A Look At The Top MS-69 Commem Half Dollars

Nice write cc. The modern commem halfs are one of my favorite series. I personally think the 5 star general will follow the path of the Army half with only 1 getting a PCGS MS 70 and they arent exactly flying off the shelf last time I checked. I had to look through 10 of them just to find two 69s. For whatever reason Denver doesn't seem to be able to make a high quality commemorative half by todays standards.

I enjoyed reading the article very much! It provides useful information and a well-reasoned perspective for those collecting the modern US commemorative half-dollar series. The historical charts of the market pricing for the coins you covered were a great summary of what has transpired in the secondary market for these coins over the past decade or so.

I definitely agree with your thoughts concerning how the series should be pursued for the "sheer enjoyment" of collecting. I maintain that such a philosophy would be a good one for the entire modern US commemorative coins - gold, silver and clad. There just isn't enough of a collector base for each of the series to create a strong secondary market. Sure there are a few coins that command reasonably strong prices in the market, but even many of those have seen significant falls in market value - just look at the history of the Jackie Robinson gold $5.00 coin in uncirculated!

The history of market values for the 1982-D uncirculated Washington 250th anniversary silver half-dollar is certainly one of the series' more dramatic stories. The fall from $900+ price points to today's $150 or so (for a truly nice example) certainly illustrates the danger involved in approaching modern commemoratives (of any country) with an eye toward "investment" potential.

Regarding the 1982-D Washington, I will say that my inspections of recently graded coins have led me to believe that "market pressures" have caused the grading standards for MS-69 examples to loosen. I have examined a number of recently-slabbed coins (i.e., graded/certified over the past couple of years) that were in MS-69 holders but featured enough visible scratches, in number and severity, to argue against such a lofty grade - at least if my grading eye is part of the argument!

Interesting perspective on Krawczewicz's use / depiction of the lane divider on the 1996 Atlantic Olympics Swimming half-dollar - fesse raguly - not sure, but I'm no heraldry expert!

Good stuff!

Very nice article CC ... I enjoyed the part where you stated that the only MS70 was actually returned and became an MS68!

Would like to know how that happened.




Indeed ... keep it up for the entire series and then you can join us low-ball collectors of the classic silver commemorative series.

David