Kennedy Half Dollars

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated on November 22, 1963, and an entire nation went into a state of shock. To assuage the heart ache caused by the loss and to honor one of the most loved Presidents of the U.S.A, Congress authorized a new coin to be released. Mint director Eva Adams called Chief Engraver Gilroy Roberts within hours of the assassination to get a coin ready in honor of the late President.

The Kennedy Half dollars were released in 1964. The obverse shows the left portrait of John F. Kennedy designed by Gilroy Roberts and the reverse represents the presidential seal designed by Frank Gasparro. In the years 1975 and 1976, the reverse design was changed to Independence Hall designed by Seth G. Huntington.

Chief Engraver Gilroy Roberts reused the existing bust of JFK he had created for the Kennedy Medal of the Presidential series for the obverse. The reverse was reused by Frank Gasparro from his Kennedy Appreciation medal reverse design. To meet the exponentially growing demand, the mint kept increasing the production until it had released almost 430 million of them.

@CSN we have a collection of Kennedy Half dollars from 1964 P & D mints and other assorted dates.