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 Replies: 16 / Views: 7,025 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5849 Posts |
I was reading an article on the Mint website entitled "CREATING THE KENNEDY HALF-DOLLAR" and read the following: Quote:
The only significant change to the original design came as a result of our bicentennial celebration in the mid-1970s. An image of Philadelphia's Independence Hall replaced the Presidential Seal on the reverse of the coins produced in 1975 and 1976, and a dual year inscription (1776-1976) appeared under the portrait of Kennedy on the obverse. O.K., so maybe that was the only "significant" change, but at some point the portrait of JFK changed from this:  to this:  The hair seems different, the jaw is less rugged, etc (both of these are proof coins, btw). Does anybody know when, exactly, the changes were made? Or am I just seeing things? |
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Pillar of the Community
Korea, Republic Of
1881 Posts |
You aren't seeing things. The Kennedy half's bust of Kennedy (and the whole design itself) were changed to low relief from the original higher relief of 1964. Not sure when the change occured, but the change seems rather gradual and not sudden to me. Just my thoughts, correct me if I am wrong. Edited by Matteproof
07/16/2014 7:19 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Korea, Republic Of
1881 Posts |
Looking at my Red Book, it states that the design was modified several times from 1971 to present. So the change to the current low-relief wasn't sudden. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5849 Posts |
Thank you, that helps a lot.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1158 Posts |
My 1980 and 1994 are different, so between then.
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Valued Member
United States
78 Posts |
Looking at my collection, there seems to be one major design from 1964-1982, another less detailed and lower relief design from 1983 to 1990, and a very low relief with enhanced details from 1991-present. I bet there are other smaller design changes made through out the series.
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Valued Member
United States
78 Posts |
Also, the reverse was noticeably changed in the late 80's.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4691 Posts |
It also changed in 1964, hence the variety "accented hair" which was the first release.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
931 Posts |
Also, the method of die cutting has changed over the years. The less curves and lumps there are, the easier it is to reproduce the dies consistently and in large numbers.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2077 Posts |
They messed up all the coins with the low relief designs. Kennedy no longer looks like Kennedy. The change to the quarter was the worst. Looks like a cheap token now.
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Valued Member
United States
78 Posts |
I really hate the new ATB Quarter obverse. There is absolutely no structure in Washington's portrait at all. And I thought the 1992-2010 spaghetti hair was bad. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1531 Posts |
 !!The reverses of the ATB's are wonderful, but the low relief is ruining it! The copper Lincoln cents with the higher relief, the 1965-1998 Washington quarters, the 1964-1975 Kennedy halves, the new Jefferson design... The dimes are still going strong. Still beautiful coins in high grades. |
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New Member
United States
16 Posts |
What is the history behind the Kennedy "Accented Hair"? Was it an error? How many were minted?
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Valued Member
United States
406 Posts |
The Accented Hairs were actually the first Kennedy halves, struck only in proof format. The president's widow disliked the prominent wave in the hair and the hubs were redone to deemphasize the AH feature. The best diagnostic is actually not the hair but the weak/missing lower-left serif on I in LIBERTY. The reverse had a straight G in the FG designer's initials, not the later flared G. This reverse is also known as broken rays for the areas where the rays intersect the stars. Both Wiles and Cherrypickers rate it at URS-19 or 125,000-250,000 existing. I think about one in 15 or one in 20 of the 1964 proofs have this feature, so that works out about right. The 1964 Accented Hairs are especially rare with Cameo or esp. Deep Cameo surfaces. Please check our Kennedy Registry Set on our website for much more information on all of the Kennedy halves including the ultra-rare 1964 SMS coins. Best Regards,  George |
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Valued Member
United States
95 Posts |
[The Kennedy hair change occurred in 1983. I am surprised that this is not noted more on various sits!**]Hope this helps.
GARY
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2734 Posts |
Ironically, this was why I bought a 2014 JFK P+D roll Set, so I could cherry-pick one nice "flat" circulation-finish 2014 JFK, to compare it with the 1964-type obverse used for the coins in the OGP-packaged 2014 Kennedy Sets.
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Replies: 16 / Views: 7,025 |
Posted 07/16/2014 7:23 pm
