Kennedy Half Dollars Silver (1964)

The Kennedy half dollar reached the public on March 24, 1964, about four months after President Kennedy's death. Gilroy Roberts modeled the portrait on the obverse and Frank Gasparro the heraldic eagle on the reverse. NGC calls it the most eagerly awaited coin the Mint had ever made. The new halves vanished almost at once, as collectors, speculators and people who simply wanted a keepsake saved them by the handful and the bag.

The coin arrived at a bad moment for silver. The Treasury was preparing to drop the 90% standard, and Congress froze the date, so 90% halves struck long after 1964 still carry the 1964 date. Philadelphia kept striking 1964-dated halves through 1966: 87,448,004 in 1964, 144,182,000 in 1965 and 41,674,000 in 1966, according to NGC. Denver struck 114,411,608 in 1964 and another 41,793,838 in 1965. The extra output did not keep halves in pocket change: NGC notes that few of these coins stayed in circulation for more than a month or two.

Philadelphia also made 3,950,762 proofs. Proof set sales came close to four million that year, and NGC thinks the Mint could have sold a million more if the coin shortage had not tied up its presses.

This series page holds the 1964 coins only, the one year the Kennedy half was made in 90% silver for circulation. Later silver halves sit on other pages: the 40% halves of 1965 to 1970, the 40% silver 1776-1976 Bicentennial collector coins, the 90% and later .999 silver proofs from 1992 on the 1971-to-date page, and the silver coins of the 2014 50th Anniversary set.

The date does most of the work. Any Kennedy half dated 1964 is 90% silver, whichever mint struck it. A few other checks help separate it from later halves and sort out the special strikes:

• Mint mark: on the reverse, under the eagle's claw that grips the olive branch (search). Only Denver coins carry it, a D. Philadelphia coins and the proofs have none. The mint mark moved to the obverse, under Kennedy's neck, when mint marks came back in 1968.
• Weight: 12.5 grams, against 11.5 grams for a 1965 to 1970 half and 11.34 grams for a regular clad half from 1971 on.
• Edge: a solid silver-colored edge. Clad halves show a copper-colored band between their outer layers.
• Accented Hair proofs: look above Kennedy's ear for extra, sharply cut hair lines. NGC adds two more signs: the lower left serif of the I in LIBERTY is missing, and the fields look overly polished.
• Reverse type: Accented Hair dies were paired only with the Type 1 reverse. Wexler lists that reverse with a straight G in Gasparro's FG initials, while other 1964 reverse dies show a flared G.
• Specimen strikes: NGC describes them as satiny business-strike coins from fresh dies, with fine polishing lines, a Normal Hair obverse and the Type 1 reverse. They are not proofs and not Special Mint Set coins.

• 1964: 273,304,004 struck at Philadelphia over 1964 to 1966. Millions survive in Mint State, though NGC says most are heavily marked from years in bags. Prooflike coins exist but are seldom seen. NGC suspects they were struck from proof dies taken out of proof service while their fields were still polished.
• 1964-D: 156,205,446 struck. NGC says the issue is rich in doubled dies and repunched mint marks. We list a 1964-D quadrupled die obverse, a 1964-D doubled die obverse and a 1964-D D/D repunched mint mark.
• 1964 proof: 3,950,762 struck. NGC notes several doubled-die obverses on the proofs, some showing three or four images.
• 1964 Accented Hair proof: NGC calls it the most publicized variety of the 1964 proofs. The Mint did not count it separately, so no mintage exists, but it is a small share of the proofs. Cameo and Ultra Cameo examples are hard to find.
• 1964 specimen strikes: often sold as "1964 SMS". NGC traces them to fresh strikes the Philadelphia Mint sent to the Smithsonian's National Coin Collection each year, a practice outsiders knew nothing about. When perhaps a couple dozen 1964 sets, cent through half dollar, appeared in the early 1990s, their look stood out, and they still bring strong premiums.
• Master die and hub doubling: Wexler lists 1964 doubled master dies and doubled working hubs. Because these flaws were passed to many working dies, some show up on both proofs and business strikes.

• Composition: 90% silver, 10% copper, for every 1964 half, business strike, proof or specimen
• Weight: 12.5 grams
• Silver content: 0.3617 troy ounce per coin
• Diameter: 30.6 mm
• Edge: reeded

The 1964 half was the last Kennedy half made in 90% silver for circulation. The Coinage Act of 1965 cut the half dollar to 40% silver from the 1965 date on. Silver later returned only in collector coins, which are covered on the 1971-to-date page.