1969 Half Dollar: The Ultimate Collector’s Guide
The 1971 Kennedy half dollar bears the distinction as the first of the series not to have silver within its composition.
But, it’s the legacy of the Kennedy half dollar as a whole which gives this issue its unique gravitas and importance.
Within mere hours of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination on November 22, 1963, a call was placed from Mint Director Eva Adams to Chief Engraver Gilroy Roberts to inform him that Kennedy was under serious consideration to be placed on one of the United States Mint’s larger silver coins – the quarter dollar, half dollar, or silver dollar.
It was Jacqueline Kennedy who made the call between the three, preferring that her husband replace Benjamin Franklin on the half dollar rather than potentially dishonoring George Washington with replacement on the quarter.