Kennedy Halves with P's on them

earlwbollinger

I discovered that my local bank had a box (yes a box) of Lennerday Halves today.
So I bought a bunch to bring home and go through to see what there might be in the rolls.
Unfortunately nothing exciting, all were typical circulated coins (beats me where they circulate at, only one looks like a slot machine had been eating on it).

Anyway, I noticed that there are real "P" mintmarks on some coins like this 1995 P example below.
I didn't see this mentioned in my coin boos so I assume it's quite common, but it did surprise me anyway.
I did find one of Lord Marcovan's coins, a rare and exotic Zombie Coin as shown in the photo below.

So now to decide whether to spend them, use them as belt decorations, drill some holes and make fancy coat buttons, stuff some into a Whittman folder, or put some rolls up on Ebay and see what happens. I'd even state that they were previously searched as we all know no one reads the descriptions anyway. Maybe all of the above.

nwcs

Spend 'em. I believe the P started showing up on the half in 82. Maybe 80. Can't remember precisely.

cladking

The "P" mint mark made its return in 1979 on the SBA, and then on the other denominations (except the cent) in 1980.

Nice AU's are still pretty easy for most dates though a lot of the coins have spent a lot of time in casinos. These will look like they are covered in fine scrathes and will have a lot of wear on the reeding.

Most dates have been saved in some quantities though some were very poorly madse so can be tough in choice condition.

earlwbollinger

Thanks I forgot all about the casinos.
That explains where these came from. Looks like someone cashed in their winnings from a Lousiana Casino today.
Yup, here's one all scratched up nicely. Almost like someone cleaned it with a brillo pad.

cladking

Yeah. That's it, that's a casino coin. The later dates were made in much smaller quantities
than the older dates and larger percentages of these were used in casinos. Many of the older
halfs have spent much of their lives in bank bags and sock drawers so many look pretty good.
Uncs aren't seen often anymore but there are still quite a few nice attractive AU's for most dates.

richbeat

Apparently, casino halves are becoming a thing of the past as more and more of the slot machines are converting to gaming vouchers.

construct

Some of the casino halves look far worse than that. Some of them look they've been hacked at with a chisel.

I always carry a few halves with me to spend. The only inconvenience is that vending machines and parking meters don't take them.