35th President

United States of America

(1961 - 1963)

John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States of America, was tragically assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. Hours after the assassination, Mint Director Eva Adams began initiating plans to commemorate our fallen President on a U.S. coin. A month later, on December 30th, 1963, Congress authorized the bill that would put the Kennedy Half Dollar into production.

The responsibility of creating the design for the Kennedy Half Dollar was given to Gilroy Roberts and Frank Gasparro, the ninth and tenth Chief Engravers of the U.S. Mint. Roberts and Gasparro drew inspiration from one of their earlier collaborative projects, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Medal. The obverse of the Kennedy Half Dollar, designed by Roberts, displays a reworked bust of Kennedy from the presidential medal. The reverse, designed by Gasparro, showcases an enlarged example of the Presidential Seal that appeared on the presidential medal.