Between 1948 and 1963 the silver half dollar was known as the Franklin Half Dollar and on one side could be seen a picture of Benjamin Franklin and on the reverse side was the Liberty Bell with a small eagle. At the time of it first being minted this coin was required to have a small eagle to the right of the Liberty Bell by law. But what is ironic is that Benjamin Franklin actually opposed the use of the eagle as the USA's national symbol and would have preferred that they turkey (a more noble bird) was used instead.



Then in 1963 the coin was changed upon the death of John F Kennedy the president at that time he was assassinated. But what is the 1963 half dollar coin value and how is it calculated. But the value of this coin changed also because the value of silver had risen between 1962 and 1963 and as this coin contains such a high amount of silver compared to those that were minted in 1964 and onwards.

In the beginning the 1963 half dollar coin was being hoarded by many people for sentimental reasons (as a reminder of a US President who was truly loved) and also because they were the only precious metal US coin that remained in circulation at the time.

At present the 1963 half dollar coin is worth around $4.8141724190 and this relates to its rounded silver value. In order to reach this value a coin dealer will use the following equation. First they will need to get hold of the latest metal prices which at present are $13.31 an ounce for silver and $3.1256 an ounce for copper. They will then take the weight of the coin (12.5g) and convert the weight of the silver and copper within the coin in ounces. They then times the weight of the silver in the coin by the price of silver at the time and then times this by the weight of the coin and then times this finally by the percentage of silver that is contained within the coin and this will give you the final rounded silver value of the coin.

In order to arrive at the 1963 half dollar coin value if the half dollar were melted down, they need to use the same calculations shown above for the copper contained within the coin. Once you have the value of the copper held within the coin you then add this to the value of the silver and this provides the coin dealer with the 1963 half dollar coin melt value.