The Kennedy half dollar is a fifty-cent coin currently issued by the United States Mint. It was authorized by Congress just over a month after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The coin has been struck in silver clad for the Bicentennials and in 99% gold for the 100th anniversary of the first United States Bicentenary of the birth of the president.
About Kennedy half dollar in brief
The Kennedy half dollar is a fifty-cent coin currently issued by the United States Mint. It was authorized by Congress just over a month after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The silver coins were hoarded upon their release in March 1964 by collectors and those interested in a memento of the late president. Since 2002, Kennedy half dollars have only been struck to satisfy the demand from collectors, and are available at a premium through the Mint. In 2014, a special 50th anniversary edition of the Kennedy halfdollar was also struck in 99.99% gold. A special design for the reverse of the half dollar was issued for the U.S. Bicentennial and was struck in 1975 and 1976. In 1971, silver was eliminated entirely from the coins and production increased. Even though ample supplies of circulating half dollars are readily available from most banks, their circulation is still limited. In 1962, President Kennedy had three hundred appreciation medals struck by the US Mint in Philadelphia that were later presented during his June 23, 1963 through July 2, 1963 trip to the nations of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany, Ireland, United Kingdom, Italy, and the Vatican City State. In early December 1963, Representative Henry Gonzalez introduced a bill for the new half dollar. The bill passed on December 30, 1963; the first coin was struck on January 1, 1964. Work was already underway on the first dies already allowed for the use of the designs already available for the coin. The coin was first minted in 1964, but even with this change the coin saw little circulation.
Starting with 1965-dated pieces, the percentage of fine silver was reduced from 90% to 40%, but the coin still saw only a minor increase in usage. In the last 25 years, Congressional approval was required for any design change within 25 years of the last half dollar change. The last Congressional approval of his design change was last year, on December 25, 2013; the coin has been struck in silver clad for the Bicentennials and in 99% gold for the 100th anniversary of the first United States Bicentenary of the birth of the president. The reverse design depicts a larger and more detailed Presidential Seal than the one he designed on the Mint’s Presidential series. Frank Gasparro’s placement of the initials FG is also similarly located on both the Kennedy appreciation medal and Kennedy appreciation dollar required by law for any change in the coin’s design in the next 25 years. The design was approved by Kennedy in person to show him early models of the design; although the President expressed no opinion regarding the depiction, Roberts decided to make some changes after meeting him. Mrs. Kennedy’s reasoning was that she did not want to replace George Washington on the quarter. The late president’s widow, Jacqueline Kennedy preferred that he be depicted on the halfdollar, replacing the previous design of Benjamin Franklin. She also suggested that a full or half figure of Kennedy be used instead of the profile, but Roberts noted that there was not enough time to produce an entirely new design because of the project’s time constraints.
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This page is based on the article Kennedy half dollar published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 10, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
