1971

The 1971 Kennedy half is the first year of the coin's modern copper-nickel composition, struck after the December 1970 amendment to the Coinage Act of 1965 removed silver from the half dollar entirely. The new alloy is 75% copper and 25% nickel in the outer clad layers, bonded to a pure copper core, the same sandwich construction the Mint had been using on dimes and quarters since 1965. Weight dropped from the silver-clad 11.50 g to 11.34 g, a change a careful collector can feel with a scale. Philadelphia struck 155,164,000 pieces, marking that mint's return to half-dollar business strike production after a three-year hiatus during which Denver handled circulation alone. Diameter stays at 30.6 mm and the edge remains reeded, with Roberts's portrait on the obverse and Gasparro's heraldic eagle reverse unchanged.

Strike quality on the 1971 runs uneven. The new alloy was harder on dies than 40% silver had been, and early-state pressings show typical weakness in the central hair detail above Kennedy's ear and on the eagle's breast feathers. Bag marks on the cheek, a perennial Kennedy problem, are more visible against the cooler tone of cupronickel than they were on silver. Authentication is straightforward, no Philadelphia mintmark exists for 1971 since the P mintmark on halves did not begin until 1980, but condition is the relevant filter. PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC, Numismatic Guaranty Company, populations thin out sharply above MS66, and a well-struck gem with full hair detail and clean fields carries meaningful premium against the routine MS64-MS65 mint-set survivor. Original-roll coins occasionally surface and remain the cleanest raw source.

As a collecting target, the 1971 is a common date in any grade through MS65, a transition issue that anchors year-set and type-set work for the cupronickel Kennedy. The series-first significance is its primary draw rather than scarcity, and certification matters above MS66 where premiums climb quickly. Raw examples trade at minimal numismatic premium over face. For the broader story of the design transition to copper-nickel clad and the series' production arc, see the Kennedy Half Dollar series history.