Kennedy Half Dollar 1997-S Proof

John F. Kennedy served as the 35th President of the United States for two years before being assassinated. The majority of Kennedy's presidency was spent handling high tensions concerning communism. Kennedy is still the only president to win a Pulitzer Prize for his biography and the only president to have been a Roman Catholic. A few major events, under Kennedy's term, was the Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, and the Civil Rights movement. Although he only served for 2 years, Kennedy is one of the more popular presidents, even 50 years later! The US Mint desired to have President Kennedy on either the dollar, half dollar, or quarter. Once the president passed, his widow Jacqueline Kennedy desired to have his portrait on the half dollar. Sculptors, Gilroy Roberts and Frank Gasparro, had already designed a special presidential medal that wasn't released yet when they were notified of the new half dollar. Using Robert's obverse design and Gasparro's reverse design of the medal, the new Kennedy Half was born.

The San Francisco Mint produced just over 2 million Proof Kennedy Half Dollars in 1997, with the copper-nickel alloy that replaced the silver content to save money. The new Kennedy design was approved by Kennedy himself but was for another coin at the time of his approval. On the obverse, of the 1997-S Proof Kennedy Half Dollar, President Kennedy's side portrait is accompanied by the coin's date of mintage, "Liberty," and "In God We Trust" engraving. The "S" mint-mark can be viewed on the reverse, underneath the left talon of the eagle. The US National Seal is also depicted on the reverse; a bald eagle covered by a shield and each talon is holding arrows and olive branches. In pristine proof condition, the 1997-S Kennedy Half Dollar 's mirror-like finish shines from rim to rim with an unbroken sheen and is protected by a coin flip during shipment.

• Denomination: N/A
• Year: 1997
• Diameter: N/A
• Mint Mark: N/A
• Thickness: N/A
• Grade: N/A