1971 Half Dollar Value: Silver or Not?

A 1971 half dollar has no silver in it. The Mint stopped putting silver in circulating half dollars after 1970, so a 1971 Kennedy is made of the same copper-nickel sandwich as a modern quarter. A worn one is worth 50 cents. The Kennedy halves worth pulling out of the jar are dated 1964 and 1965 through 1970.

Is a 1971 half dollar silver?

No. A 1971 half has outer layers of 75% copper and 25% nickel bonded to a core of pure copper, and it weighs 11.34 grams. That is true of all three versions made that year:

The 1971-S proof has mirror-like surfaces and looks like it ought to be silver. It is copper-nickel clad too. The Mint didn’t strike Kennedy halves in 90% silver for its special silver proof sets until 1992.

The change came at the last minute. On December 31, 1970, President Nixon signed the bill that took the remaining silver out of the half dollar. The same bill authorized the Eisenhower dollar. CoinWeek reports he signed it minutes before midnight. Every half dollar dated 1971 was made under the new rules.

What is a 1971 half dollar worth?

If it has been in circulation, 50 cents. These coins are everywhere. In a 2018 roll search that CoinWeek wrote up, 355 of 2,000 half dollars bought from a bank were dated 1971, more than any other year. They still turn up in bank rolls at face value.

A premium only shows up at the very top of the grading scale. From CoinWeek’s guide to the Philadelphia coin, published October 2024:

• Most surviving uncirculated 1971 halves grade MS64 to MS65.
• Certified MS65 and MS66 coins cost roughly $20 to $65.
• The finest known coins grade MS67, and only a few have been certified that high.
• The auction record was $1,560 for an NGC MS67, sold by Heritage in November 2018. A PCGS MS67 brought $1,200 at Stack’s Bowers in April 2023.

Those prices are for coins already certified by a grading service, and they are two years old. Check PCGS CoinFacts or the NGC Price Guide before you count on any of them. “MS” means Mint State, a coin with no wear at all. A half that has spent time in a pocket or a coin jar is not in this group, however shiny it looks.

The 1971-D is even more common. Denver struck 302,097,424, nearly twice Philadelphia’s total, and a circulated one is worth face value because it has no silver either. For uncirculated 1971-D prices, check the same two price guides.

Which Kennedy half dollars are silver?

The date tells you almost everything. Melt values below update with today’s silver price.

The 1965 to 1970 halves are silver-clad. Their outer layers are 80% silver and 20% copper, bonded to a core of about 21% silver and 79% copper. That outer layer is why they still look silvery.

Some later Kennedy halves contain silver. All of them were made for collectors:

• 1976-S Bicentennial silver-clad halves. Congress authorized 40% silver versions of the Bicentennial quarter, half and dollar, and the Mint sold them only in uncirculated and proof sets. They carry the dual date 1776-1976 and an S mintmark.
• Silver proof sets. Kennedy halves in these sets were 90% silver from 1992 through 2018 and .999 fine silver from 2019 on.
• Special issues. The 1998-S matte-finish half from the Kennedy Collectors Set and the four 2014 50th-anniversary silver halves are silver too.

The 1970 half is worth a second look. No 1970 halves were released for circulation. Apart from proofs, the only ones made were 2,150,000 struck at Denver for that year’s mint sets. CoinWeek lists that as the lowest business-strike mintage of the 40% years. If a 1970-D turns up in your pile, set it aside and check its price before you sell the rest for silver. Our 1964 Kennedy half dollar guide covers the 90% coins in detail.

How to check your half dollar

1. Read the date. 1964 means 90% silver. 1965 through 1970 means 40%. 1971 or later means clad, unless the coin came from one of the collector sets above. You can enter the coin and year in Is my coin silver? to see its silver content and melt value.
2. Look at the edge. A 1971 shows a copper stripe around the edge, because its core is pure copper. A 1964 has no stripe, since it is the same silver alloy all the way through. A 1965 to 1970 half has a core that is 79% copper and 21% silver, so its edge is harder to read. Weigh those.
3. Weigh it. Use a digital scale that reads to 0.01 gram.

A 1964 is at least a full gram heavier than a 40% or clad half, so even a cheap scale will pick it out. The gap between a 40% half and a 1971 is only 0.16 gram. A kitchen scale that reads in whole grams can’t see that, and worn coins weigh a little under their standard. For those two groups, the date is the better test and the scale is a cross-check.

Errors and varieties

Collectors do hunt “No FG” Kennedy halves, where designer Frank Gasparro’s initials are missing from under the eagle’s leg on the reverse. CoinWeek’s September 2026 rundown names the 1966 Special Mint Set, 1972-D and 1982-P coins as the ones to look for. It doesn’t list a 1971.

If you think you have an error of any date, have an experienced dealer look at it before you pay for grading or turn down a fair offer because of it. A dealer or a grading service such as PCGS or NGC has to confirm an error before anyone will pay extra for it.

Selling 1971 halves and the silver ones mixed in

• Circulated 1971 and later halves. Spend them or deposit them. A bank takes them at face value. Paying to have one graded will almost always cost more than the coin is worth; the coin grading cost calculator shows the math.
• 1964 and 1965 to 1970 halves. These sell for their silver. Dealers quote a price tied to the melt value or to face value, and the spread varies by shop. Run your count through the junk silver calculator, then read how much coin dealers pay before you take an offer.
• Original 1971 mint sets and proof sets. Keep them in the Mint packaging and let the buyer price the set as a set.

If you have a coffee can of halves and don’t want to sort them yourself, a local shop can do it. CoinShop Finder listings show which shops advertise free appraisals. Start with the coin dealers directory or the coin appraisal page, and check the Kennedy half dollar melt value on the day you sell.