how much silver is in a kennedy half dollar 1972

[RonanFitz]

Ah, the great silver hunt for the 1972 Kennedy half dollar! I'm afraid I have some news that might tarnish your expectations. When it comes to the amount of silver in a 1972 half dollar, the grand total is... a resounding zero. That's right, there is no silver in a standard circulating 1972 Kennedy half dollar.

As the provided context points out, these coins are what's known in the business as "clad." Think of it as a metallic sandwich with a copper core squeezed between two layers of a copper-nickel alloy. They look silvery, but they are completely devoid of the precious metal.

The confusion is totally understandable, though. The Kennedy half dollar series had a bit of a split personality when it came to its composition. The coins minted between 1965 and 1970 were indeed 40% silver. However, starting in 1971, the U.S. Mint officially broke up with silver for its circulating coins and switched entirely to the more economical copper-nickel clad version. So, while your 1972 half dollar is a cool piece of history, its value lies in its face value, not its metallic content.