Half Dollar (United States Coin)

The half dollar of the United States, sometimes known as the fifty-cent piece, has been produced nearly every year since the inception of the United States Mint in 1794. The only U.S. coin that has been minted more consistently is the cent.

Half dollar coins are commonly used in casinos; rolls of half dollars are kept on hand in cardrooms in the United States for games requiring 50-cent antes or bring-in bets, for dealers to pay winning naturals in blackjack, or where the house collects a rake in increments of 50 cents (usually in low-limit seven-card stud and its variants). Many slot machines also took in, and paid out in, 50-cent pieces; however, casinos in recent years have phased in "coinless" slots (for all denominations), taking in paper dollars, and paying winners through vouchers.