Those '70's Kennedy Clad PL's- jewels in the rough?

PocketArt

Kennedy half-dollar rolls were of interest this year in my collecting adventures- I've searched hundreds this year looking for silver, and whatever varieties I could find. The rare, and occasional surprise I found were proof like '70's era Kennedy's. I'm not certain what any premium these beauties have- but I sure like the look. Who knows; in another 50 years they may bring a premium? They are pretty cool; I save them when I find them- please let me know whatever information you have on them; as I can't find anything as far as general interest / pricing.

Below are a few of the PL beauties I found this year.

Thanks,

Rich

1971-D Kennedy PL

1972

1972-D

1976 A little chewed up but neat with PL

PocketArt

Nope, I'm certain not polished. These are original as struck but have circulation wear. Some of the examples I've seen that look similar have small microscopic pits that were probably caused by siting in "pop," in the council, or, holder in a car perhaps. These aren't polished.

Honestly, there isn't a whole lot of info on PL '70's clad so probably an honest conclusion if you haven't seen them. They do exist.

PocketArt

Here's a pic of the mirror's on these- also my '74 PL.

1974 PL

cladking

'74-P PL's of all denominations are scarce.

'71-D halfs are one of the most common.

ricko

I looked in a couple of albums I have and noticed this as well... seems they had a special finish on those.... Cheers, RickO

cladking

@ricko said:
I looked in a couple of albums I have and noticed this as well... seems they had a special finish on those....

Most of these come from mint sets but a surprising number appeared in BU rolls as well. "Common" PL's account for a few percent of mint set coins. A few dies were basined each year and this would be obvious on the first several thousand strikes. Sometimes these were used on polished planchets as well so coins can be quite PL. Circulation issues are often reverse only so I suspect many of them were just reused proof dies.

As stunning as PL's can be when they are also clean my favorite issues are those from brand new dies when they are well struck. These are easily found in mint sets (~1:500 mint sets) and are characterized by a finish that highlights the roughness of the brand new dies. I've seen these new die strikes from polished dies but have never seen one from a basined dies.

I personally tend to prefer any nice Gem to a PL unless the PL is Gem as well. I used to just spend PL's since safety deposit boxes to store them are so expensive. I just couldn't save everything. Now days I make room for them.

PocketArt

Great information cladking! Thank you. I've come across a few 1971-d's that have a nice white, frosty luster look. They appear to be struck well and wondering if those are what you describe as "highlights the roughness of the brand new dies." I'm away from house at moment but I'll try to get a few pictures this evening. Has a certain wow factor too along with PL 's.

cladking

@PocketArt said:
Great information cladking! Thank you. I've come across a few 1971-d's that have a nice white, frosty luster look. They appear to be struck well and wondering if those are what you describe as "highlights the roughness of the brand new dies."

It's possible but not likely. The effect is seen on only about the first dozen coins made by a new die pair and many die pair aren't well adjusted to start with so won't display it well. There are means to track these down just like varieties but they are less effective because continuous strikes tend to get more and more separated in handling. This is no problem if you're talking about varieties but with the first dozen strikes they'll easily end up in different cities or different bags.

It would probably require intention on someone's part to acquire these.

'71-D mint set coins are often highly lustrous and roll coins can have whitish look to them. The first strikes are vaguely whitish and usually have a somewhat subdued luster.

PocketArt

@cladking said:

@PocketArt said:
Great information cladking! Thank you. I've come across a few 1971-d's that have a nice white, frosty luster look. They appear to be struck well and wondering if those are what you describe as "highlights the roughness of the brand new dies."

It's possible but not likely. The effect is seen on only about the first dozen coins made by a new die pair and many die pair aren't well adjusted to start with so won't display it well. There are means to track these down just like varieties but they are less effective because continuous strikes tend to get more and more separated in handling. This is no problem if you're talking about varieties but with the first dozen strikes they'll easily end up in different cities or different bags.

It would probably require intention on someone's part to acquire these.

'71-D mint set coins are often highly lustrous and roll coins can have whitish look to them. The first strikes are vaguely whitish and usually have a somewhat subdued luster.

Here is the example I described earlier; when I pulled this out of the roll I had to check my fingers for frost bite- no black. Whooo! The obverse is more lustrous, frosty white than the reverse. But, the reverse has nice luster.

PocketArt

Here is a better shot of the obverse- the fields are semi-proof like but the mirrors are subdued by the frost.

cladking

@PocketArt said:
Here is a better shot of the obverse- the fields are semi-proof like but the mirrors are subdued by the frost.

It looks like it may be some sort of die erosion.

1971 was the first year for clad Kennedy's and there are some anomalous examples.

ricko

That was not the effect that I see ...Mine are extremely mirror like and very clean. Cheers, RickO

PocketArt

@cladking said:

@PocketArt said:
Here is a better shot of the obverse- the fields are semi-proof like but the mirrors are subdued by the frost.

It looks like it may be some sort of die erosion.

1971 was the first year for clad Kennedy's and there are some anomalous examples.

That makes sense. When I first saw it out of the roll I thought it was a 40% silver because of the look- it has more of a silver sheen in hand than copper nickel. Definitely copper nickel though- unless the mint had experimental planchets with a 20% silver 80% copper / nickel alloy...and I had the only one...but I'm dreaming

PocketArt

@ricko said:
That was not the effect that I see ...Mine are extremely mirror like and very clean. Cheers, RickO

Yes, so are mine. The last one I posted wasn't a proof like- it has a different finish I was curious about and cladking answered my question.

ricko

OK..thanks... thought I was off track on the thread.... Cheers, RickO

georgiacop50

There are PL Kennedys from the 1990's decade as well.

cladking

@georgiacop50 said:
There are PL Kennedys from the 1990's decade as well.

Indeed! The PL's start getting more common in '85/ '86 and become much more common in the '90's.

cameonut2011

@PocketArt said:
Nope, I'm certain not polished. These are original as struck but have circulation wear. Some of the examples I've seen that look similar have small microscopic pits that were probably caused by siting in "pop," in the council, or, holder in a car perhaps. These aren't polished.

Honestly, there isn't a whole lot of info on PL '70's clad so probably an honest conclusion if you haven't seen them. They do exist.

Pre-1984 PL coins (except for Morgan Dollars) are scarce. After that, there were significant changes in the way dies were prepared exponentially increasing the number of PL strikes.