Silver vs Nickle clad Half Dollars?

Question

Ive gotten a about 20 dollars worth of half dollars(face value) that are from 1992-2000 from the bank today. I checked wikipedia, my general first stop when I need basic information. From what I see, from 1992 to present, no half dollars were released as currency. They were only released for collectors.

How ever, it appears there were both Nickle-copper versions, and Pure silver versions. How can I tell these apart once they have been circulated and some of them beat up?

Answer 1

The Kennedy 1/2 dollars from 1992-2000 are copper nickel clad and there are no silver ones made for circulation strikes P & D mint marks. There were some from silver proof sets but they have a proof surface and an S mint mark. The 40% silver clad 1/2 dollars were minted from 1965-1970. The 2001P was not issued for circulation but the D was. From 2001 no 1/2 has been issued for circulation however from time to time one finds one due to it being spent. Hope this helps

Answer 2

You know what the nickle-copper versions look like.  The silver one are going to be just that, all the same color, silver.  I have a coin collection and haven't really been collecting for 20 years.