Kennedy half dollar
By the time silver was eliminated from the half dollar and the base metal coins were issued in 1971, it had rarely been seen in circulation for so long that some banks had eliminated the slot for the denomination from machines. The Mint had anticipated a dramatic comeback for the denomination, but only a moderate increase in the usage of half dollars was noted after the 1971 clad coins were issued. In July 1971, Mint Director Mary Brooks disclosed that the Treasury was holding 200 million of the new base metal half dollars, as commercial banks expressed little interest in ordering them. "I can't understand the population. They're not using them", Brooks said. Also according to Brooks, most of the over one billion silver Kennedy half dollars had been hoarded by the public. Brooks theorized that because the silver Kennedy half dollar never circulated much and few halves were struck in 1970 in anticipation of the authorization of the new clad coins, the public had become accustomed to not seeing the half dollar in trade. Brooks suggested, "If the country knew there were plenty of them around, they'd probably start hoarding them, too."