1990 1990-P 50C MS67

History

Kennedy half dollars have been struck since 1964, when the first-year coins were 90% silver, followed by a 40% silver clad composition from 1965 through 1970 and copper-nickel clad from 1971 onward. Demand for the denomination was already thin well before 1990: the entire 1970 and 1987 half dollar production went into collector sets, with none released for general circulation. By 1990 Philadelphia and Denver were again turning out halves in the tens of millions, though the long slide continued until 2001, the last year the Mint issued the denomination for general circulation. Sales after 2002 were to collectors at a premium, and half dollars were not shipped to the Federal Reserve again until 2021.

Details

The Philadelphia Mint struck 22,278,000 business-strike halves dated 1990, with no silver content in any of them. The planchets are the standard clad type, outer layers of 75% copper and 25% nickel bonded to a pure copper core. The designs are credited to Gilroy Roberts and Frank Gasparro, whose work had been in continuous use on the denomination since 1964.

Features

The 1990 issue carries the Kennedy portrait and heraldic eagle types without modification, and the Philadelphia coins bear a P mint mark. Grading service listings for the date show no separate major variety attached to the issue. Because the Mint did not begin producing 90% silver halves for its Limited Edition and silver proof sets until 1992, every 1990 half dollar of every mint mark is clad, and the copper core is visible as a stripe along the edge.

Notable facts

• The auction record for the date is $1,440 for a PCGS MS67, sold in October 2018.
• Circulated examples and pieces through about MS65 are common, and MS66 coins can still be pulled from original uncirculated rolls and mint sets.
• MS67 is where the date turns difficult, and coins at that grade command a substantial premium over the MS66 level.
• Certified MS67 examples traded in multiple sales between 2022 and 2024, so the top tier is not represented by a single coin.
• PCGS describes the same-year 1990-D as scarcer in gem condition than many dates in the series, with fewer than 500 coins graded MS66 or finer and only a few dozen in MS67 with none above.