By Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker for CoinWeek Notes …..
A date freeze is a policy where a government or government agency issues a coin over the course of a number of years without changing the date.
But when U.S. coin collectors talk about THE date freeze, they are referring specifically to the freeze initiated by the Department of the Treasury in the 1960s. Under the orders of United States Mint Director Eva Adams, coins were struck in 1965 bearing the 1964 date. These coins were of the 90% silver composition. When silver planchets were used up, the Mint started to produce Cu-Ni clad coinage bearing the 1965 date.
Congress authorized the date freeze in the summer of 1964, allowing the Treasury to continue to strike coins with the 1964 date after December 31, 1964. The freeze was put in place until the coin shortage was resolved and the issue was set to be revisited on July 1, 1965.
Normal dating resumed on January 2, 1967. The resumption of mint marking required Congressional approval as the Coinage Act of 1965 called for a five-year suspension of the practice.
Coinage of the 1964-65 Date Freeze
| Dated 1964 | Dated 1965 |
| Cent: Struck in 1964: Proof: 3,950,762; 1,519,165,000;Struck in 1965: 932,780,000 (P); 196,630,000 (S) (2,652,525,762); 1964-D: Struck in 1964: 1,865,163,400; Struck in 1965: 1,933,908,100 (3,799,071,500) | Cent: Special Mint Set: 2,360,000; Struck in 1965: 1,085,000; Struck in 1966: 1,493,779,900 |
| Nickel: Proof: 3,950,762; Struck 1964: 340,964,000; Struck 1965: 683,708,000 (1,028,622,762) 1964-D: Struck 1964: 455,821,840; Struck 1965: 1,331,475,320 (1,787,297,160) | Nickel: Special Mint Set: 2,360,000; Struck in 1965: 972,000; Struck in 1966: 132,799,380 (136,131,380) |
| Dime: Proof: 3,950,762; Struck 1964: 238,770,000; Struck 1965: 690,590,000 (933,310,762); 1964-D: Struck 1964: 572,154,430; Struck 1965: 617,457,120; Struck in 1966: 167,905,630 (1,357,517,180) | Dime: Special Mint Set: 2,360,000; Struck in 1965: 6,890,000; Struck in 1966: 1,642,890,570 (1,652,140,570) |
| Quarter: Proof: 3,950,762; Struck 1964: 258,132,000; Struck 1965: 282,388,000 (P); 15,229,720 (S); Struck in 1966: 4,640,865 (S) (564,341,347); 1964-D: Struck in 1964: 128,801,308; Struck in 1965: 580,334,220 (704,135,528) | Quarter: Special Mint Set: 2,360,000; Struck in 1965: 460,948,000 (P,D,S); Struck in 1966: 1,356,409,540 (1,819,717,540) |
| Half Dollar: Proof: 3,950,762; Struck 1964: 87,448,004; Struck 1965: 144,182,000; Struck in 1966: 41,674,000 (277,254,766); 1964-D: Struck in 1964: 114,411,608; Struck in 1965: 41,793,838 (156,205,446) | Half Dollar: Special Mint Set: 2,360,000; Struck in 1965: 0 ; Struck in 1966: 63,519,366 (65,879,366) |
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