2016-09-17 Sat

During 2016 Long Beach Expo U.S. Signature Auction which was held from September 7th to 11th, a 1964 Special Mint Set Kennedy half-dollar was offered by Heritage Auctions for $47,000 USD. The last time when a 1964 Special Mint Set (SMS) Kennedy half-dollar appeared at a public sale, was way back in 2010.

It is considered to be the rarest non-error, non-die variety Kennedy half and only 12 known examples exist today. The story behind this coin is very mysterious and not many know about how and where they originated.

The coin has a satin-textured surface, salmon-orange rim toning on the upper obverse and lower reverse surfaces with ambient white-gray colours across the fields and devices. The colours that recreate dark fingerprints are described by Heritage as “carbon-gray flecks.” The coin has very strong details and a sharp, square wire rim. The coins were especially struck as they feature die polishing marks without contact marks. They don’t have reflective surfaces but the strike is as strong as the one seen on 1964 proof coinage or SMS coinage from 1965 through 1967.

Another important die marker on the 1964 SMS Kennedy half-dollar is known as a “dangling 4” where a teardrop shaped piece of metal can be seen below the 4 digit in the coin’s date.

These coins probably belonged to former U.S. Mint Director Eva Adams, who helped introduce Kennedy half-dollar in January 1964. Perhaps those coins were consigned by Adams’ or her family members after her death in 1991 or they belonged to another U.S. Mint employee. The coin then fell into the hands of many collectors after it was sold at the recent auction.