i informed her of her mistake...

 

I remember them circulating 'till about '67-68 regularly then it dropped of fast. there were still a fair number of walkers when I was a kid, not a lot but not rare either. some mercs and mostly dateless buffalo.

 

It's even funnier when you hand them a $1 coin.

 

$6 for a frosty treat?

Dude what a rip!

 

I actually received a couple kennedy half dollars back in change when I attended the Alabama/Kentucky football game this season. I was very surprised to receive them in change multiple times at the concession stands. Unfortunately no silver.

 

Halves were fairly common to receive in change when I was growing up, even getting a few well worn Barbers as payment for a week's newspapers. I agree with silverfool in that halves were seldom seen in circulation within a few years after the appearance of clad coinage.

 

At my job, we usually get a few each week from customers paying with them. They're always '70s-'80s but this week I saw a 2013p for the first time. It was in perfect condition and I was thinking about keeping it but decided not to. I'm not a fan of halves.

 

It's almost ironic that they disappeared at about the same time the cheaper claddy coins were being introduced.

 

I hope you give them back out in change, too, if you are in a position to do so. Circulation is a coin's life, let them live!

 

No. it not ironic, reasonable. The half dollars started slowly disappearing in 1962 and 63 because the value of silver was rising high enough to almost make them worth more as metal than as money. Since they were the largest coins with the most silver they started being hoarded first. In 1964 the silver price finally did exceed the face value so you lost money on every one you spent. Then the clad coins were intro duced and you had the choice, you could spend coins that had a metal value of $1.07 for every $1 in value received, or you could hoard them and spend coins that had a metal value of $.15 for every $1 in value received. Which coins would you spend?

 

I was a paperboy in the 1960s. There were a lot of half dollars in circulation in those days, Franklins and Walking Liberties. My only explanation is that half dollars would actually buy you something back then. Now they are just big nuisances.