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Maybe this question has been asked and answered before.

Just was wondering about it last night when I was sorting halves.

Why did the mint make 40% silver halves from 65-70 but did not make dimes or quarters 40%?

I guess what made me think of this too is that Canada had 80% up until 1967 in dimes, quarters, and halves; Why the difference with U.S. coins?

I've heard it said that the half dollar was kept at 40% silver from 1965 through 1970 so that there was some notional amount of silver still being minted for circulation. This way the government could say they didn't get rid of all the silver, and could point to the half dollar as proof.

Also, it was no doubt to commemorate recently murdered President Kennedy.

I think I read somewhere that the silver mining lobbies were able to secure a deal with the govt. to continue using some silver in coinage for several years after '64. Not sure why they picked only the half dollar or why 40%.

I do remember reading that a large part of it was out of respect for the murdered president.

Personally, I'm very glad dimes and quarters never become 40% silver. If they did, not only would most of them have been pulled by the time I was old enough to get in the game, but knowledge about the 40% halves would be exponentially higher. A silver-clad coin would have been infinitely more common, and so the hunt for them, when silver became highly valuable, would have been on a much wider scale.

+1 for Congress and the Mint.

PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY LOVED SILVER

On June 4, 1963 U.S. President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 11110 which delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury the president's authority to issue silver certificates under the Thomas Amendment of the Agricultural Adjustment Act. The wording of this Order was: "issue silver certificates against any silver bullion, silver, or standard silver dollars in the Treasury not then held for redemption of an outstanding silver certificates, to prescribe the denominations of such silver certificates, and to coin standard silver dollars and subsidiary silver currency for their redemption"

In essence Kennedy was trying to circumvent the Federal Reserve monopoly on printing our money and tried to reinstate a truly debt free currency that would directly compete with the debt based fiat money.

On November 22, 1963, barely 6 months after signing this Presidential Order, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson never followed through with Kennedy's Presidential Order. In 1965 then President Johnson signed a bill to end all Silver coinage in the United States and thus JFK's dream of an open and honest US currency died with him.

Yes, President John F. Kennedy LOVED SILVER!

Somebody reads roadtoroota.com

aristobolus wrote:PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY LOVED SILVER

On June 4, 1963 U.S. President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 11110 which delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury the president's authority to issue silver certificates under the Thomas Amendment of the Agricultural Adjustment Act. The wording of this Order was: "issue silver certificates against any silver bullion, silver, or standard silver dollars in the Treasury not then held for redemption of an outstanding silver certificates, to prescribe the denominations of such silver certificates, and to coin standard silver dollars and subsidiary silver currency for their redemption"

In essence Kennedy was trying to circumvent the Federal Reserve monopoly on printing our money and tried to reinstate a truly debt free currency that would directly compete with the debt based fiat money.

On November 22, 1963, barely 6 months after signing this Presidential Order, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson never followed through with Kennedy's Presidential Order. In 1965 then President Johnson signed a bill to end all Silver coinage in the United States and thus JFK's dream of an open and honest US currency died with him.

Yes, President John F. Kennedy LOVED SILVER!

I believe this is the main reason he was assassinated. Most people seem to think it was the war, but don't you think the bankers wanted him dead?