Who is on the Half Dollar?

President John F. Kennedy is on the current version of the half dollar. It has featured the 35th President since March 1964, only a few months after his assassination.

The half dollar itself, however, has been a minted coin in the US since 1794. In fact, it is one of the original coins designated by the Coinage Act of 1792, the country’s first currency law.

In terms of their usage, early half dollars were good for sizable purchases. As time went by and the value of the dollar slowly inflated, half dollars gravitated to usages within casinos and as easy change for sporting event concessions.

However, due to changes in the half dollar’s composition and its rapidly declining value in the face of fiat currency inflation, the use of the coin fell out of favor with the American public by the end of 1970s. Nowadays, they are mostly traded by collectors, but you’ll still encounter them occasionally.

Let’s talk about the different ways the half dollar has looked over the years, along with how you can make them part of your collection.

Overview of Historical Figures Featured on the Half Dollar

Early Designs (1794-1947)

Like all US coins, various historical and allegorical figures have adorned the half dollar over the years. Until 1947, each iteration of the half dollar featured some representation of Lady Liberty, a common sigil on US currency through the years.

The various incarnations of the half dollar during this period have come to be known according to details of Lady Liberty’s appearance or, in one case, the name of the Mint’s chief engraver of a particular edition. So, let’s walk through the different forms of the early half dollar that you may encounter.

Flowing Hair Half Dollar (1794-1795)

The earliest incarnation of the half dollar is the Flowing Hair half dollar. The coin portrays Lady Liberty facing both to the right and slightly upwards. The reason behind the name is the image of Liberty’s hair, which appears to flow away from her face, as if pushed by a wind.

Needless to say, any surviving specimens of these coins are rare collectibles. The 1794 pieces are quite a bit rarer, however, and exist at roughly a 10:1 ratio with the 1795 iteration.

Draped Bust Half Dollar (1796-1807)

The Draped Bust half dollar replaced the Flowing Hair version after only two years of minting. Its name stems from the drape or wrap that now adorns Lady Liberty’s bust and shoulder areas on the bottom portion of the obverse.

The Draped Bust and the Flowing Hair half dollars share one particular idiosyncrasy that no other half dollar vintages have. Neither one of them mentions the denomination of the coin on their reverses. Presumably, Americans simply had to go by the design and size of the coin to recognize its value.

Capped Bust Half Dollar (1807-1839)

The Capped Bust half dollar is the third version of the half dollar produced by the US Mint. It features Lady Liberty on its obverse once again, but with a few subtle changes.

The first new element is its namesake, the cap that Lady Liberty now wears on her head. The headwear is a Victorian cap with the word “LIBERTY” inscribed on its edge. The Capped Bust also features a similar drape to its predecessor, but with a brooch to hold the garment in place. Lady Liberty is also facing to the left on this version.

Seated Liberty Half Dollar (1839-1891)

For some reason, the Mint determined that Lady Liberty needed to rest. Thus, it unveiled the Seated Liberty half dollar in 1839.

The Seated Liberty features the allegorical figure seated on a rock holding a liberty pole – a pole with a Phrygian cap on it, hearkening to the goddess’ Greek roots – and a shield inscribed with the word “Liberty.” All Seated Liberty half dollars have an eagle on their reverse, but later versions (post 1866) also feature the motto “In God We Trust.” Like the Capped Bust, Lady Liberty is portrayed facing to the left on this coin.

Barber Half Dollar (1892-1915)

After more than fifty years of the Seated Liberty, the Mint produced another version of the half dollar – the Barber half dollar. In a break from the pattern, this new form of the half dollar is named after its engraver, rather than the position in which Lady Liberty is depicted. This version of the half dollar is named after Charles Barber, the sixth chief engraver of the US Mint, who served in that capacity from 1879 until 1917.

Despite its break in the naming tradition, the Barber half dollar, like all half dollars before it, features the sigil of the Goddess of Liberty. However, this version of the goddess is quite different from its predecessors, in that it is only a bust of her head. She faces to the right, and the eagle design on the reverse of the coin is much closer to the version we see on modern coins, such as quarters.

Walking Liberty Half Dollar (1916-1947)

The last half dollar to feature Lady Liberty as its standardbearer is the Walking Liberty half dollar. These coins are also the first half dollars minted entirely during the 20th century.

In this version, a corporeal Liberty has reappeared, and she is neither sitting nor standing. Instead, she strides confidently to the left, toward the rising sun, with one hand extended toward the sunrise and the other holding a collection of laurel and oak branches. Perhaps appropriately, the eagle on the coin’s reverse is also facing left, and could conceivably be walking itself.

Franklin Half Dollar (1948 – 1963)

The debut of the Franklin half dollar caused some discontent among the American public. The Walking Liberty had been a popular and unique design, and replacing it with one of our Founding Fathers didn’t engender much approval.

The coin itself, obviously, features an image of Benjamin Franklin. It is a bust, and it faces to the right of the coin. The reverse of the coin also featured a big change, with the Liberty Bell replacing the various eagle designs that half dollars had featured up to this point.

The Kennedy Half Dollar (1964-Present)

John F. Kennedy’s Legacy

President John F. Kennedy’s 1963 assassination is one of the seminal events of the past 100 years. The shocking murder of the young President left the nation stunned and forever different.

The US Mint responded to the gruesome event by designing and releasing a half dollar with the President’s face less than five months after the assassination. The release in March 1964 marked the introduction of the most recent iteration of the half dollar.

One noteworthy aspect of this coin’s design is the input it received from First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Mrs. Kennedy indicated that the half dollar would be appropriate as it would not require displacing a former President from a coin. After the earliest Kennedy Half Dollars went into circulation, Mrs. Kennedy also requested that subsequent minting tone down the definition of the President’s hair, resulting in a softened profile of JFK that remains the obverse of our fifty-cent piece to this day.

Design Elements of the Kennedy Half Dollar

Because of the Kennedy half dollar’s importance as a cultural piece, it had to be made with the utmost care. The job fell to Gilroy Roberts, the Mint’s chief engraver, and his assistant, Frank Gasparro.

Roberts and Gasparro had already created a JFK design in 1961, as it was used to engrave his Presidential Medal. The two engravers merely modified this existing design due to the time constraints placed upon them – US Mint officials and, for that matter, the President wanted to begin stamping the new coin in January 1964.

The design itself is fairly simple. The obverse of the coin features a left-facing portrait of the late President. He has a pleasant smile and determination in his eyes – two attributes that were no doubt symbolic of how most Americans wanted to remember him. The “In God We Trust” motto crosses the lower part of the coin’s face, along with its year of minting.

The reverse of the coin also sought to evoke the gravitas and classiness of the office of the President. So, it features a modified version of Gasparro’s Presidential Seal sculpture, the familiar eagle and shield, with arrows clutched in one talon and olive branches in the other. For the half dollar, the eagle faces the talon with the olive branches, signifying the country’s commitment to peace, rather than war. Given the occasion prompting the redesign, the reaffirmation of the country’s stance seems quite appropriate.

Changes in Metal Composition Over Time

At the time of their first release, Kennedy half dollars were minted with the same composition as previous versions of half dollars – with 90% silver and 10% copper. However, rising silver costs made it financially untenable for the Mint to retain this composition for the half dollar and, for that matter, many other US coins.

So, after the initial 1964 pressing, the US Mint altered the half’s composition to be 40% silver and 60% copper. The alteration happened at the same time as a similar shift with quarters, which lost all of their silver content and were minted with cupronickel, an alloy of 91.67% copper and 8.33% nickel.

The half dollar held onto its 40% silver until 1970, when the Mint finally began using cupronickel to create the fifty-cent pieces, too. Thus, although earlier half dollars are often priced much higher, the post-1970 half dollar is usually worth only its face value.

The half dollar coin has continued to wane in popularity for the average American. Cash itself is used more rarely than ever, and we have a reduced need for coinage.

However, the US Mint has continued to produce the Kennedy half dollar each year, albeit in smaller numbers. For the most part, they are issued as part of coin sets for collectors, who seek to compile all of the coins issued for a particular year. Still – half dollars remain legal tender and in circulation, so it’s not impossible to encounter one “in the wild,” so to speak.

Special Issues and Collectibility

As mentioned, the primary reason for the continued minting of half dollars is to appeal to collectors and numismatists. It is quite common for the US Mint to go out of its way to create special versions of its coins that are not meant for distribution, circulation, or human handling whatsoever. So, you can purchase half dollars as part of proof sets or silver proof sets from the US Mint.

A proof set features proof versions of all of the coins issued during a calendar year. Proof coins have a striking appearance, with frosted designs and mirrored backgrounds. They are struck at least twice, using special dies, and are considered the pinnacle of production for the Mint. These are coins that are created entirely to be preserved, never to be touched or, God forbid, used as legal tender.

Silver proof sets are an even loftier version of the proof set. As their name implies, all of the coins in a silver proof set are struck with 99.9% fine silver, the highest concentration available from the US Mint. They are also meant to be kept, not used, and are valued not only for their content but the fact that they are complete. So, it’s important to keep either type of proof set together, regardless of the denominations of the coins in the group.

Finally, there is an entire category of commemorative half dollars that are favorites for investors to find. Between 1892 and 1954, the Mint released 144 such coins, dubbed the Classic Commemoratives, and all but two of them were half dollar pieces.

Each commemorative coin sought to memorialize an important event in US history. The first coin celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ journey to discover the Americas. Others paid homage to the induction of states into the union, the founding of certain cities, important figures like George Washington Carver or even folk heroes like Daniel Boone.

While it is possible to acquire all 144 commemoratives, most collectors seek to compile “type” sets. These sets have single exemplars of each type of coin issued, rather than a comprehensive gathering of them. Regardless of how you choose to pursue them, this type of collecting will undoubtedly involve half dollars.