1984 1984-D 50C AU55

Series: —
Coin Type: 1984-D 50C
Year: 1984
Grade: AU55
Population: 4
Price guide value: $1.00
Cert #: 08690958

Source: cache · last synced 2026-09-06T11:29:49.258+00:00

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History

The half dollar bearing John F. Kennedy's portrait originated in the weeks after his assassination on November 22, 1963. Existing law barred changing a coin design more often than every 25 years, and the Franklin half dollar was only 15 years old, so Congress passed enabling legislation that President Lyndon Johnson signed as the Act of December 30, 1963. The denomination began at 90% silver, dropped to 40% silver clad under the Coinage Act of 1965, and lost its silver content entirely in 1971, making a 1984-D a Type 3 copper-nickel clad piece. By the early 1980s the half dollar had largely disappeared from daily commerce, and coins of this date were more often held in bags and rolls than spent.

Details

Gilroy Roberts modeled the Kennedy portrait on the obverse and Frank Gasparro designed the Presidential Seal reverse. The planchet consists of outer layers of 75% copper and 25% nickel bonded to a pure copper core, giving an overall alloy of roughly 91.67% copper and 8.33% nickel with no silver. Each coin weighs 11.34 grams and measures 30.6 mm in diameter, with a reeded edge. Production for this issue took place at the Denver Mint, identified by the D mint mark above the date.

Features

The obverse carries a left-facing bust of Kennedy with LIBERTY arced across the upper periphery, IN GOD WE TRUST below the truncation, and the date at the bottom. The reverse adapts the Presidential Seal: a heraldic eagle with a shield on its breast, holding an olive branch and a bundle of arrows, encircled by a ring of stars beneath rays and clouds. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and HALF DOLLAR surround the device, and E PLURIBUS UNUM appears on a scroll across the eagle.

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