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HOAGY CARMICHAEL'S KENNEDY ASSASSINATION HALF
This July 21, 2017 Desert Sun article profiles American songwriter Howard Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael (1899-1981), who was also a coin collector.
-Editor
He was a regular on the links, along with his movie star friends. He continued to write individual songs, collaborating with many different lyricists, most notably Johnny Mercer who lived down the way in Palm Springs. Carmichael was comfortably earning some three-hundred thousand dollars a year in royalties. He was an avid coin collector, having guests at his Thunderbird house sift through piles of coins on the floor after dinner looking for buffalo nickels. Carmichael prized a coin given to him by Jacqueline Kennedy that the President had in his pocket when he was shot in Dallas.
To read the complete article, see:
This is the first I recall reading about any coins associated with the assassinated President. Has this been written up before?
Superior sold much of Carmichael's collection in 1986. I don't have a copy of the catalog, and these are not on the Newman Numismatic Portal. Does anyone know if the Kennedy assassination half dollar (a Franklin half, presumably) was included in the sale? If not, what became of it, and where is it today? I initially reached out to researchers Joel Orosz and Len Augsburger; here are their thoughts.
-Editor
Joel writes: This is a new one on me. Of course, even if the story is true, it would be virtually impossible to verify that Jackie Kennedy gave him a specific coin that was in the President's pocket the day he was assassinated. Len writes: Jackie Kennedy made a number of similar gifts at the same time (not coins, but other personal items), and I am fairly certain some letters of transmittal exist. This one is new to me, though. It is reminiscent of the half dollars placed over Lincoln's eyes at the time of his death (which, if memory serves, are in the Chicago Historical Society). Joel writes: The coins were on exhibit the last time I visited the Chicago Historical Society, which was about three years ago. I also recall reading that Lincoln had a Confederate bill in his pocket the evening he went to Ford's theater.
The coins from Lincoln's eyes were what I immediately thought of as well. Below are links to a couple earlier E-Sylum articles. I also reached out to Joe Esposito, who has spent time researching at the Kennedy Library for an upcoming book.
-Editor
Joe writes: It is mentioned in a New York Times article in 1982. It attributes the story to Carmichael's son. Also, a 1985 New York Times article, quite lengthy, discusses the Superior auction, but has no mention of the Kennedy coin. Surely, if it were included in that auction, it would have been highlighted. My opinion: I find this story very much out of character for Jackie Kennedy. It seems unlikely that she would have given an intimate item from the assassination to someone outside the family. I had never heard of this story, and nothing on it surfaces on the JFK Library website. Also, JFK was notorious for never carrying any money with him. But I cannot disprove the claim. As an aside, Carmichael was born on November 22 (1899), the date, of course, of the Kennedy assassination.
Thanks, everyone.
The Times article is likely the source for the Desert Sun anecdotes. If such a coin exists, perhaps it stayed with the Carmichael family.
Both articles are interesting - see the links below. The one on the Superior sale is a long Ed Reiter column covering multiple topics, much like The E-Sylum today. -Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum articles:
To read the New York Times articles, see:
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