Any half dollar dated 1964 or earlier is 90 percent silver and worth about $13-16 for its metal alone with silver near $40 an ounce as of late 2026, before any collector premium. Kennedy halves dated 1965 through 1970 are 40 percent silver and worth about $5-7. Halves dated 1971 and later are copper-nickel clad and worth 50 cents in circulated condition, with a short list of exceptions: the 1976 Bicentennial halves from San Francisco with an S mint mark that were struck in 40 percent silver, proofs, silver proofs since 1992, and a few scarce varieties. The date is the first thing to read, and for most halves it is the only thing that matters.
The collector money sits in specific years. A 1916 to 1921 Walking Liberty half, a 1938-D Walking Liberty, an 1892-O Barber with a tiny mint mark, a 1921 half of any mint, or a 1964 Kennedy with the accented hair proof design can be worth from about $50 to several thousand dollars. Those are a tiny fraction of the halves in circulation and in inherited jars. The rest are silver bullion, which is still a good result; a roll of twenty 1964 Kennedys is worth about $280.
Quick answer
- 1964 and earlier: 90 percent silver, about $13-16 each in melt, more for key dates and high grades.
- 1965-1970 Kennedy: 40 percent silver, about $5-7 each.
- 1971 and later: 50 cents, unless it is a 1976-S silver Bicentennial, a proof, or one of the varieties listed below.
How to check your half dollars, step by step
- Read the date. Sort into three piles: 1964 and earlier, 1965 through 1970, and 1971 onward. The first pile is 90 percent silver, the second 40 percent, the third clad. This one step settles the value of nine halves in ten.
- Look at the edge. A 90 percent silver half has a solid silver-white edge with no copper stripe. A 40 percent half has a faint, dull edge that can look slightly gray. A clad half shows a clear copper-colored band in the middle of the edge. The edge is what separates a worn 1965 from a worn 1971 when the date is hard to read. Our guide on how to tell if a coin is silver covers the edge test in more detail.
- Find the mint mark. On Walking Liberty halves it sits on the reverse at lower left, below the pine branch, or on the obverse below IN GOD WE TRUST on some 1917 coins. On Franklin halves it is above the Liberty Bell beam. On 1964 Kennedys it is on the reverse below the eagle's left talon; from 1968 it is on the obverse under Kennedy's neck. D is Denver, S is San Francisco, O is New Orleans on Barber halves, and no mark is Philadelphia until 1980.
- Check the date against the key list below. Only a handful of dates carry a premium in worn condition. Everything else is bullion unless it is uncirculated.
- Judge the wear honestly. On a Walking Liberty, look at Liberty's left hand and the skirt lines across her legs; on a Franklin, the lines in the bell; on a Kennedy, the hair above the ear. Flat, smooth high points mean a circulated coin worth melt. Full detail with original mint luster and no wear means an uncirculated coin that can be worth two to ten times melt depending on the date. The coin grading scale explained walks through the grades.
- Look for proofs. Mirror fields, frosted devices and square, sharp rims mean a proof, which was never meant to circulate. Franklin proofs from 1950 to 1963 and Kennedy proofs from 1964 onward are worth about $10-40 as common examples, more for cameo contrast on the 1950s coins.
- Do not clean anything. A silver half that has been polished with a cloth or dipped loses its collector premium and goes back to melt value. Toning, even dark toning, is not damage.
Silver content and melt value by date
Melt values below use silver at about $40 an ounce as of late 2026. They move with the metal price, so check the day's spot before selling. A 90 percent half contains 0.3617 troy ounces of silver, and a 40 percent half contains 0.1479 ounces.
| Half dollar | Years | Silver content | Metal value, about |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capped Bust | 1807-1839 | 89.2 percent | $13-15, but every one is worth more as a collector coin |
| Seated Liberty | 1839-1891 | 90 percent | $14-15, most worth $30-100 or more |
| Barber | 1892-1915 | 90 percent | $14-15, worn examples $15-30 |
| Walking Liberty | 1916-1947 | 90 percent | $14-15, common dates $15-25 |
| Franklin | 1948-1963 | 90 percent | $14-15, common dates $15-20 |
| Kennedy | 1964 | 90 percent | $14-15 |
| Kennedy | 1965-1970 | 40 percent | $5-7 |
| Kennedy Bicentennial, S mint, silver | 1976 | 40 percent | $5-8 |
| Kennedy silver proofs | 1992 onward | 90 percent, then 99.9 percent from 2019 | $15-25 |
| Kennedy clad | 1971 onward | None | 50 cents |
Franklin and 1964 Kennedy halves are the ones people find most often, because they were still in circulation when silver was pulled from coinage and many were set aside. Our separate guides to Franklin half dollar value and Kennedy half dollar value go year by year.
Key dates and varieties worth more than silver
| Coin | What to look for | Value in worn (Good to Fine) condition, about | Value uncirculated, about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1892-O Barber, micro O | Tiny O mint mark, much smaller than normal | $2,000-5,000 | $20,000 and up |
| 1904-S Barber | S mint mark, low survival | $50-150 | $5,000 and up |
| 1916 Walking Liberty | Mint mark on obverse below motto, or none | $50-100 | $300-600 |
| 1916-S Walking Liberty | S on obverse | $100-200 | $1,000-3,000 |
| 1917-D and 1917-S, obverse mint mark | Mint mark under motto, not on reverse | $30-80 | $800-3,000 |
| 1919-D Walking Liberty | D on reverse | $40-100 | $3,000-20,000 |
| 1921, 1921-D, 1921-S Walking Liberty | The date alone | $150-400 | $3,000-20,000 |
| 1938-D Walking Liberty | D on reverse, low mintage | $70-120 | $400-800 |
| 1949-S Franklin | S above bell beam | $15-20 | $60-150 |
| 1955 Franklin "Bugs Bunny" | Die clash marks at Franklin's mouth that look like teeth | $15-20 | $40-100 |
| 1964 Kennedy, accented hair proof | Heavier hair strands above the ear, missing serif on the I of LIBERTY | n/a, proof only | $40-150 |
| 1970-D Kennedy | Only sold in mint sets, never released to circulation | $12-20 | $30-60 |
| 1976-S silver Bicentennial | S mint mark, silver edge | $6-8 | $10-15 |
| 1998-S matte finish Kennedy | Sold only in a Robert Kennedy set | n/a | $150-300 |
| 2014 50th anniversary gold Kennedy | 3/4 ounce of gold | n/a | About $3,000-3,500 with gold near $4,000 an ounce |
The 1921 Walking Liberty halves from all three mints are the ones most worth pulling from an inherited group; each is worth $150 or more even heavily worn. The 1916 and 1917 obverse mint mark coins are often missed because people look for the mint mark on the reverse and find nothing. Our guide to Walking Liberty half dollar value lists every date.
Kennedy halves after 1971: what actually carries a premium
From 1971 the Kennedy half was struck in copper-nickel clad and barely circulated, because by then people were not using halves to buy things. Mintages were large, so circulated examples are worth 50 cents. The exceptions are small and specific. From 2002 onward, halves were struck only for collectors and sold in rolls and bags, so a 2002 to 2020 half in uncirculated condition is worth about $1-3 rather than face. The 1987 halves were also not released to circulation and are worth about $2-5 uncirculated. The 1974-D doubled die obverse, with doubling visible in TRUST, sells for about $30-100. A 1971-D or 1977-D struck on a leftover 40 percent silver planchet is a genuine rarity worth thousands, but it needs a weight check, 11.5 grams against 11.34 for clad, and a lab to confirm. Anything with a silver-looking edge dated after 1970 deserves a weigh-in before you decide.
Common mistakes
- Selling 1965-1970 Kennedys as clad. They are 40 percent silver and worth about ten times face.
- Assuming a 1964 half is rare because it was the first Kennedy. More than 400 million were struck; it is a silver coin, not a scarce one.
- Looking for the mint mark on the reverse of a 1916 or 1917 Walking Liberty and concluding it is a Philadelphia coin. On those years the mark can be on the obverse.
- Cleaning a toned silver half to make it look nicer. Dealers pay less for cleaned coins, not more.
- Treating a proof as a circulated coin and spending it. Mirror fields and sharp rims mean a collector issue.
- Paying key-date prices for a worn 1938-D or 1921 without checking the mint mark under magnification. Added and altered mint marks exist on exactly these dates.
- Reading a Bicentennial half as valuable because of the 1776-1976 date. Clad Bicentennials are worth 50 cents to a dollar; only the S silver version is more.
What to photograph
- Both faces, straight on, in daylight or under a lamp off to one side, filling the frame. The date and mint mark must be readable.
- The edge, on the coins where the date is worn or you are unsure of silver versus clad. The copper stripe or its absence settles that question.
- A close shot of the mint mark area, especially on 1916-1921 Walking Liberty, 1938-D and 1892-O coins, so its size and shape can be checked.
- The high points: Liberty's hand and skirt, the bell lines, Kennedy's hair above the ear. This is what sets the grade and therefore the price for better dates.
- For a suspected proof, the coin tilted so the mirror fields reflect the light.
- Any coin you think is an error or variety: a straight-on macro of the doubled or clashed area.
How WorthPic reads half dollar photos
WorthPic runs on the newest and most capable AI model available, tuned for exactly this kind of identification. Upload both faces and the edge and it reads the design type, the date, the mint mark position and shape, the color of the edge, and the wear on the high points, and from that it tells you whether the coin is 90 percent silver, 40 percent or clad, whether the date is a key or a common one, and roughly where the grade falls. It gives a value range in dollars that reflects what such coins actually sell for, with the current silver price as the floor, and it explains which detail drove the number. When something is not visible, such as a mint mark lost in glare or an edge that was not photographed, it says so and asks for that photo rather than guessing. It identifies and estimates. It does not grade or vouch for a coin, and it cannot detect an added mint mark or a cleaned surface with full confidence from a photo. For a 1921, a 1916-S, an 1892-O micro O or any half you think is uncirculated, a grading service such as PCGS or NGC is what settles the value.
When to get it looked at in person
- PCGS or NGC for any half worth more than about $100 raw, which means the key Walking Liberty dates, any Barber or Seated half in better than Fine, and any uncirculated silver half from the 1930s or earlier. Grading costs about $20-40 per coin plus shipping, and a sealed holder with a grade is what buyers pay for. ANACS is a cheaper option for mid-range coins.
- A coin dealer for bulk silver. Dealers buy common 90 percent halves at a small discount to melt, often quoted as a multiple of face value, and will spot a key date in the pile. Get two quotes.
- A coin club or show for a second opinion on a variety or a suspected error. Many volunteers will look for nothing.
- An auction house only for a high-grade 1921 or an 1892-O micro O with a grade already assigned.
For the rest of an inherited group, inherited coins worth anything walks through sorting by denomination, and what quarters are worth money applies the same logic one size down.