how much silver is in a 1974 half dollar

[KendraAnn]

Well, brace yourself for some less-than-shiny news. When it comes to the silver content of a 1974 half dollar, the grand total is... a resounding zero. Zilch. Nada. Not a single speck of the shiny stuff.

The provided sources hint at this reality, noting that "most modern Kennedy halves contain no silver" and that only "earlier issues" were blessed with the precious metal. The real silver party was in 1964, when these coins were a glorious 90% silver. The party was downgraded to 40% silver from 1965 to 1970.

By the time 1971 rolled around, the U.S. Mint had completely sobered up and removed all silver from circulating half dollars, switching to a more economical copper-nickel clad composition. Your 1974 coin falls squarely into this modern, silver-free era. So, while it's a perfectly good 50 cents to spend, it's not the hidden treasure you might find in a coin roll from the 1960s.