There is no doubt about it: the Kennedy half dollar is perhaps the greatest United States modern coin to have ever been produced. Designed by two Chief Engravers of the United States Mint, the coin still holds intrigue and influence nearly 60 years later. With such a story as is behind the design in general, it only makes sense that at least one, if not multiple, Kennedy Half dollar coins ranging from varieties, years, and mintmarks would grace the top 100 of this continuing blog series.
With help from coin dealers across the country, authors Scott Schechter and Jeff Garrett have rendered this Proof Kennedy half dollar in the top 40 of the top 100 Greatest United States Modern Coins published by Whitman Publishing. Let us continue to explore the fourth edition of the publication.
#35 - 1964 Kennedy Half Dollar, Accented Hair, Proof
The assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, was a dark day in this nation’s history. However, the immediacy of which influential numismatic figures took in commemorating his life with a circulating coin spoke volumes as to how the President impacted the nation. A little over a month later, December 30, 1963, to be exact, a new coinage bill was passed by Congress that authorized the replacement of Benjamin Franklin on the circulating half-dollar coin.
Then-Mint Director Eva Adams was the one to show Kennedy’s widow, Jacqueline Kennedy, and his brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, the first trial strikes of the coin. After their comments on the design (obverse designed by Gilroy Roberts and reverse designed by Frank Gasparro) were taken into consideration, a modified version of the coin was produced. It is said that the President’s wife “objected to the inscribed lines that showed the direction of the President’s delicately coiffed hair” according to the authors of the Whitman publication. It is also said that those objections and that particular aspect of the design were changed because of her personal feelings and recommendations towards it.
The very first examples of the 1964 Kennedy half dollar were struck in a Proof finish. The Mint figured that a lot of the coins would be kept as souvenirs in which nearly four million Proofs were struck. Of those Proofs, there turned out to be two different varieties. One of them was the Accented Hair version that was only known from one Proof die and can be distinguished by a series of accented hairlines in the small area above Kennedy’s ear. The other one showed a reduced version of that hair in which the detail and depth of the lines were not as distinct. The Accented Hair variety accounts for fewer than 1 in 20, or less than five percent, of the Kennedy half dollars struck in 1964. Some of the coins were produced with the original feature that was still in place while it is said that perhaps during the rush of trying to design, produce, and commemorate the late President, dies for the Proof coins had already been created relying on the unchanged, original design from Roberts.
Although it cannot be completely known that the Kennedy’s had anything to do with the final design changes, the Accented Hair varieties are still up for speculation as far as their release. Other than the hair detail itself which can be difficult to detect with the naked eye, there is another way to tell if your version is the Accented Hair. The word “LIBERTY” follows the top arc of the obverse design and the bottom of the ‘I’ in “LIBERTY” is said to have a lower left serif that is always missing.
The first edition positioned this coin originally at #33. Since then, the coin has only dropped two spots in the top 100.