1971-D

Denver led the changeover. At 302,097,424 pieces, the 1971-D is the highest-mintage Kennedy half of the 1970s and one of the largest single-year-and-mint outputs of the entire series, struck in the new 75% copper, 25% nickel cupronickel clad over a pure copper core at 11.34 g. The 1970 amendment to the Coinage Act of 1965 had pulled silver from the half dollar entirely beginning that year, and Denver pressed forward with the new alloy at a far higher tempo than Philadelphia, where 155,164,000 pieces were struck. Diameter remains 30.6 mm with a reeded edge, Roberts's portrait on the obverse with GR initials at the neck truncation, and Gasparro's heraldic eagle reverse with FG to the right of the tail feathers.

For a coin produced in such volume, the 1971-D is an unremarkable issue for circulated collectors and a difficult one for condition collectors. The hardness of the new alloy and the speed of the run produced widespread strike softness on the central hair detail and on the eagle's breast feathers, plus the standard bag-mark concentration on the high points of Kennedy's cheek and jaw. The coin circulated heavily through the 1980s and was still encountered in change well into the 1990s, so AU and lower Mint State examples are everywhere at minimal premium over face. Above MS65 the supply chokes; PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC, Numismatic Guaranty Company, populations show the issue thinning steeply at MS66 and becoming genuinely scarce at MS67, despite the enormous mintage. Original-roll and mint-set survivors with full luster and minimal contact marks are the path to a clean gem.

The 1971-D functions in the series as a workhorse common date, easy to acquire in lower Mint State for type-set or year-set work and a condition rarity at the upper end. Raw examples sell at face plus a small premium; certification is meaningful only at MS66 and above. The grade-distribution split between raw availability and gem scarcity is the issue's only real story. For the broader story of the design transition to copper-nickel clad and the series' production arc, see the Kennedy Half Dollar series history.