Kennedy Half Dollar
- Kennedy Bicentennial Reverse
Obverse Design: President John F. Kennedy
Designer: Gilroy Roberts
Design Year: 1964
Reverse Design: Seal of the President of the United States (1964-1974,1977-Present), Independence Hall (1976)
Designer: Frank Gasparro (1964-1974,1977-Present), Seth Huntington (1976)
Design Year: 1964, 1976
Production Years: 1964-Present
Mintmarks: None (Philadelphia 1964-1979), P (Philadelphia 1980-Present), D (Denver, S (San Francisco)
Mintmark Location: On reverse, under eagle’s right talon (1964-1967), on obverse above second and third numbers in date under Kennedy’s neck (1968-Present)
Diameter: 30.6mm
Thickness: 2.15mm
Edge: Reded
Composition: 90% Silver, 10% Copper (1964); Outer layer 80% Silver 20% Copper, inner core 20.9% Silver, 79.1% Copper, Overall 40% Silver, 60% Copper (1965-1970) ; Outer layer 75% Copper 25% nickel, inner core 100% copper, Overall 91.67% Copper, 8.33% Nickel (1971-Present)
Mass: 12.5g (1964), 11.5g (1965-1970), 11.34g (1971-present)
Notes: Kennedy fifty cent piece replaced Franklin half dollar within 3 months of the assassination of President Kennedy by special act of Congress. Due to the popularity of President Kennedy, much of the 1964 mintage was horded by citizens and collectors. 1965-1970 mintages were also hoarded due to their silver content, as other coins had been changed to nickel clad copper. By 1971 when the Kennedy half became copper-nickel clad, banks and merchants had become used to not using half dollars, and the coin has never returned to the level of circulation prior to 1964. Since 2001, all half dollar coins have been sold directly to collectors due to lack of demand for circulation.
Early 1964 halves had a truncated lower left serif on the “I” in “LIBERTY” and the hair above Kennedy’s ear was deeply incised. The dies were revised after about 120,000 coins had been produced. These early coins bring a premium compared to later 1964 coins.
Kennedy Half Dollar Mintages
Issue Total Mintage Notes
1964-P 273,304,004
1964-D 156,205,446
1965-P 65,879,366
1966-P 108,984,932
1967-P 295,046,978
1968-D 246,951,930
1969-D 129,881,800
1970-D 2,150,000 Not released in circulation
1971-P 155,164,000
1971-D 302,097,424
1972-P 153,180,000
1972-D 141,890,000
1973-P 64,964,000
1973-D 83,171,400
1974-P 201,596,000
1974-D 79,066,300
1976-P 234,308,000 No 1975
1976-D 287,565,248
1977-P 43,598,000
1977-D 31,449,106
1978-P 14,350,000
1978-D 13,765,799
1979-P 68,312,000
1979-D 15,815,422
1980-P 44,134,000
1980-D 33,456,449
1981-P 29,544,000
1981-D 27,839,533
1982-P 10,819,000
1982-D 13,140,102
1983-P 34,139,000
1983-D 32,472,244
1984-P 26,029,000
1984-D 26,262,158
1985-P 18,706,962
1985-D 19,814,034
1986-P 13,107,633
1986-D 15,336,145
1987-P 2,890,758 Not released in circulation
1987-D 2,890,758 Not released in circulation
1988-P 13,626,000
1988-D 12,000,096
1989-P 24,542,000
1989-D 23,000,216
1990-P 22,278,000
1990-D 20,096,242
1991-P 14,874,000
1991-D 15,054,678
1992-P 17,628,000
1992-D 17,000,106
1993-P 15,510,000
1993-D 15,000,006
1994-P 23,718,000
1994-D 23,828,110
1995-P 26,496,000
1995-D 26,288,000
1996-P 24,442,000
1996-D 24,744,000
1997-P 20,882,000
1997-D 19,876,000
1998-P 15,646,000
1998-D 15,064,000
1999-P 8,900,000
1999-D 10,682,000
2000-P 22,600,000
2000-D 19,466,000
2001-P 21,200,000 Not released in circulation
2001-D 19,504,000
2002-P 3,100,000 Not released in circulation
2002-D 2,500,000 Not released in circulation
2003-P 2,500,000 Not released in circulation
2003-D 2,500,000 Not released in circulation
2004-P 2,900,000 Not released in circulation
2004-D 2,900,000 Not released in circulation
2005-P 3,800,000
2005-D 3,500,000
2006-P 2,400,000 Not released in circulation
2006-D 2,000,000 Not released in circulation
2007-P 2,400,000 Not released in circulation
2007-D 2,400,000 Not released in circulation
2008-P 1,700,000 Not released in circulation
2008-D 1,700,000 Not released in circulation
2009-P
2009-D
