The 50-Cent Coin That's Worth A Ton Of Money

Did you know that, in addition to common coins like dimes and quarters (coins that can be valuable in their own right), the U.S. Mint also produces a 50-cent coin? The 50-cent coin, or half dollar, has a lineage going back to 1794, when it was originally introduced. For more than 150 years, the design featured lady Liberty on the obverse and an eagle on the coin's reverse. Then, in 1948, the coin was redesigned to display Benjamin Franklin on its front and fittingly, Philadelphia's Liberty Bell on the back.

However, the founding father and prolific inventor's tenure on the half dollar was relatively short-lived. That's because on November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. Being that JFK was an extremely popular president and his untimely death was heavily mourned, Congress voted to bump Franklin from the half dollar in favor of the 35th president.

In fact, the earliest Kennedy half dollars from 1964 are worth the most because of their high silver content (approximately 90%). At the time of this writing, silver is trading at more than $32 per troy ounce, which is its highest level since 2013. Still, the scrap value of silver pales in comparison to a particularly rare special edition of the coin, which sold in 2019 for a whopping $108,000.

If you're wondering what made the Kennedy half dollar from the 2019 auction worth six figures, it's from what's called a "SMS," or Special Mint Set. According to Heritage Auctions, the SMS Kennedy half dollars were struck "... from a single pair of dies, showing much sharper detail than the regular issue and having a satiny surface texture." In total, only about one dozen of these beauties are known to exist. The $108,000 sale in 2019 squashed a previous record of $47,000 for a similar coin, sold in 2016.

Admittedly, it's pretty unlikely you'll find one of the dozen examples of this particular U.S. half dollar in your car's cup holder or in your vacation fund change jar. Still, take refuge in the knowledge that more pedestrian 50-cent coins may still be worth in excess of their face value. For example, a JFK half dollar minted between 1965 and 1970 has about 40% silver content and is currently worth $4.74 when melted down. However, potential profiteers should take note that, in most cases, it's illegal to melt U.S. coins for resale.

Post-1971, the U.S. Mint decided to produce these half dollars even less expensively. This meant replacing the silver-copper mix with a cheaper copper-nickel blend. From a scrap metal perspective, these examples are worth more as currency than melted down. That said, rare examples of 1971 and up half dollars do exist. Typically, those coins will either be part of a special-edition set or contain a manufacturing flaw. The most valuable modern-era half dollars can fetch between $18 and $4,500, according to SD Bullion.

Nowadays, you're pretty unlikely to receive a Kennedy half dollar as change from your morning coffee purchase. Since 2002, they've been primarily produced as part of specialty coin sets and other collector's items. With that said, the Federal Reserve can still order them for regular circulation, if desired. That's similar to the status of printing the $2 bill, which many folks are surprised to learn was produced in large quantity as recently as 2022.