1971-D Silver Kennedy

to the Community!

The first thing I would do is compare it to a known silver coin and a known Cu-Ni clad coin. Place one 1964-1970, one 1971+, and the "suspect" 1971-D on a well lit surface and cover with a piece of tissue paper. The silver coins will reflect through whiter than the paper, while Cu-Ni clad coins will reflect through grayer.

The second thing I would do is weigh the suspect coin and compare to the known weights for Kennedy half dollars: silver (both 90% and 40% clad versions) are 12.5 grams, while the Cu-Ni clad are 11.3 grams.

I have done the tissue test and the ring test and in both cases it acts as if it is silver. I have not weighed it yet because I'm not sure what it should weigh, being punched from quarter stock. Any ideas on what I could calculate the weight? Also is a quarter and half blank the same size as the finished coin? If they are I could calculate what the weight should be.

Unfortunately weight is not sufficient to tell a silver clad from a coppernickel clad. A coppernickel clad weighs 11.34 grams but has a tolerance range of .45 grams So it can weigh anywhere from 10.89 grams to 11.79 grams. The silver clad weighs 11.5 grams but also has a .4 gram tolerance. So a silver clad half can weigh anywhere from 11.1 to 11.9 grams. So a coin whose weight falls in the 11.1 to 11.79 grams range could be either one.

You say it passes the tissue test. Then next I would check the edge to see if you can see the center copper or copper/silver core. This is to make sure it isn't a regular coin that has been silver plated.

If the core is visible then it needs to have a specific gravity test run on it. That test will be difinitive because the copper nickel clad has a specific gravity of 8.92 while the silver clad is 9.53 A properly conducted SG test may givee you results that vary from these figures by a few digits in the hundredths place, it will NOT vary by .6

And you don't need to concern yourself with what the weight of a half dollar struck on quarter stock would be, because the quarter stock was all coppernickel just the same as the half dollar stock. The way the 1971-D silver clad halves would have come about was from left over 1970 planchets accidently getting mixed in with the coppernickel planchets. These would have either been left over blanks from striking the 1970-D halves for the mintsets, or rejected proof planchets that were sent to Denver by mistake. (Rejected coppernickel clad proof blanks were routinely sent to Denver, but the 40% silver blanks should not have been. Rejected 40% silver blanks shipped to Denver were how the 1974-D and 1977-D silver Ikes were created and how the 1977-D silver half dollar was created.)

Fankly I supect the note in the RedBook about the 1971-D 40% silver half is a typo. I was not aware of any 1971-D 40%ers, but 1974-D's do exist and they are not mentioned.

Thanks for your input! So if I'm getting this right, there are no 1971-D silver Kennedy's and it would not be worth my $ to send it to PCGS? Thanks again.

Ooops!

The CCF Kennedy half dollar Coin Facts page is wrong.

I thought I remembered the 40% clad and Cu-Ni clad being closer in weight, but I did not have my Red Book with me at work to double check. Must remember to verify, verify, and verify!

You Da Man!

Thanks to you all. I will check into the SG test.