when did the us mint stop circulation half dollars?

when did the US mint stop circulating half dollars?
(as in stop letting banks have them and sell them on from the mint at over face value?)

 

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2001.....

 

I was at the Langley Credit Union on Langley AFB, VA a few months back. I was there to buy some John Tyler rolls...so it was within the week of the John Tyler release (whenever that was).

Anyway, a USAF Major wants to buy some 2009 Kennedy half rolls. The teller returns from the vault with an unopened $500 box of the suckers.

She asks the Major how many he wants. He asks if he can have the whole box...and she sells him the box.

I wanted some, but I didn't want to break up the guy's box. From that experience, I assume they're available for circulation now.

 

News to me. i thought the mint was only producing these issues for collectors....

 

What I do not understand is why they mint half dollars when they are not going into circulation. Don't get me wrong I love half dollars but they should be used.

I know of kids who had never seen a JFK half dollar until I showed them.

 

Realistically in 1964....when they put JFK on the 50 cent piece !

That stopped the coin from circulating.

Ever seen a Kennedy half that would grade much below VF ? :hail:

 

On page 46 of this week's Coin World is an article entitled...

"Low mintages; not rare - 2008 half dollars low priced"

Speaking of the 2008 Kennedy half dollar, the second paragraph begins...

Coin World goes on to say that the 1970-D, 1987-P, and 1987-D were "not issued for circulation"...doesn't reference others.

Here's an interesting twist...

The R.S.Yeoman Red Book also lists those dates as "not issued for circulation". Additionally, the Red Book also lists the following as "not issued for circulation"...

2001P
2002P/D
2003P/D
2004P/D
(skips 2005)
2006P/D
2007P/D
(it stops there)

This supports what you're saying...Hmmm.

 

Actually I know of one place half dollars are used frequently.
Horse racetracks (at least in Maryland).
Since payoffs are rounded down (yes, down only!) to the nearest dime, all winning tickets can be paid using only dimes and halves.
(Experience indicates they pay you nothing for losing tickets.)

 

As far as I know the 2009 half dollars are NOT being made for circulation. They are only available from the mint at a premium. (Possibly a box of 2000's and you are only seeing the top curve of the last 0?) Sometimes collectors buy them from the mint, search them and then dump the discards into circulation, but an entire box??

 

I found 1 2009 so far in 5 boxes today. Have barely gotten started though.

 

dido

 

True, true...I get them all the time at Laurel.

 

I'm heading back down there in the morning...I'll see if I can pick up some rolls.

 

I thought the same thing, but I was just asking for rolls of halves today, and one of the rolls they gave me was from the mint. It was all 2009D. Only reverses were showing, so I opened the end a little to verify, but they are all 2009D. Should I keep them? Are they worth anything?

-David

 

Condor...I just got back from Virginia, but the Langley Credit Union "shut me down!" I went to get some rolls and, this time, they asked me if I had an account...which I don't. They refused to sell me rolls as a non-member.

I gave $20 to a friend (member) to get me some rolls, but he didn't get them before I left. I'm returning in a couple of weeks and "hopefully" will have a picture of some 2009 Kennedy rolls to post. I'm 99.999% sure the guy I saw got 2009 half dollars.

 

I've seen plenty of halves from my roll searches....The latest-date Kennedy half dollars I have seen with any considerable wear come from the early 1980s.

I remember when I was young I actually had saved up some half dollars that I later spent; I don't know where I got them from, though....I bought a couple Lego builder sets with those and a ton of quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies -- and I wasn't a collector back then (mid-late 80s).

I posit that the circulation of half dollars has probably phased itself out due to millions of people keeping these coins because of shear novelty -- both for the coin itself and its depiction of JFK.

 

Posting essentially the same question in multiple threads - check this one by the same poster - can be really confusing when you run across the one you didn't respond to, and your post seems to have disappeared.

Frankly, its very annoying.

 

Condor...just a follow-up (cuz I said I would). I was at Langley AFB last week and got a Credit Union member friend of mine to buy some Kennedy rolls. Unfortunately, they were sold out.

The teller said they received four (4) $500 boxes of Kennedy halves and they only opened one of them. She couldn't remember the date on the coins, but was positive they were NOT 2009...which confirms what you were saying. All four boxes sold in a week and they haven't received any more since.

Sorry for the confusion...I dont' know how, but something the guy said or did convinced me he had bought a box of 2009's.

 

The only reason half dollar coins are in boxes in banks are because someone brought them to the bank and deposited them. Anything newer than 2000 were NMFC (not meant for circulation) and were purchased through the US Mint from private collectors. It is very common that when “Grandpa does”, junior has no clue what to do with them so he takes them to the bank. Once the bank has a few thousand $$ of half dollar coins, the turn them over to their coin packaging service (Brinks, Coinstar, etc) and the reimburse them with a digital transaction. They then wrap these coins and hold them until some institution orders them. Then they come back in a box of 50 rolls. Many people think that these are Mint wrapped. I can assure you, they are not. The US Mint DOES NOT WRAP COINS. They use a wrapping service to do this with. They SOMETIMES use wrappers that say “US Mint” but only for special releases. Your welcome.

 

Casinos use them as 50 cent chips