40% half dollars

Does any one have a knowledge if the 40% half dollar that are 40% 60% alloy of AG CU --- can it be brought back to there original metals . I consider them a good investment but if they can't return back to original they are maybe not a good investment .

yes they can be seperated from each other, however Gold/silver/coin dealers usually pay atleast 90% spot price making it more profitable to sell them at that price vs. refining (refining costs are high) Also, it is illegal to destroy U.S. Coins

True I was not considering the refine processes , but wonder if the true cost to separate makes that a true investment many years down the road . Seems it's more an vestment on faith that yes silver is there @ 40% but the cost to separate is the real truth .
the 90% are a different story .

It's generally thought that you're better off leaving it as a coin, simply because it's a known quantity of silver. Once you make it an ingot, there's no way of certifying it's content, unless you have it done by a known refiner, and that makes it cost prohibitive

Silver is silver. As long as you know the percentage of silver, it doesn't really matter if it's 5% silver; someone wants it and will pay you for the value of the silver.

I will tell you this as a big coin guy and silver coin enthusiast. Go with the 90% halves. Among the collectors and just plain old sliver coin hoarders 40% halves are looked at as junk in terms of silver coins. Now obviously they have their value but the demand and willingness to buy are not even close to the 90s. That being said buy 1 90 instead of 2 40s.

That answers the question Yes I also like silver & .999 or 90% you know if the SHTF
you have silver that can be melted for what ever use was needed cause it's not cost prohibited .

Legitimate coin sellers sell the 40% with the same rules as silver & it's ok if you want to be a part of that wish silver coin after all $100 face will sell for $500 but really when push comes to shove are you really buying usable silver , it seems not .
For now it's a coin to speculate with but not to put all you eggs (silver ) in that basket . It is the Fiat of the silver coin world . The sellers push " it's silver at 40% " with a low over spot price

I feel many buy it with out understanding it's an alloy . But there is a positive . since many people buy silver ETF's (paper silver) they never even own the AG , they gamble . So one can purchase the 40% with the hope of a gain and a small gain can be taken advantage of due to low over spot .
& worst case you still always have face value . Now any way now I see it's not really a pure silver with little effort .But potentially it is a good alloy for electric conduction

As to the federal law sure it could be enforced but silver seems not to be enforced as our currency is not made of it and the loss of it does not harm our current coin production as a loss .
Those coins are from a day gone by that was our silver the people of the USA had silver as currency.
it was taken from us .
We've had theoretical future scenarios post's like will All copper coins be replaced by steel
all said and done still respectable that our coin currency is copper nickel . except the penny .

As far as I know, the only U.S. coins codified to be illegal to be destroyed are the penny and nickel (2006) because of the Cu content in the current nickel is 80% and the pre-1982 pennies 95%. You could melt 90% and 40% silver all day long but why would you as some as said the old coins are easily recognizable for what they are and if the shtf there will probably be a lot more things to trade than just silver or partially silver coins. My experience is that the 40% Kennedy halves have pretty much gone the route of the 90% (from my little experience of buying a $500 box from a bank this winter after Christmas and finding 0.0 out of 1,000 coins). If you're going to have to buy a silver coin from someone, might as well buy a 90%. Better yet, because the new full 1 oz. US Silver Eagles don't have the collectors value of being old, just pony up with those and not have to worry about refining the other metals out of them. If shtf, cut those up into quarters for easier trading. That's how "pieces of eight" came to be from back in the day...

I think your right CH that the 90% are an alloy. The Kennedy halves are big coins and could easily be clads, although modern quarters are also clads so I don't know how thin a coin would have to be before it wouldn't be easy to make it a clad, maybe there is not limit (isn't a modern dime a clad?). Try cutting a 90% quarter or dime in half and look at it under a jeweler's loop. You should be able to see if its a clad or not.

Current coins are a copper center and Cupronickel surface .Taking into account 90% is an alloy thats ok.
I have found when bringing in scrap silvers the acid test and speed of response color informs tester of quality
and they pay according to there expertise .

Once I brought in some circuit breaker contacts I had from scrap finds . I had seen many on Ebay and figured they were silver also
well my friend at the shop tested and with his skill told me " Some silver and nickel " most important was not enough silver to pay as silver .
Scrap silver at 90% will test out as does a sterling , A honest silver shop knows how to pay .