LUSTRE
Collection

Kennedy Half Dollar

THE 1964 SILVER KENNEDY AND THE 40% SILVER ISSUES, 1965 TO 1970

8 issues ◆ 1964–1970
Melt, per coin: $21.89 Reference prices
Kennedy half dollar obverse: John F. Kennedy facing left
Kennedy half dollar reverse: heraldic eagle and presidential seal
Plate. 2005-P Kennedy half dollar (the design has not changed since 1964), obverse and reverse. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. The design is the same on every date.
Key dates

No major key dates. Value here follows condition and metal content.

Prices are MS-63 estimates, Oct 2026. A photograph appears below only where we hold a licensed photo of that exact date and mint; every other issue is a medallion.

Kennedy8 issues

Values are Lustre editorial estimate, Oct 2026, not market data. Medallions stand in for issues without a licensed photograph of that exact date. How we estimate.

About the series

The Kennedy Half Dollar, in brief

The Kennedy half dollar was approved within weeks of President Kennedy's assassination in 1963 and first struck in 1964 in 90% silver. From 1965 to 1970 the coin was struck in a clad composition with outer layers of 80% silver bonded to a copper core, about 40% silver overall. Gilroy Roberts engraved the obverse and Frank Gasparro the presidential-seal reverse. Lustre covers the silver years only: the 1964 coins and the 40% issues of 1965 to 1970.

Kennedy halves of 1964 are worth their silver content plus a premium. The 40% silver coins of 1965 to 1970 contain about 0.148 troy ounces of silver, so most trade close to melt. The 1970-D, struck only for Mint Sets, is the scarcest of the group.

Designer
Gilroy Roberts (obverse) and Frank Gasparro (reverse)
Composition
90% and 40% silver
Mint marks
Philadelphia, Denver
Key dates
None

Kennedy half dollar, Wikipedia: composition, weight, diameter, edge, designers, mint mark position.

Kennedy half dollar mintage figures, Wikipedia: mintage (business strikes) and Proof mintage.

Lustre editorial grade-value estimates, Lustre: grade value ranges (estimates, not market data).

gold-api.com spot prices (reference level for estimates), gold-api.com: reference spot prices behind the estimates.