Should The Kennedy Half Have Never Existed? - Page 3

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Author	Replies: 43 / Views: 7,375	Page: of 3

Conder101 Bedrock of the Community United States 17884 Posts	Posted 10/12/2018 12:35 pm How did I miss this thread? Quote: The same applies to Canada where the 50 cent coin is hardly ever used in commerce ? And Canada DID reduce the size of their half dollar, and it still didn't circulate. Quote: Roosevelt being placed on the dime set a precedent. Kennedy's death assured he would be (almost immediately) placed on a coin. Add the fact that he, and Jackie, were wildly popular plus a TELEVISED assassination and the demand that he be put on a coin was a foregone conclusion. Quote: If Kennedy hadn't been killed it is likely that the half dollar would have been made of the same clad composition as dimes and quarters from the get go. Nope, the 64 would have still been 90% silver because all the coins were, and the 40% silver halves were a political sop to get the Western states to agree to the approval of the clad composition for the dime and quarter. The half would have gone 40% no matter who was on it. Quote: If the events of November 22, 1963 did not occur then perhaps the silver content would have stayed a little longer. It is possible that part of the continuing rise in sliver prices was driven by the removal of so many new Kennedy halves. Yes, I know the price of silver was already rising before he was shot, but perhaps it would have stayed low enough to continue with silver coinage a while longer No, the writing was on the wall for the end of silver coinage long before the assassination. The price of silver had risen to the point where all the silver coins were worth less than their metal content by January of 1963. All of the massive coinage of 1963 and 1964 silver coins produced to fight the coin shortage were issued at a loss. (And a big factor creating the shortage was that all the coin being produced were already worth more than their face value.) Quote: There was actually little hoarding of the silver clad issues because people considered it debased junk. Any hoarding of the 40% coins would have been because of the Kennedy fixation. They wouldn't have been hoarded because of their silver content because they were still worth more an money than as silver. The silver value didn't exceed the face value until 1974, long after the 40%er had been discontinued. Quote: Had Kennedy not have been assassinated the FHD would have run its course. Maybe at that time the half dollar could have been retired totally or would it be featuring another face by now. No we would probably have Franklin. But the time it would have reach the end of the 25 year run, 1973, the Treasury was solidly into their policy of resisting ANY changes in the designs on the coinage. Plus by then there were aready pushes for the Bicentennial coins and it would have been a natural to keep Franklin for that. No I feel fairly sure that if Kennedy hadn't been assassinated we would still have Franklin haves today. Quote: Ronnie Ray-Gun? On a coin? Over my dead body. Are you dead yet? 2016 Reagan dollar. Edited by Conder101 10/12/2018 12:39 pm Report this Post to the Staff
Cdncoins Pillar of the Community Canada 999 Posts	Posted 10/12/2018 4:03 pm I like the Kennedy half more than the Franklin. I'm glad the switch was made. However, as in Canada, these coins are no longer made for circulation. I really don't see the point of making them year after year other than to add more weight to the uncirculated/proof sets and generate more revenue for the Mint. Report this Post to the Staff
Dorado Bedrock of the Community Canada 24885 Posts	Posted 10/12/2018 4:24 pm Last post was : Posted 04/28/2014 12:44 pm Edited by Dorado 10/12/2018 4:27 pm Report this Post to the Staff
orange26 Pillar of the Community United States 833 Posts	Posted 10/15/2018 05:46 am I think the coin is fine way it is. It would be nice if more banks have them, though. Report this Post to the Staff
fplagge Pillar of the Community United States 659 Posts	Posted 10/21/2018 08:55 am I am of the opinion that the Kennedy half is one of the most beautiful coins I have ever seen. The reverse (presidential seal) is magnificent. Report this Post to the Staff
DrDarryl Valued Member United States 434 Posts	Posted 10/21/2018 11:06 am You can draw your own conclusion from the 1963 Annual Report of the Director of the Mint (Read the entire write-up by the U.S. Mint and Congressional snippets). Report this Post to the Staff
Kopper Ken Pillar of the Community United States 3402 Posts	Posted 10/21/2018 1:11 pm I believe the Kennedy half should have been a one year commemorative. KK Report this Post to the Staff
Sharkman Valued Member United States 461 Posts	Posted 10/21/2018 1:58 pm Has half dollar even seen meaningful circulation since WWII? I have seen, and have, many well worn Walkers from before 1940, but Franklins and Kennedys don't really seem to have circulated much. From a pocket change standpoint, whenever I get a half dollar, I wish it were two quarters. Report this Post to the Staff
Earle42 Bedrock of the Community United States 10038 Posts	Posted 10/21/2018 2:25 pm When Walkers were circulating, 50¢ was all you needed in your pocket. It would cover a meal with desert etc. So the Walkers had a lot of years of usage. When it was easier to find silver in bank rolls, I also noted it was not hard to find decently worn Franklins. By the time the 60s came around, prices were such that it took more than 50¢ to get through a day. The dollar was becoming what was needed to be carried in general. So the convenience of paper was used instead of carrying two or more halves. When I was a kid back then I asked adults, b/c I liked halves, why they did not use 50 cent pieces. The reply was always the same... why carry around the weight of multiple halves when I can use a bill? Personally I wish more of the Walkers had not been used so much How much squash could a Sasquatch squash if a Sasquatch would squash squash? Download and read: Grading the graders Costly TPG ineptitude and No FG Kennedy halves https://ln5.sync.com/dl/7ca91bdd0/w...i3b-rbj9fir2 Report this Post to the Staff
jimbucks Pillar of the Community United States 4692 Posts	Posted 10/21/2018 3:32 pm The half dollar does not seem to be a useful coin. Vending machines don't take them and Vegas no longer has 50 cent slots (although I guess they come in handy at blackjack tables). At least the dollar coins have found limited usefulness at self-serve car washes. In my opinion the Kennedy half design is not a very attractive coin. Report this Post to the Staff
spru Bedrock of the Community United States 12477 Posts	Posted 10/21/2018 11:58 pm Quote: How did I miss this thread? You're welcome. It's nice to see the discussion continuing. Personally, I do not particularly enjoy the Kennedy design. The Franklin design is marginally better, but the Walker is best, IMO. Unfortunately, inflation has left the half dollar coin lacking, as Earle42 described, and any hope of a WLH revival or even a complete design change is probably a pipe dream. The half may very well end altogether with Kennedy's profile. In Memory of Crazyb0 12-26-1951 to 7-27-2020 In Memory of Tootallious 3-31-1964 to 4-15-2020 In Memory of T-BOP 10-12-1949 to 1-19-2024 Report this Post to the Staff
jbuck Moderator United States 188414 Posts	Posted 10/22/2018 08:59 am Quote: You can draw your own conclusion from the 1963 Annual Report of the Director of the Mint... Thank you for sharing that, DrDarryl! Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
Conder101 Bedrock of the Community United States 17884 Posts	Posted 10/22/2018 9:14 pm Quote: Has half dollar even seen meaningful circulation since WWII? I have seen, and have, many well worn Walkers from before 1940, but Franklins and Kennedys don't really seem to have circulated much. There are plenty of well worn Franklins from the 1950's as well. But by the time you get to the end of the Franklin series, due to coin shortages and the fact that the metal content was approaching the face value of the coin, the coins tende to be held more than spent. Then in Jan of 63 the metal value exceeded the face value and some hoarding began. Once the half went to 40% in 1965 all the 90% halves disappeared rapidly. So the later Franklins and the 64 Kennedy's never had a chance to circulate and become worn. After 1971 when the half went to coppernickel clad all the 40%ers disappeared as well so they never really had a chance to circulate either. Especially considering a lot of them had still been hoarded as JFK mementos. After roughly a decade of the half dollar being a non-circulating coin it had completely "fallen off the radar" and it just never came back into use after it switched to clad. Report this Post to the Staff
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