CONGRESS AUTHORIZES KENNEDY HALF-DOLLAR
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On December 30, 1963, the bill authorizing the minting of the Kennedy Half-Dollar* was passed by Congress and signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
The Half-Dollar was chosen to pay tribute to the martyred president by his widow, Jacqueline Kennedy. She preferred the half-dollar because the current coin bore the portrait of Benjamin Franklin who had not served as POTUS.
The obverse bears the profile of JFK and the reverse the seal of the President of the United States. The design of the obverse of the coin was the work of the Mint's chief engraver, Gilroy Roberts**.
Mr. Roberts said he wanted to create a "coin whose beauty would endure and (leave) no doubt as to the identity of the subject."
*Kennedy Half-Dollar, minted from 1964 to the present replaced the (Benjamin) Franklin Half-Dollar. A total of 430 million coins were struck, more than the total struck of the Franklin Half-Dollar in its 16 years of production. The first coins, offered to the public on March 24 1964, were sold out by the end of the day.
**Gilroy Roberts (1905-1992) was born in Philadelphia & served as Chief Engraver at the United States Mint (1948-1964). GR was succeeded by Frank Gasparro who designed the reverse of the Kennedy Half-Dollar.
SOURCE
"Minting a Legacy: The History of the Kennedy Half-Dollar," John F. Kennedy Historic Site, National Park Service, www.nps.gov/
