Kennedy Half Dollars
The John Fitzgerald Kennedy half dollar is one of the most recent American coins. Almost immediately after his assassination on November 22nd , 1963 they made a half dollar commerating Kennedy. In 1964, like the dime and quarter, it was made of 90 percent silver alloy. That lasted from 1964 to 1970, until it was no longer used in 1971. Since 1992, all Kennedy half dollars minted in San Francisco they , like the original Kennedy half dollars , were also made with 90 percent of silver alloy. DESIGN Frank Gasparro and Gilroy Roberts designed this Half Dollar. Gasparro with the reverse and Roberts with the obverse. The obverse shows Kennedy on his inaugural medal and the reverse with the presidential seal, which is an eagle with an olive branch in one claw and a bunch of arrows in the other. In 1976, after two centuries of independence from the British, they created the bicentennial Kennedy half dollar. It pictures Independence Hall, which is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which was designed by Seth Huntington. Errors and Counterfeits. It is most likely that no Kennedy half dollars have been counterfeited, but for errors some 1971 -D half dollars and 1977-D were put in a silver clad by accident. FUN FACTS 1. Frank Gasparro, the designer of the reverse of the Kennedy half dollar, also designed the reverse of the 1959 Lincoln cent, and designed both sides of the Susan B. Anthony dollar and the Eisenhower dollar (both sides) but did not do the bicentennial reverse . 2. In 2019, and 1964 Kennedy half dollar sold for 108,000 dollars, making a world record for highest price for a half dollar. 3. The only coins in 1976 that have a bicentennial reverse are the quarter, Kennedy half dollar and the Eisenhower dollar. 4. The half dollars ever minted in American history are the Flowing Hair, the Draped Bust, Capped Bust, the Seated Liberty, Barber, Walking Liberty, Franklin and Kennedy. 5. The eagle reverse was in the first eleven years but then changed in 1976 for a bicentennial reverse because they used Independence Hall. Then in 1977 to now , they used the eagle reverse. 6. 1970 -D, 1987 - P and D were not put in circulation but were but in mint sets for those years. 7. The initials of Gilroy Roberts are on the Bust of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. 8. Before the Kennedy half dollar, there has been seven different half dollars, but some of them have different names for the different years they were minted. 9. The most recent half dollar before Kennedy was the Benjamin Franklin half dollar, designed by John Sinnock, who is also the designer of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt dime. The Liberty Bell reverse is modeled of a sketch by John Fredrick Lewis. Sources The sources used for this article are Google Search, Coins and Paper Money by Allen Berman, The Red Book 2006 by R.S Yeoman and Coin Collecting for dummies by Ron Guth.
