More than two generations had passed since Americans had experienced the shock of a presidential assassination, and the sudden death of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, brought almost immediate calls for his commemoration on a coin. Precedents had been set for such action with the honoring of slain Presidents Lincoln on the circulating cent and McKinley on no less than two issues of non-circulating gold dollars. Though Franklin D. Roosevelt died of natural causes, his placement on the dime less than a year after his passing was still fresh in the minds of Americans living in 1963.

  Congress proposed that a portrait of Kennedy appear on the quarter dollar, as the Washington type had already achieved its statutory minimum coining period of 25 years. President Kennedy’s widow, however, did not wish to displace the revered George Washington, so it was decided that the half dollar would bear Kennedy’s bust. Ben Franklin, who then appeared on that coin, while held in high esteem, simply lacked the status of a president and could therefore be bumped with fewer political ramifications.

  Since the Franklin Half Dollar had been coined only since 1948, special legislation was passed December 30, 1963 that provided for this coin’s early retirement. The U. S. Mint, in anticipation of such action, was nearly ready to proceed by then. Chief Engraver Gilroy Roberts altered the bust from his presidential medal of Kennedy for the coin’s obverse, while Assistant Engraver Frank Gasparro created a reverse design that incorporated the presidential seal.

  The 1964 half dollars were ready for general release by March of that year and proved to be an international hit. Despite the many millions coined, precious few of these actually circulated in the conventional sense of being spent over and over again. Instead, nearly all were held tightly by their first recipients as prized mementos of the beloved president. The reduction of the half dollar’s silver content after 1964 only fueled the hoarding of these first coins.

  The Kennedy Halves dated 1965-70 were coined from metal strip that had three layers pressure-bonded together and are known as "silver-clad" issues. The outer layers were of .800 fine silver to reduce tarnishing, while the center of each coin was just .209 fine, providing a net silver content that was only 40% of the whole. Even so, as the only U. S. coin containing any silver at all, the half dollar continued to be hoarded and was rarely seen in circulation.

  In addition to reducing the half dollar’s silver content, Congress ordered the suspension of mintmarks for a period of five years beginning with the coins dated 1965 (most of which were actually made during 1966!). This ban was lifted in 1968, but the mintmarks were henceforth placed on the obverse above the date, whereas the 1964-D half dollars had carried their mintmarks on the reverse to the left of the olive branch.

  With the failure of the silver-clad halves to circulate, Congress eliminated this one concession to America’s tradition of silver coinage by eliminating that metal in the half dollar altogether. Starting with the coinage of 1971, all half dollars produced for circulation have been of the same copper-nickel-clad composition adopted for the dime and quarter in 1965. These coins have outer layers of 75% copper and 25% nickel bonded to centers of pure copper, giving each piece its distinctive red edge.

  Despite the coining of millions of half dollars since 1971, this denomination has continued to be a coin known mostly to collectors alone. It seems that Americans had simply gotten used to life without half dollars, and it has become impossible to re-introduce this potentially quite useful coin. Its production declined steadily after 1971, and since 2001 no effort has been made to produce these coins in circulating quantities. They continue to be coined for collectors, their mintages limited to the demand for the Mint’s annual Uncirculated Sets.

  Among the more memorable issues from this series is the 1970-D half dollar. Just enough were produced for sale to collectors, while Congress debated the question of eliminating silver from the half dollar. This decision came too late in the year to produce circulating quantities, and 1970-D remains a key to the series. The Philadelphia (‘P’ mintmark) and Denver (‘D’) half dollars of 1987 were likewise made solely for the annual Uncirculated Set, though this time out the Mint announced its plan in advance.

  A highlight of the Kennedy series came with the nation’s bicentennial in 1976. A special reverse by Seth G. Huntington was used on the coins of this date, and it features Philadelphia’s Independence Hall. No half dollars dated 1975 were coined, while the mints produced the bicentennial type during that year and the next.

  Proofs of the 1964 half dollar were struck at the Philadelphia Mint, and they were among the hottest collector items of their time. Just the next year, however, proof sales were suspended until further notice. For the years 1965-67 the U. S. Mint offered what it called Special Mint Sets. These coins were, in some instances, little better than ordinary strikes, though the best of them rival full proofs. When the sale of proof sets resumed in 1968, these coins all bore the ‘S’ mintmark of San Francisco, and that facility continues to produce proof sets annually to the present day. Since 1992, collectors have been able to purchase proof sets in which the dime, quarter and half are either of the current copper-nickel-clad composition or of the traditional .900 fine silver alloy.