The Johnson coinage act of 1965

Interesting to read this historical document.

I had read that 1964 dated silver coins were minted into 1965, but I didn't realize how many and for how long. The clad quarter didn't even start circulating until Nov. 1965 and the clad dime had to be at least after July 23, 1965. They also had plans to mint a billion more silver coins after that July date, whether they did or not I don't know. I wouldn't put my faith in anything this document said, or anything LBJ ever said for that matter.

As we all know, silver definitely did not disappear or become rare and there was no profit in hoarding silver coins...

[www.presidency.ucsb.edu]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/2013 04:34AM by marcomo.

I was the runner-up bidder for this 1965 silver quarter: [coins.ha.com]. Should have stretched a bit more...

Through my studies.......... it is my understanding the 1964 dime was minted until the remainder silver inventory (at the mints) ran out...... somewhere around mid-year 1966. It is also my understanding that there was 'overlap' of mintage of the clad dimes whilst the silver inventory was being depleted.

What does this mean??? That there could be sterling coins with 1965 and 1966 dates?

Kevin, the last silvers were all dated 1964. Even if they were minted in 1965 or 1966. The exception would be a rare error type coin where a supposed to be clad coin was accidentally struck on a silver planchet like the one go rebs listed above.

Very interesting info, Tom, that silver coins were apparently released up until mid-1966 and released concurrent with clad. That seems logical since looking at the mintage totals for both Philly and Denver mints, there were more dimes dated 1964 than any year before or since.

I would love to know when clad actually became more dominant than silver in circulation. I know sometime around 5th-6th grade I would get dime rolls from the bank looking for silver. I did it for about a year and it seemed to me that the average when I started would be several silvers per roll, but by the end maybe an average of one silver a roll with lots of rolls having none. The time frame when I would have stopped getting rolls would have been sometime between mid 1968 and early 1969.

Bet I have found 7 or 8 1965 quarters this year.....all clad, dangit....

My hunting partner and I have often commented about occasionally recovering 65 Quarters 5 or 6" deep that haven't got the discoloring of newer coins. In our alkaline soil with the artificial fertilizers they use it doesn't seem right they would not tarnish when similar dates are nearly black when just barely below the surface. 90'ers barely need soapand water whereas clad takes 8 hours in the tumbler to be presentable. I may just have to acid test the next clean 65's that come out of the ground.

BTW , Kennedy opposed the Coinage Act of 65

John F. Kennedy stated that we WILL stay on the silver-standard. A few days later....... he was shot dead.

I clearly remember in 1970......... nearly half the pennies in circulation were wheat's......... most of the nickels were 1939 or 1964... you could easily get no-date Buffalo's..... silver dimes/quarters will still fairly regular in circulation............ and half-dollars were silver. It was actually somewhat rare to get a silver/clad (1965 - 1970) half dollar.

In 1968 (I was living in Taiwan) on a U.S. military installation.......... nearly all of the dimes were Mercury dimes (well worn)...... and all of the pennies were wheat's. Most of the nickels were Buffalo's...... well worn. New money just didn't seem to trickle in to the country.

1965 Dime

By the mid-1960s the rising price of silver—and the dwindling national stockpile—forced the Mint to consider alternative metals for the dime, quarter and half dollar. Many different materials were considered and tested in an effort to find something that would be compatible with the current coins and work in vending machines without requiring expensive modifications.

Private companies were an important part of the process. The Medallic Art Co. and the Franklin Mint struck experimental dimes in a nickel alloy, using designs engraved by Gilroy Roberts. The obverse depicted International Nickel Co. executive Paul D. Merica. The reverse pictured INCO’s Merica Laboratory.

For the dime and quarter, government officials and lawmakers eventually decided on a composition consisting of outer layers of copper-nickel bonded to a pure copper core. The half dollar would also have a clad composition but would retain some silver content for a few more years.

It was a monumental change to the coinage system, probably the most significant since the 1790s. Getting it right took time. The first clad coins were not released until late in 1965.

“It will be some time before John Q. Public receives a specimen of America’s new coins,” the September 1965 issue of Coins said. “Treasury Department will not release the coins for another year or more. The coins will be stockpiled until billions have been struck and nationwide release can be effected overnight.

“Officially the government reasoning is that collectors will take all the new coins out of circulation as soon as they are released, but unofficially, Gresham’s law, the theory that bad money drives out good, has had a great deal of influence on the government’s decision to stockpile the coins first.”

Production of clad coins began in late August 1965, but the Mint did not start making clad dimes until December. The quarter was the first of the clad coins to be released. The December 1965 issue described the appearance of the clad quarter, but the same comments would apply to the dime. “Beyond the new date, you’ll find the…faintly bluish cast of a bright, new nickel.… And of course there will always be that additional distinguishing mark—the copper-brown ring around the coin’s edge. The ham in the sandwich.”

In a Rose Garden signing ceremony for the Coinage Act of 1965, President Lyndon Johnson claimed silver coins would remain in circulation alongside the new clad coins. To discourage hoarding of silver coins, he warned that the government would use its stockpile of silver to keep the market price in line with the face value of the coins.

Date-freeze legislation also was part of the strategy. The Mint continued to strike 1964-dated silver coins as late as 1966, which explains the enormous mintages recorded for 1964, including a combined total of more than 2 billion dimes from the Philadelphia and Denver mints.

The date-freeze policy was still in effect in 1965 and beyond. More than 1.6 billion 1965-dated dimes were struck. Today an MS-65 1965 dime is valued at a dollar.

The last silver dimes were struck in February 1966 and dated 1964. The first clad dimes were released in March 1966.

Clad coins went over surprisingly well, even if they did drive silver coins out of circulation after a few years. Still, there were a few problems. Many people complained about the flat appearance of clad dimes compared to the higher relief of the silver version. It was said the copper caused the flatness in the coins. Eventually, everyone seemed to get used to it.

The Roosevelt dime is now the longest-running U.S. coin design with its original obverse and reverse. The Lincoln cent obverse goes back to 1909, but the reverse dates to 1959. Introduced in 1938, the Jefferson nickel recently received a new obverse portrait. The Monticello reverse has also been modified.

The Washington quarter, too, no longer resembles the original from 1932. Other denominations do not even come close to the dime design’s longevity. More clad Roosevelt dimes have been minted than all previous dimes combined.

An enduring design. A durable composition. And a few milestone dimes along the way that made it a vital part of the monetary system. It helps explain why the dime is still going strong more than two centuries after the first dimes were struck in the basement of a Philadelphia home—and why it’s likely to remain in production for many more decades to come.


[www.usrarecoininvestments.com]

NASA-Tom Wrote:
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> John F. Kennedy stated that we WILL stay on the silver-standard. A few days later....... he was shot dead. I clearly remember in 1970......... nearly half the pennies in circulation were wheat's......... most of the nickels were 1939 or 1964... you could easily get no-date Buffalo's..... silver dimes/quarters will still fairly regular in circulation............ and half-dollars were silver. It was actually somewhat rare to get a
silver/clad (1965 - 1970) half dollar.

In 1968 (I was living in Taiwan) on a U.S military installation.......... nearly all of the dimes were Mercury dimes (well worn)...... and all of the pennies were wheat's. Most of the nickels were Buffalo's...... well worn. New money just didn't seem to trickle in to the country.


About the same time, my older brother told me that my Grandmother would pay him equal value for any silver halves he would find. She would give him a clad half or a dollar for two. She knew then what was going on with the US currency value. Somewhere she left a hoard of silver coins.

You have to laugh at the Central banks.

My vague memory as a little kid was that the first clad coin I noticed was with a childhood buddy. It was a quarter and we talked about how it looked different. I remember we were excited to see what had been hyped as the sandwich coin.

Thanks for sharing the post above, go rebs. Now I know that clad dimes didn't actually get into circulation until March 1966 and quarters a few months before that. The tipping point where clad actually overtook silver in circulation was probably a bit later than I previously thought.

I've found a total of fifty-three 64 and 64-d dimes since I started detecting, a number that dwarves any other silver date I've found.

go-rebels......... THANKS for the confirmation. This also gives creed as to what percentage of certain coins were still heavily in circulation in the 1969 & 1970 era. Very important data for us detectorists. If you are hunting a 1970 house....... you have a good chance of finding silver.

Phil......... smart Grandma. (Now find that hoard!).

Very important info indeed, Tom.

As metal detectorists, our fascination with the timeline for silver fading from circulation is much more than just academic curiosity.

Tom, you are a metal detecting guru and your statistical knowledge of our hobby is unmatched. But I think your timeline is overly optimistic. While I wouldn't argue that silver coins could be found at a 1970 house, I don't think the odds of it would be particularly good. I'm confident that by 1970 (at least in the Midwestern town I grew up in) the percentage of silver coins compared to clad was in the single digits. And I'm reasonably confident it was low single digits at that. So for a house built in 1970 that would mean zero years of drops with a decent percentage of silver still in circulation. Assuming, of course, no previous activity of any consequence on the land before the house was built.

I entered jr high in the fall of 1969 and by then I was definitely no longer searching rolls for silver. How much before then I stopped, I'm not sure. My best guess is I searched rolls for about a year, maybe a little less. When I started getting more rolls without silvers than with, I tried the bank across town and it was no better. I remember going to my grandpa and aunt's house one morning and talking my dad into stopping at a couple of out of town banks along the way. Again, disappointing results.

My semi-educated guess would be that the reason you still saw a lot of silver in circulation later than I did was because you were living on a military base, and the coins in circulation there did not mirror the mix of coins in the civilian population.

This collected data sure does help with the overall/aggregate data-base. In 1970, I was in Falls Church/Fairfax VA....... and still seeing a fair amount of silver in circulation. ((( I wish I could put a good/solid/concrete percentage number of remaining silver in circulation .... around..... say April, 1970. Maybe around 1 out of 20 dimes/quarters..... sometimes better ))). It was not until around Labor Day (1970)..... when there was a notable decline of silver in circulation. If large volumes of uncirculated (1964) silver dimes were being dumped into circulation by the mint in the first half of 1966......... the rest of the data is supportive ))). Yes, I do wonder what a large sampling of small towns across the U.S. would reveal.

I'm in the U.K, and this topic of silver replacement of our coins is rarely discussed. We don't do much park detecting, so detectorists aren't that interested in the topic. Our silver coinage was changed to cupro-nickel in 1947, and our Government actively withdrew the silver coins to help pay off the massive debts acquired during WW2. So by the 1960's, silver was rare in circulation. But it did still exist, and wise members of the public checked their change for the older coins. A friend of mine's parents owned a small sweet shop (Candy store) during the 60's - 80's, and her father checked the small change that was spent in the shop. He accumulated a large jar of over 2 pound weight (1 kilo) and this ended up being inherited by my friend. Prompted by the high silver price, I was asked to take a look at the collection just over a year ago. It was largely 50% coins, nothing special, perhaps 10% was pre-1920 Sterling silver. But there were a few surprises, including a worn William 4th half-crown (a half-dollar sized coin) from the 1830's and a few early Victoria sixpences and shillings from 1840's-60's. The half-crown was demonetised just prior to decimalisation in 1971, so that William coin had over 130 years circulation. The other memorable thing about them was how smelly they were, from decades of handling. The smell stays on your hands for some time, despite vigorous washing.

There are more variables, basic in nature, not taken into acct.
Those being, how did those coins get there in the ground/yard ?

I believe the most common working man's pants in/near a city were
those having vertical pockets (work pants) as opposed to near
horizontal pocket (jean pants). Those work pants I believe (1950s-60')
contributed to more lost coins,Rolaids,keys,knives,etc. than anything
else I can contribute it to, (not to mention a man may easily carry
a monster set of keys, which when pulled out, undoubtedly carried
many non-key items with it onto the ground).

Who cannot say they have not pulled hand-fulls of coins of all
denominations from under a man's recliner...smiling at all the
candy & bb's you knew you were gonna buy....?

Interesting old letter by senator Robert Byrd: [www.byrdcenter.org]

Thanks to all for the excellent responses in this thread.

Tom, your memory is encyclopedic. Very interesting to hear that circulating silver took a sizable drop in your area in an approx. 5 month period between 4/70 and 9/70. My area seems to have lost its circulating silver at a bit quicker pace than yours. In the days before cable, the internet, and the omnipresent social media, trends were more localized and not as quick to spread nationwide. So it would make sense that silver disappeared at varying rates in different parts of the country.

Go reb, more good historic insights and verification of production numbers and dates from longtime Senator Byrd. Definitely more realistic/honest than Mr. Johnson's writings from the year before.

From the timeline that's been established, I would have been in third grade when I saw my first clad coin.

I don't remember a lot of details, but I remember I was with a friend who also collected coins in his back yard when I noticed the different looking quarter in my change. I remember the "sandwich" coin had been hyped a lot before it came out so we knew what it was.

Ironically, we both thought how cool and better looking it was with the different shiny metallic look compared to the dull white of silver. And the sandwich thing fascinated us too.

An interesting tale about the clad quarter.
My father who was an electrical engineer for IBM back in those days would often have to go on seminar trips from the West to NY , White Plains I assume. On one such occasion , while frequenting a local watering hole in the evening , they discovered that the TV in the bar could be made to switch channels by dropping one of the new quarters on the bar top just right. In those days every IBMer dressed like an "agent" directly out of the Matrix and their "investigation" into this resonance issue nearly led to an altercation between the suits and the t-shirts that paricular night. These were also the early days of remote control on TVs.

That's funny, your dad and his co-workers must of had those local boys quite shook up with their magic quarters.