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1964: the last 90%-silver date for standard dimes, quarters and halves

During the coin shortage the Mint kept putting 1964 on new coins. Standard circulating dimes, quarters and halves dated 1964 are the last 90% silver ones.

“Coins bearing the 1964 date were manufactured from Jan. 1964 through Apr. 1966, inclusive.”

“Includes 19,753,810 proof coins (3,950,762 in each denomination) manufactured during 1964.”

Some 1964-dated quarters and cents were struck at San Francisco after the Coinage Act of 1965, which barred mint marks for five years except on Denver coins already authorized, so those San Francisco coins carry no mark.

“Title II, section 204 of Public Law 89-81, approved July 23, 1965, provides in part, as follows: "No mint mark may be inscribed on any coins during the five-year period beginning on the date of enactment of the Coinage Act of 1965, except that coins struck at the Denver mint as authorized by law prior to such date may continue to be inscribed with that mint mark."”

Silver per coin (our calculation: the weights in the Mint's table of coins made in 1964, dime 2.5 g, quarter 6.25 g, half dollar 12.5 g, × 90% silver; Mint annual report, fiscal 1965, PDF p. 50, Table 14): dime 2.25 g, quarter 5.625 g, half dollar 11.25 g. It isn't the last silver date: the Mint's fiscal 1970 report describes the half dollar then being made with this footnote: “The average silver content is 40 percent of the standard gross weight, or 4.6 grams of silver.” (Mint report)

Figures and quotes checked against their sources on October 12, 2026.