ResearchCoin Shooter's Guide to US Half Dollar Coins
Hunting for treasure with a metal detector, also known as "coin shooting", nets a fair sum of half-dollar coins if you do it often enough. While most of these are just worth face value, knowing your coin varieties can help you identify the half-dollars that are most valuable as either collector types or good metal value. Remember that in coin collecting, grade matters most and with 70 classes of condition set forth by the American Numismatics Association, a coin you find loose on the ground isn't likely to scale up past the mid-40s in condition. Here are the American half-dollars going back in time:
Kennedy half-dollars - minted 1964 to date. Obverse Kennedy facing left, reverse shield-style American eagle except for the bicentennial 1976 date which has Liberty Hall on it's reverse. Either copper-nickel clad or silver clad and silver proof for collectors. The copper-nickel kind is more common, of course, and you can easily tell the difference by weighing them: copper-nickel ones weight 11.34 grams while silver-clad ones weight 11.50. Anything later than 1976 is almost guaranteed to be spendable and not silver. 1965 to 1970 saw silver-clad coins, and 1964 alone had circulated silver coins. Not a notable series, with the exception of the 1974 Denver, which, if in very good condition, should be appraised by a collector for a rare flaw which could make it worth nearly a hundred dollars.
Franklin half-dollars - a beautiful coin in mint condition, with a fiery luster that dazzles the eye and an exceptional design. Too bad the ones you pull out of the ground have lost that luster. Benjamin Franklin on the obverse facing right, Liberty bell on reverse. Silver-copper, with 0.36169 ounces of pure silver. A popular series held in high esteem, even poor conditions of some varieties can fetch a few dollars for rare dates. If not, still good for the silver value. You might just want to hand-polish it (never machine-polish a coin!) to remove all fingerprint oil, wrap it in plastic, and wait a few years to see what happens in the market. Note that these are no longer in circulation.
Anything previous to these two varieties are an extremely rare find as loose change when treasure hunting. More likely to be found as stashes and hordes. But always keep your eyes peeled for:
Walking Liberty half dollars - minted 1916 to 1947. A full body walking Lady Liberty on the obverse and standing eagle with wings open but not spread on the reverse; both presented turned halfway to the left. A nice, meaty chunk of 9/10th silver to 1/10th copper, with 0.36169 ounces pure silver. A popular series that's adored at coin shows, this is an automatic must-appraise coin. Even the most common dates in barely recognizable condition grab a few dollars, and the key date of 1921 is worth hundreds to thousands of dollars! Other dates range from a few dollars to tens of dollars depending on year and in the condition you're likely to find them in.