1987-D

Denver struck 2,890,758 Kennedy halves in 1987, and the identical figure on the 1987-P is not coincidence; both mints produced exactly enough halves to fill the year's Uncirculated Mint Set order and nothing more. No 1987 half dollar entered general circulation directly, which marks 1987 as the first year the Mint declined to strike the denomination for commerce. The mint-set-only release pattern would later become standard for the half dollar from 2002 through 2020, but 1987 stands as the structural prototype and the single anomaly within an otherwise circulation-active 1980s production stretch. Composition holds at 75% copper and 25% nickel outer clad over a pure copper core, 11.34 grams at 30.6 millimeters, reeded edge. The D mintmark sits low on the obverse to the right of the neck truncation. No major die varieties are recognized for the date.

The provenance question dominates authentication here. Every legitimate 1987-D originated in a 1987 Uncirculated Mint Set, paired with the 1987-P on the same card with the cent through dollar of the year. Coins offered as "circulated 1987-D" deserve careful examination because honest pocket-change wear is essentially impossible for the date; nearly all surface marks on extant 1987-Ds are post-mint handling from collectors who broke up sets, dropped coins onto hard surfaces, or stored loose halves without protection. Genuine roll material does not exist for 1987-D because the Mint never shipped bank rolls of the date. Truly Mint State examples through MS65 are common given the 2.9 million mintage and largely intact mint-set survival, but PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC, Numismatic Guaranty Company, MS66 and MS67 examples are condition-scarce because mint-set cellophane storage damaged surfaces over decades, leaving hairlines, milk spots, and cheek contact marks on a high share of survivors.

For collectors the 1987-D is a single fill in a Kennedy date-and-mintmark set, usually sourced through a broken 1987 mint set or as a certified gem. Mint-set-original examples carry a small premium over the loose coin, and the original packaging itself has minor collector appeal. Realistic acquisition tops out at MS67 for budget collectors, with MS68 sitting in genuine condition-rare territory and trading on registry-set demand. Pricing has been steady for decades, with the mint-set-only context the date's primary collecting story rather than absolute scarcity. For the broader story of the modern Kennedy half dollar and the series' production arc, see the Kennedy Half Dollar series history.