How Do You Collect Kennedy Half Dollars?
Most Americans who were alive on Friday, Nov. 22, 1963 can recall exactly what they were doing at the moment they heard the news of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Walter Cronkite’s CBS bulletins describing the events in Dallas, Texas early that afternoon are still as vivid now as they were then. This was a great loss which overtook the country. The funeral procession in Washington, DC (attended by many world leaders) and burial at Arlington National Cemetery were televised throughout the weekend. Gradually, the grief found expression in the form of many memorials, including the design and minting of a special JFK fifty-cent piece. Miss Eva Adams, Director of the United States Mint in late 1963, had a discussion with Gilroy Roberts, Chief Engraver of the Mint, shortly after the death of the President. Quarter, half dollar and dollar denominations were considered, and after consultation with Mrs. Kennedy, and several preliminary designs were reviewed, a final choice was made. The 1964
