1971 D Kennedy Half Dollar weight 0

[Tegan]

Good day. I have two 1971 D Kennedy Half Dollars that weigh 11.19 grams instead of 11.34 grams. Can anyone explain this difference to me please?

[l.cutler]

Not all coins weigh exactly their intended weight.  Think of it more as an average weight, they can be a little light or heavy. 

[Fenntucky Mike]

There is a weight tolerance for the planchets, +/- .454g for that year, a copper nickel planchet can weigh between 10.886g and 11.794.

[VKurtB]

Curious: Is the strike slightly weak on those slightly light Kennedies? I have found a few heavy ones on which the strike is really strong. More metal to get into the recesses of the dies. Of course the rehubbing associated the the 2014 special strike, and all since, changed the entire nature of the beast.

Edited May 4, 2021 by VKurtB

[Tegan]

, Thank you everyone! I didn't realize there could be that much of a difference in weight (and I realize .16g isn't huge but when the object weighs 11.34g., it seemed a big variance). Regardless, thank you for the quick responses and very useful information! Have wonderful days!

[JKK]

7 minutes ago, Tegan said:

, Thank you everyone! I didn't realize there could be that much of a difference in weight (and I realize .16g isn't huge but when the object weighs 11.34g., it seemed a big variance). Regardless, thank you for the quick responses and very useful information! Have wonderful days!

It was a natural and reasonable question. With circulation, the variance can be rather more profound. I think that a moderately worn coin often loses in the neighborhood of 5% of its total weight (several times greater than your coins' variance) and when the coin is heavily worn, 10% isn't strange. Of course, Kennedys are rarely heavily worn because they have never been common in day-to-day circulation. But if you take a pretty flat wheat penny and compare it to a minimally worn one from the same composition period--say a 1941 vs. a 1958--you might find the weight difference illuminating.

[VKurtB]

2 hours ago, JKK said:

It was a natural and reasonable question. With circulation, the variance can be rather more profound. I think that a moderately worn coin often loses in the neighborhood of 5% of its total weight (several times greater than your coins' variance) and when the coin is heavily worn, 10% isn't strange. Of course, Kennedys are rarely heavily worn because they have never been common in day-to-day circulation. But if you take a pretty flat wheat penny and compare it to a minimally worn one from the same composition period--say a 1941 vs. a 1958--you might find the weight difference illuminating.

At a family run grocery store about 12 miles south of Reading, PA on PA272 (Weaver’s Family Markets), they routinely circulate Kennedy halves. If you pay cash and your total right of the decimal point is .50 or under, you WILL get a Kennedy, unless you ask not to.