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  • What to do with Kennedy half dollars?

    From Barney@21:1/5 to All on Wed Aug 10 05:29:24 2016
    I bought a roll of Kennedy halfs for spending purposes only. What I ended
    up getting was about half of them from 1967 and 1968. Now I don't know
    what to do with them.

    I know I could use them at face value, but I also know they are 40% silver...meaning (from what I've read;) the value of silver alone is close
    to $3 each. I assume unless I'm a coin dealer...there's no way I could
    even fetch close to that amount. I'm not a coin collector, and I'm not one
    to be selling coins via Ebay.

    So what do I do with them? How much could I expect to get by selling them
    to a retail coin dealer? Would a retail coin dealer even buy them? The condition of them are not anywhere near mint, or even uncirculated. In
    fact they are kind grungy; and I have no idea if that means anything if
    someone is buying them just for the silver content alone.


    Thanks,


    Barney

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  • From Ken Barr@21:1/5 to Barney on Tue Aug 16 15:24:24 2016
    In article <XnsA660233FD87F7LeicaLeicacom@216.166.97.131>,
    Barney <Leica@Leica.com> wrote:

    I bought a roll of Kennedy halfs for spending purposes only. What I ended
    up getting was about half of them from 1967 and 1968. Now I don't know
    what to do with them.

    I know I could use them at face value, but I also know they are 40% silver...meaning (from what I've read;) the value of silver alone is close
    to $3 each. I assume unless I'm a coin dealer...there's no way I could
    even fetch close to that amount. I'm not a coin collector, and I'm not one to be selling coins via Ebay.

    So what do I do with them? How much could I expect to get by selling them
    to a retail coin dealer? Would a retail coin dealer even buy them? The condition of them are not anywhere near mint, or even uncirculated. In
    fact they are kind grungy; and I have no idea if that means anything if someone is buying them just for the silver content alone.

    They are certainly worth more than face value, so don't spend them.

    The current deeler buy on 40% silver is about 5.6 times face value,
    or $2.80 per half dollar. This is generally BY THE BAG ($1000 face
    value), though, so smaller quantities are generally purchased at a
    smaller multiple. (It takes a lot more work to buy 200 lots of $5
    face than one lot of $1000 face, so the deeler takes the value of his
    time into account.) At a shop where I used to help out, when silver
    was at this level, we'd pay between 4.0 and 5.0 times face depending
    on the amount being purchased.

    Just call a few local shops and ask "How much are you paying for
    $xx face of forty percent silver?". They should be able to quote
    you a ballpark figure, somewhat subject to change if the spot price
    changes dramatically between the time you call and the time you
    show up to sell.

    --
    Ken Barr Numismatics        email:  ken@kenbarr.com
    P. O. Box 32541             website:  http://www.kenbarr.com
    San Jose, CA  95152     Coins, currency, exonumia, souvenir cards, etc. 408-272-3247   NEXT SHOW: Santa Clara August 26 -28

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  • From Tommy Jasmin@21:1/5 to Barney on Fri Aug 26 18:23:30 2016
    On Wednesday, August 10, 2016 at 5:29:31 AM UTC-5, Barney wrote:
    I bought a roll of Kennedy halfs for spending purposes only. What I ended
    up getting was about half of them from 1967 and 1968. Now I don't know
    what to do with them.

    I know I could use them at face value, but I also know they are 40% silver...meaning (from what I've read;) the value of silver alone is close
    to $3 each. I assume unless I'm a coin dealer...there's no way I could
    even fetch close to that amount. I'm not a coin collector, and I'm not one to be selling coins via Ebay.

    So what do I do with them? How much could I expect to get by selling them
    to a retail coin dealer? Would a retail coin dealer even buy them? The condition of them are not anywhere near mint, or even uncirculated. In
    fact they are kind grungy; and I have no idea if that means anything if someone is buying them just for the silver content alone.


    Thanks,


    Barney

    Barney - I suggest two things:

    1. Go back to wherever you bought this and buy a few more :-)

    2. Throw the silver ones on eBay as a lot and see what happens. There are buyers who accumulate coins like this simply for the melt value, as an investment.

    Good luck!

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