page_title: Kennedy half dollar
section_title: Collecting
hierarchical_section_title: Kennedy half dollar / Collecting
caption_attribution_description: Closeup of the accented hair on the 1964 proof die variety. Note the extra hair lines. Photo was taken by me, user bobby131313, and may be used freely anywhere with no specific permission required.
context_page_description: The Kennedy half dollar, first minted in 1964, is a fifty-cent coin currently issued by the United States Mint. Intended as a memorial to the assassinated 35th President of the United States John F. Kennedy, it was authorized by Congress just over a month after his death. Use of existing works by Mint sculptors Gilroy Roberts and Frank Gasparro allowed dies to be prepared quickly, and striking of the new coins began in January 1964.
  The silver coins were hoarded upon their release in March 1964 by collectors and those interested in a memento of the late president. Although the Mint greatly increased production, the denomination was seldom seen in circulation. Continued rises in the price of silver increased the hoarding—many early Kennedy half dollars have been melted for their silver content. Starting with 1965-dated pieces, the percentage of fine silver was reduced from 90% to 40%, but even with this change the coin saw little circulation.
  In 1971, silver was eliminated entirely from the coins and production increased, but the half dollar still saw only a minor increase in usage.
context_section_description: With the exception of 1965 through 1967, proofs have been struck each year in the same metallic composition as regular issue pieces.  The first Kennedy half dollar proofs were struck in early January 1964. Early strikes depicted Kennedy with heavily accented hair; an estimated 100,000 coins were struck with this feature. This was altered for the remainder of the mintage of nearly four million proof coins. Due to the coin shortage, the Treasury Department announced that no proof sets would be struck in 1965. Instead, Special Mint Sets would be struck to satisfy collector demand. Coins for these sets, minted at the San Francisco Assay Office, were struck with no mint marks early in 1966 with heavily polished dies dated 1965. Similar sets bearing the dates 1966 and 1967 were also struck. A few of the 1966 halves from the Special Mint Sets are known with Gasparro's initials "FG" missing from the reverse, apparently because of an overpolished die.  The first year's production was sold in soft plastic packaging; the 1966 and 1967 issues were sonically sealed in hard plastic cases. In 1968, regular proof coinage was resumed, although production of proof coins was shifted to San Francisco, the "S" mintmark added and sets were encapsulated in hard plastic.
  In 1973, Congress authorized silver-clad collector versions of the Bicentennial coins; in April 1975, the Mint began to strike them. The coins were issued in both proof and uncirculated quality. Copper-nickel clad Bicentennial coins were placed in both the 1975 and 1976 proof sets, while their silver clad counterparts were sold in three coin sets.   Since 1992, the Mint has struck Kennedy half dollars in 90% silver for inclusion in special silver proof sets. 1964 proofs were struck in Philadelphia, and since 1968, proof coins have been struck in San Francisco only.  In 1998, some silver proof pieces were struck to a matte finish for inclusion in a set along with a Robert F. Kennedy commemorative silver dollar.  From 2005–2010, uncirculated pieces included in mint sets received a matte finish, which differentiates them from the pieces sold in bags and rolls.
  In addition to the Accented Hair variety, one variety of the Kennedy half which receives significant interest due to its rarity is the 1964 Special Mint Set ('SMS') half dollar; Approximately 'a dozen or so' examples have been located over the course of the 2000s to the present day, and feature a 'satin finish' with well-defined strikes and die polishing lines. It is the rarest non-error variety of the Kennedy half known to date.
  Examples of this variety typically sell for significant amounts of money; a 1964 Special Mint Set half dollar sold for $47,000 in 2016. 
  In 1998, a special "matte finish" Kennedy half dollar was issued as part of the two-coin "Kennedy Collectors Set", paired with a commemorative silver dollar honoring Robert F. Kennedy. Bewteen 62,000 and 64,000 1998-S, matte finish coins were issued, making it the lowest-mintage of the series.
  In 2019, an Enhanced Reverse Proof Kennedy half dollar was included in a special set with an Apollo 11 50th anniversary half dollar. The special Kennedy half was limited to a maximum mintage of 100,000 coins and sold out.
caption: A close-up image detailing the heavily accented hairlines present on early Kennedy half dollar proof issues
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