Went for pennies..... Scored SILVER!!

Historyhound

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Went to get this weeks box of pennies and decided to ask if they had halves (they never do). I was surprised when the teller said she had $50, I said SOLD!! Just opened the rolls and here's what I found: 1 1964 2 1965 2 1966 3 1967 3 1968. That's just over 10% being silver. I am a bit perplexed about one of the 67's. In the group pic, it's the fat coin in the center. It also appears to be 90% and not 40%. I've heard they exist, but are extremely rare. Is it common for edges to look like this or should I take a closer look at it? I also had an amazing penny box last week. I'll post those when I have time to resize all the pictures.
 

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Weigh the 1967 half dollar. A 90% silver half dollar will weigh 12.50 grams, while a 40% silver half dollar will weigh 11.50 grams.
 

Nice find on the silver, but your 1967 is not 90%. While the Red book says some 1971 and 1977 coins were accidentally struck as 40%ers, there is nothing saying 1967 coins were struck on 90% planchets.

The reason your coin may be thicker is maybe it was busted out of a mint set and has never been circulated.

Jim
 

I notice that dark colored 1968D half in photo. dose it smell burnt. The reason I ask , is I got 17 1968 40s that look just like that and smell like they were in a fire.Im in NY also and IM wondering if it was in same batch originally.
 

Yes, just weigh it and you'll find out. Looks like a high relief strike to me. Some coins get struck into a high relief particularily proofs. If you look at Proofs, they are always fatter because they have been struck in high relief. Not a big deal.
 

Check for S mint mark proof. Otherwise it could just be a non worn coin in really decent shape or a sms special mint set coin.
 

Good score Historyhound, nice pics :thumbsup:
HH...Miner
 

JD-GA said:
Check for S mint mark proof. Otherwise it could just be a non worn coin in really decent shape or a sms special mint set coin.

There were no proof coins issued in 1967, and 1968 was the first year of them being issued in San Francisco. A 1967 issue would be a SMS coin if it was specially struck.
 

sitman said:
Weigh the 1967 half dollar. A 90% silver half dollar will weigh 12.50 grams, while a 40% silver half dollar will weigh 11.50 grams.

It's 11.5 on the nose, thx.
 

jim4silver said:
The reason your coin may be thicker is maybe it was busted out of a mint set and has never been circulated.
Jim

Exactly. The Mint didn't offer proof sets for the years '65 - '67; inclusive. Rather they offered a slightly less product called a Special Mint Set (SMS) and that '67 half is probably (like Jim says) from one of those sets.
 

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