Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
WordNet
n. a United States coin worth half of a dollar [syn: fifty-cent piece]
Wikipedia
The' United States half dollar' coin, sometimes referred to as the fifty-cent piece or simply the half, is a United States coin worth 50 cents, one-half of a dollar, and is the largest U.S. coin currently minted, in both size and weight, being 1.205 inches (30.61 mm) in diameter and .085 inches (2.15 mm) in thickness and is twice the weight of the quarter. The coin depicts the profile of President John F. Kennedy on the obverse and the U.S. Presidential Seal on the reverse, but the design has undergone a number of changes throughout its history. It has been produced every year since the conception of the United States Mint in 1794. The only other U.S. coin that has been minted as consistently is the cent.
Though rarely used today, half dollar coins have a long history of heavy use alongside other denominations of coinage, but have faded out of general circulation for many reasons. It was produced in fairly large quantities until the year 2002, when the U.S. Mint ceased production of the coin for general circulation. As a result of its decreasing usage, a large amount of pre-2002 half dollars remain in Federal Reserve vaults, prompting the change in production. Presently, collector half dollars can be ordered straight from the U.S. Mint, and pre-2002 circulation half dollars may be ordered through most U.S. banks.
The term Half dollar may refer to a half-unit of several currencies that are named " dollar". Normally, $1 is divided into 100 cents, so a half dollar is equal to 50 cents. Coins and/or banknotes of that amount are as such denominated at a value of 50 cents. More than a dozen countries are known to have their own unique dollar currency, out of these not all use the 50 cent piece or half dollar.
colspan=10| Circulating Half Dollars by country
rowspan=2| Country(s) / City
Diameter
Some countries have had many varieties and forms of half dollars/50 cent pieces. The dates used in this table reflect when the current form was first issued.
Usage examples of "half dollar".
On Sunday mornings when the collection plate was passed, Mervin made a show of dropping a heavy coin, a quarter or perhaps even a half dollar, into the metal plate, where it echoed, and he had been seen at the livery stable looking at a type of horse which could only be used to pull a carriage.
The modest man, tolerably far gone with beer and other matters, enters a saloon (twenty-five cents is the price for anything and everything, and specie the only money used) and lays down a half dollar.
As soon as I finished my beer, I picked up my guitar, dropped a half dollar on the bar and headed for the back, pushing the curtain to one side.
He laid a half dollar on the bar and immediately regretted the impulse.
Dab of iodine then, on each of the four small holes, and one round ouchless waterproof patch, size of a half dollar.
Silently he counted out nine silver dollars, a half dollar, a quarter, and two dimes.