2015 half dollar

johnnyv123 · Jul 18, 2015

Hello all,

I was reading some forum posts when I read that someone said new half dollars aren't normally found until about six months into the year.

Last week I found a 2015 half dollar, so I created this thread for anyone else who has found a 2015 half dollar to chime in and let the forum know you have found one.

I am sure this is not too special, but just wanted to see how many of this new halves have already made there way into and out of circulation (into circulation and into my hands, effectively taking them out of circulation).

Thanks,

John

BuffaloBoy · Jul 18, 2015

Early may I found one. Since then I have not found any more.

johnnyv123 · Jul 18, 2015

Interesting, thanks. How many halves have you searched since May?

BuffaloBoy · Jul 19, 2015

Many boxes

They are uncommon to find, but all it takes is someone to dump a bunch of them into a supply and you could find multiple from one box.

Seener53 · Jul 19, 2015

I found 2 so far.

weighit · Jul 19, 2015

I also had a few in the boxes this month, and still find it so strange that the Government is making new coins since nobody uses them in everyday transactions, except us CRH nuts! Such a waste of taxpayer money.

baddbluff · Jul 19, 2015

weighit said:
I also had a few in the boxes this month, and still find it so strange that the Government is making new coins since nobody uses them in everyday transactions, except us CRH nuts! Such a waste of taxpayer money.

The 2015s (as those dated 2002-2014) are all from or intended for mint sets, not circulation. Any we find in that date range are either coins from actual mint sets that someone opened and spent or left over coins that the government didn't use for the sets then put into circulation.

norcalsteve · Jul 19, 2015

I have found 1 so far.
If you go to the US Mint web site you can buy them direct. They sell a 2 roll set (1 P & 1 D) for $32.95. Or you can buy a 200 coin bag for $139.95 plus shipping. These coins are circulation grade but not yet circulated.

CW3(ret) US Army · Jul 19, 2015

johnnyv123 said:
Hello all,

I was reading some forum posts when I read that someone said new half dollars aren't normally found until about six months into the year.

Last week I found a 2015 half dollar, so I created this thread for anyone else who has found a 2015 half dollar to chime in and let the forum know you have found one.

I am sure this is not too special, but just wanted to see how many of this new halves have already made there way into and out of circulation (into circulation and into my hands, effectively taking them out of circulation).

Thanks,

John

I found 2 coins both P & D in the same box about a month ago. I haven't seen any since.
HH
Gary

Iamrussell · Jul 19, 2015

Some areas they are found as early as march- theyre not all frim mint sets as many people buy the mint rolls and send them off to be graded and then toss the "rejects"

Pete_Iredale · Jul 20, 2015

weighit said:
still find it so strange that the Government is making new coins since nobody uses them in everyday transactions, except us CRH nuts! Such a waste of taxpayer money.

That's not how it works. The mint makes the coins and then sells them at face value (or higher in the case of 50¢ pieces). It costs far less than face value to make every coin except the penny, and the mint runs at a huge profit. They literally are making money while making money.

enamel7 · Jul 20, 2015

Plus a new law would have to be passed to stop making them.

gravityrules · Jul 20, 2015

Pete_Iredale said:
That's not how it works. The mint makes the coins and then sells them at face value (or higher in the case of 50¢ pieces). It costs far less than face value to make every coin except the penny, and the mint runs at a huge profit. They literally are making money while making money.

Some highlights from a June 2014 mint report:

10.7 billion coins shipped at a 'profit' of $350 billion dollars.
Demand for cash (& coinage) remains strong and is not decreasing
R&D effort to determine less costly materials is ongoing
No material change has been found that would reduce the cost of producing a penny below one cent

I read a Federal Reserve report that explained coins are carried on their books as an 'asset', while paper money is shown as a 'liabilitiy' ... but that's another discussion for a different time!

I believe it would require a law change to simply not make any circulation grade (business strike) half dollar or dollar coins but there is no law requiring the distribution of such coins from the Federal Reserve (or their contracted regional depositories) to the banks; that apparently is still demand driven. As far as I can tell, there's not much demand for either coin, so not much circulation is evident.

I suppose after a couple of years, whatever quantity of the business strike halves that haven't been sold by the mint at the premium mentioned are ultimately passed on to the Federal Reserve at face value.

I wonder how many days production of halves is required to produce the less than 2 million annual business strike halves at the Philadephia and Denver mints? This is less than a tenth of the quantity minted in 2001 when they were last produced for circulation.

usandthem · Jul 22, 2015

About two months ago I found about 15 2015 halves in a box. Some were Ps and some were Ds. :cat:

citystacker · Jul 22, 2015

I've found 2 in the last month and a half-about 20 boxes or so.

MIhunter · Jul 23, 2015

It has been suggested on this site before,

that collectors buy NIFC halves from the mint and then select out the higher grade ones to be slabbed and sold at a premium.
The rest are dumped at face into circulation.

This would explain why someone would pay more than face value (70-80 cents per coin plus shipping and handlng) for a roll or bag of current year Kennedy halves and a short time later dump them for fave value.

A set of slabbed MS67 2015 PD kennedy halves are selling for $35 (free shipping) on ebay