RESTORING THE ORIGINAL KENNEDY HALF PORTRAIT DESIGN

The Kennedy Half Dollar has been produced for 50 years, but a series of tweaks and modifications have left the current design with a very different appearance than the original. The original portrait design will be making a comeback within three different numismatic products created by the United States Mint to mark the 50th anniversary of the series.

1964 and 2013 Kennedy Half Dollars

The idea to restore the original portrait came from San Francisco Mint employee Michael Levin. After a brief discussion with Deputy Director Richard Peterson on a proposed Kennedy Half Dollar 50th Anniversary Set, he had sent Peterson an email noting the significant differences in the current portrait design compared to the original design from 1964. He mentioned the changes in the details of the hair and face as well as a reduction in the size of the entire portrait.

His email said, “However well intentioned was the change, it doesn’t depict the real JFK as well as the original portrait.”

964 Kennedy Half Dollar bronze galvano and coin die

The original plaster sculpt of Robert’s design could not be located, but a bronze galvano for the 1964 Kennedy Half Dollar was recovered from archives. An original die for the 1964 Kennedy Half Dollar dated December 28, 1963 was also located. Both the galvano and die were scanned and digitized. After a new basin was created using the 1964 hub basin curvature, the scan data was converted to match the approximate relief height of the 1964 hub portrait.

The restored portrait design will be used on seven different coins specially issued for the 50th Anniversary of the Kennedy Half Dollar.

To read the complete article, see: Restoring the JFK Portrait for the 50th Anniversary Kennedy Half Dollars (news.coinupdate.com/restoring-the-jfk-portrait-for-the-fiftieth-anniversary-kennedy-half-dollars-3399/)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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