how much is a silver half dollar worth in silver value

[DeElena]

Well, asking how much a silver half dollar is worth is a bit like asking how good a movie is. You first have to know which one we're talking about, because the year on that coin is everything!

If you're holding a classic half dollar from 1964 or earlier, like a Franklin, Walking Liberty, or Barber, you've got the real deal. These coins are the heavyweight champions, swaggering around with 90% silver content. Each one contains a respectable 0.3617 troy ounces of the shiny stuff. To find its melt value, you just multiply that amount by the current spot price of silver, which changes more often than a traffic light.

Then we have the Kennedy half dollars minted between 1965 and 1970. These coins went on a bit of a silver diet. They're what's known as "silver clad" and contain only 40% silver, which nets you a more modest 0.1479 troy ounces. Still worth more than fifty cents, but not quite the big score of its older siblings.

And what about any half dollar dated 1971 or later? My friend, I'm sorry to say that coin is a silver-impersonator. It contains no silver at all and is worth... exactly fifty cents. So, before you dream of funding your retirement with a jar of old coins, be sure to play detective and check those dates. It's the difference between a nice little windfall and, well, just having change for the vending machine.