Kennedy
Accented
Hair
The Kennedy Half Dollar is a coin of United States first minted in 1964, the year following the assassination of President John F Kennedy. The Kennedy half dollar replaced the Franklin half dollar. Gilroy Roberts, the former chief engraver of the mint, and Frank Gasparro, the current chief engraver at the time, designed the coin a mere five days after Kennedy’s death. It features the face of President John F. Kennedy on the obverse and an eagle on the reverse. The obverse was designed by Gilroy Roberts and the reverse was designed by Frank Gasparrot San Francisco. The Kennedy half dollar was struck in 90% silver in 1964. The following year, this was changed to silver-clad, silver content lowered to 40% in 1971. The circulation coinage composition was changed a final time, eliminating the silver, and using the copper-nickel clad standard common to the dollar, quarter, and dime.
In 1964, the mint mark appeared on the reverse, under the eagle’s right talon. Starting in 1968, mint marks appear above the second and third numbers in the date under Kennedy’s neck. Mint marks as of 2007 include: Blank (Philadelphia Mint in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 1964-1979 P (Philadelphia Mint, 1980 D (Denver Mint in Denver, Colorado) S (San Francisco Mint in San Francisco, California) All San Francisco Kennedy halves are proofs, except for those minted for the 40% silver Bicentennial un circulated sets. Proof coins were minted at Philadelphia in 1964, but all other proofs were minted at San Francisco.
There is a story that says, JFK’s widow Jackie Kennedy did not like the design of the hair on the President’s bust and demanded that it be revised. If true the US Mint retooled the die just to comply!
Authoritative sources think that approximately 1% to 3% of the production of 1964 proof Kennedy halves are the first obverse die, or the Accented Hair variety. If true, it would put the population at around 120,000 pieces before nearly 40 years of attrition. ; weak strikes, milk spotting, glue spotting, dull lifeless mirrors, and most of all, obverse hair-lining. Because of these problems, it is difficult to find any 1964 Proof Kennedy Halves that are a high grade. Genuine Obv-Rev cameo pieces in a high grade are very scarce.
Mintage figures Kennedy Half Dollars, 1964 (90% silver)
Kennedy Half Dollars
1964 – 273,304,004 1964 D – 156,205,446
Kennedy Half Dollars Proof
1964 3,950,762
Kennedy Accented Hair apprx 120,000 ???
Diammter: 31 millimeters
Weight: 193 Grams
Content: Silver – 90%
Copper–10%
