1965 Kennedy Half Dollar
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 65,879,366 made
- Mintage
- 65,879,366
- Metal
- 40% silver clad
- Weight
- 11.5 g
- Diameter
- 30.61 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1965 Kennedy Half Dollar worth?
In worn condition it trades for about its silver content, 0.1479 troy ounces. Uncirculated coins with full luster or attractive toning sell for more.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- A die variety or minting error
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1965 Kennedy Half Dollar rare?
- No. With 66 million made, it's one of the most common Kennedy Half Dollars.
- Is the 1965 Kennedy Half Dollar silver?
- Yes. It's 40% silver clad (80% silver outer layers) and holds 0.1479 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1965 Kennedy Half Dollar?
- No mint mark. Mint marks were suspended in 1965–1967.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1965 are scarcer?
- None. Within five years either side, no Philadelphia issue had a smaller mintage than the 1965.
- How many 1965 Kennedy Half Dollar coins were made?
- 65,879,366.
What to check on your 1965
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- There is no mint mark to look for. The Mint omitted mint marks from 1965 to 1967, so coins struck at Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco look identical.
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- A face that's fully copper colored could be a missing clad layer error. Patchy discoloration is usually damage.
- Judge the grade under good light. Check the hair above Kennedy's ear and the center of the eagle on the reverse.
Circulated examples are usually traded for their silver content. Pick out the best ones: original luster and attractive toning lift a coin above melt, while cleaned coins lose most of their collector value.
The story of the 1965
Production at Philadelphia fell off a cliff in 1965. Only 65,879,366 were made, against 273 million the year before. That drop is why the 1965 is the one people look for. In 1966 the figure was 109 million.
No other mint struck it for circulation that year, so every 1965 you find is from Philadelphia.
Across Philadelphia's 58 Kennedy Half Dollar issues, the hardest to find is the 2008-P with 1,700,000 made. The 1965 is one of the easier ones. No Kennedy Half Dollar of the 1960s had a smaller run.
It also marks a change of metal: 1965 is the first year of the Kennedy Half Dollar in 40% silver clad (80% silver outer layers), which lasted until 1970.
Forty percent silver years (1965 to 1970)
From 1965 to 1970 the half dollar kept some silver: outer layers of 80 percent silver bonded to a core of about 21 percent silver, for 40 percent overall. As with other denominations, no mint marks were used from 1965 to 1967 and Special Mint Sets replaced proofs. The Mint struck nearly 300 million halves dated 1967.
From 1968 the mint mark moved to the obverse above the date and San Francisco struck the proofs. Philadelphia made no business strike halves from 1968 to 1970. Halves were mostly hoarded by now. In 1970 Denver struck only 2,150,000, all sold in uncirculated sets with none released for circulation. The 1970-D is the key business strike of the series. Coins of these years have a silvery edge without a copper stripe.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1965
The Coinage Act of 1965 replaced silver in dimes and quarters with copper-nickel clad copper and cut the half dollar to 40% silver. Mint marks were dropped from 1965 to 1967 and Special Mint Sets replaced proof sets.
How to recognize it
Gilroy Roberts' portrait shows John F. Kennedy facing left with LIBERTY above, IN GOD WE TRUST below and the date at the bottom. The reverse, by Frank Gasparro, is based on the Presidential seal: an eagle holding arrows and an olive branch surrounded by a ring of 50 stars. The mint mark was on the reverse in 1964 and has been below Kennedy's neck since 1968.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Kennedy Half Dollar (1964–present) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1965 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 65,879,366 |
| Face value | 50¢ |
| Composition | 40% silver clad (80% silver outer layers) |
| Weight | 11.5 grams |
| Diameter | 30.61 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.1479 troy oz (4.600 g) |
| Designer | Gilroy Roberts (obverse); Frank Gasparro (reverse) |
Mintage: Kennedy half dollar mintage figures (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.