Is The 1975 Half Dollar Rare? Here’s Why You Can’t Find 1975 Half Dollars

You may have noticed that you can’t find any 1975 Kennedy half dollars.

Wondering why they don’t turn up these days?

Is it because 1975 Kennedy half dollars are rare and valuable?

As you’re about to find out, there’s a big reason why you’ll NEVER find a 1975 Kennedy half dollar.

And yet… you may actually have a bunch of Kennedy halves that were struck in 1975!

No Kennedy Half Dollars Were Made In 1975 – Here’s Why

Let’s take a trip back to the mid-1970s... Disco pulsated at night clubs across the country, bell bottoms and leisure suits were the apparel du jour, and millions were becoming more environmentally conscious amid concerns over big-city smog and energy shortages.

Meanwhile, the powers that be at the United States Mint and Treasury office were preparing for the nation’s 200th birthday — the Bicentennial — in a big way.

The American Revolution Bicentennial Commission had long been advocating for special coins that commemorated the nation’s Bicentennial in 1976. It seemed like a good idea to many. But not everyone was convinced the U.S. Mint should make commemorative coins for the special occasion.

The nation’s commemorative coin program was originally shut down back in the 1950s due to real and perceived financial abuses. There were way too many commemorative coins coming around that celebrated what some felt were relatively insignificant events. And where exactly was all the money going? Sooooo many stories are out there about U.S. commemorative coin scandals.

After much Congressional back-and-forth, it was agreed that the United States Mint would issue a special quarter, half dollar, and dollar coin with Bicentennial designs:

• The obverse, or heads side, of the 3 coins would have a special 1776-1976 dual dating feature.
• The reverse, or tails side, of those coins would carry special commemorative designs submitted by the public.

Around 900 design entries were submitted by the public in late 1973 and early 1974. The designs were selected with the following winners:

• Jack L. Ahr with his drummer boy design for the 1976 QUARTER
• Seth Huntington and his motif of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall for the 1976 HALF DOLLAR
• Dennis Williams’ artistic rendering of the Liberty Bell over the Moon for the 1976 DOLLAR COIN

As the United States Mint and United States Treasury officials were preparing the production of the 1976 Bicentennial coins, they realized they could be in for some trouble by coin collectors. You see, the Bicentennial quarter, half dollar, and dollar could not be struck until midway into 1975. That wouldn’t have left enough time for the U.S. Mint to produce enough 1975-dated coins to prevent them from becoming rare collectors’ items — and, therefore, being hoarded from circulation!

To prevent instigating a possible coin shortage, Mint officials asked for special legal permission to continue making 1974-dated coins until the first 1776-1976 Bicentennial coins could be struck.

Legal permission was granted for the Mint to go from striking 1974-dated quarters, half dollars, and dollar coins to those dated 1976.

And THAT, my friends, is why you can’t find any 1975 quarters, 1975 half dollars, or 1975 dollar coins!

But, You May Have Some 1975 Half Dollars After All!

So, you now see that while there weren’t any 1975-dated half dollars struck, there were in fact millions of half dollars that were made in 1975.

So, how do you tell whether your half dollar was struck in 1974, in 1975, or in 1976?

Unfortunately, there is no way to distinguish if your 1974 Kennedy half dollar was made in 1974 or 1975. Just the same, you can’t tell if your 1776-1976 Bicentennial half dollar was made in 1975 or 1976.

However, millions of Kennedy half dollars were struck in 1975. So, the odds are if you have a lot of 1974 or 1976 Kennedy halves, you likely have some that were actually produced in 1975!

How Much Is A 1975 Half Dollar Worth?

While there are no 1975-dated Kennedy half dollars out there, there ARE Kennedy half dollars from 1974 and 1976 that were struck in 1975.

Therefore, if you’ve been looking for 1975 half dollars, you may want to know what 1974 and 1976 half dollars are worth.

Where To Find 1975 Half Dollars

Again, no Kennedy half dollars bearing a 1975 date exist. However, you may find 1974 or 1976 Kennedy half dollars worth money that were struck in 1975.

Where would you find these coins?

Kennedy half dollars were struck for circulation in 1975. Therefore, you would think that you could find mid-1970s half dollars worth money in circulation — but that’s just not the way it is.

By the 1970s, half dollars were being hoarded by Americans who thought all Kennedy half dollars were valuable. In reality, most worn clad Kennedy half dollars are worth only their face value — but that doesn’t change the fact that half dollars are rare in pocket change.

So where do you find half dollars? You can go right to your local bank! That’s right, you can usually pick up half dollars at a bank, credit union, or other financial institution.

Sometimes the bank will have a few on hand loose in a change till. Or they may have some rolls of half dollars that you can buy for face value. It’s often the case that you have to place an order with your bank in order to purchase rolls of half dollars — which you can pick up at a later date when the coins arrive.

You can make some incredible finds going through rolls of half dollars. You may land some silver half dollars. Or you might find some half dollars from 1975 — even if they don’t say they were made then!

Good luck!