The 1964 Kennedy Half Dollar entered circulation only months after President Kennedy’s assassination, and the public pulled the coins from circulation nearly as fast as the Mint released them. This listing delivers $1 in face value, two half dollars in total, each struck in 90% silver. Stackers buy these coins for their low premiums and easy math. Collectors buy them for the story behind the design.
Key Features:
- Purity and Weight: 90% silver, 12.5 grams gross per coin, approximately 0.715 troy oz of actual silver per $1 face value
- Metal Type: 90% silver, 10% copper (constitutional silver)
- Obverse Design: Gilroy Roberts portrait of John F. Kennedy with LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST
- Reverse Design: Frank Gasparro heraldic eagle within a ring of 50 stars, HALF DOLLAR below
The obverse carries Gilroy Roberts’ left-facing profile of Kennedy. LIBERTY arcs around the rim, partly crossed by the top of the portrait, while IN GOD WE TRUST sits in two segments on either side of the neckline with the date 1964 beneath. Roberts modeled the hair in fine raised strands that remain distinct even on circulated examples.
Frank Gasparro’s reverse adapts the Presidential Seal. The eagle spreads its wings behind a striped shield, grasping an olive branch in one talon and a bundle of arrows in the other, with a banner reading E PLURIBUS UNUM above its head. A complete ring of 50 stars encircles the design, framed by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA above and HALF DOLLAR below. Congress authorized the coin in December 1963, and 1964 proved to be the only year the series was struck in 90% silver before the alloy dropped to 40% in 1965.
Each half dollar measures 30.6 mm across with a reeded edge. These are circulated coins, so expect honest wear and natural toning. Silver content calculates directly from face value, which keeps 90% coinage simple to buy, price, and trade in any quantity.
Two silver halves from a single-year issue give you real silver weight and a piece of American history at a modest premium. Add $1 face value of 1964 Kennedy halves to your stack today.