What is value of 5 gallon jug filled with half dollars?

Answer 1

You have some work ahead of you. The value of this collection depends on a lot of factors, including the dates, mint marks, and conditions of the coins. There's no way to assign a value without having them sorted out. Whatever you do, don't just take them to a bank, or worse yet dump them in one of those thieving coin-counting machines that keep 10% of whatever you put in.

As a rule of thumb, halves minted after 1940 fall into 3 price groups:

Dates 1940-64 : in average condition all dates and mint marks are worth about $7-8 for their silver content. The only exception is a 1946-D, which is worth up to $12 in circulated condition. Precious-metal buyers will pay wholesale, about 2/3 of these amounts.

Dates 1965-69 : these have lower-purity silver and are worth about $2.75 each

Dates 1971-present : all are made of cupronickel, like dimes and quarters, and are only worth 50 cents apiece, so just spend them. (1970 halves weren't released to circulation)

For older coins, getting a price is more complicated. Many are only worth their silver melt value, but the older they are the more likely you will have a coin that is more valuable as a collector's item. There are two links below that give approximate retail collector prices. Remember that a dealer will pay wholesale.