Coins honoring the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, become available today at noon ET with the release of rolls and bags containing 2024 Kennedy Half Dollars from the United States Mint.
Product options include a 200-coin bag featuring 100 half dollars from the Philadelphia Mint and 100 from the Denver Mint. The second option is a two-roll set, comprising a roll of 20 coins from Philadelphia and a roll of 20 coins from Denver. Their prices are $147 and $34.50, respectively. All coins are struck to circulation quality but have never been released into circulation.
Kennedy Half Dollars first appeared in 1964, just a few short months after the assassination of the President they pay tribute to. The coins were issued into general circulation and as part of numismatic products from that point until 2002. Lackluster interest in using the coins for everyday transactions led to the decision to produce them only for collectors.
However, that changed in 2021 when the Federal Reserve System ordered Kennedy halves for circulation for the first time in almost two decades. This occurred again in 2022 and 2023.
The chart offered below shows mintages for the coins since 2000:
| Year | Mintages |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 42,070,000 |
| 2001 | 40,700,000 |
| 2002 | 5,600,000 |
| 2003 | 5,000,000 |
| 2004 | 5,800,000 |
| 2005 | 7,300,000 |
| 2006 | 4,400,000 |
| 2007 | 4,800,000 |
| 2008 | 3,400,000 |
| 2009 | 3,800,000 |
| 2010 | 3,500,000 |
| 2011 | 3,450,000 |
| 2012 | 3,500,000 |
| 2013 | 9,600,000 |
| 2014 | 4,600,000 |
| 2015 | 4,600,000 |
| 2016 | 4,200,000 |
| 2017 | 4,700,000 |
| 2018 | 5,800,000 |
| 2019 | 3,400,000 |
| 2020 | 5,700,000 |
| 2021 | 13,100,000 |
| 2022 | 9,700,000 |
| 2023 | 58,000,000 |
| 2024* | 7,600,000 |
*More 2024-dated coins may still be struck this year.
As for the numismatic bags and rolls, here are the recent sales totals by year:
- 2019 two-roll sets – 24,132
- 2019 200-coin bags – 11,534
- 2020 two-roll sets – 24,312
- 2020 200-coin bags – 11,776
- 2021 two-roll sets – 21,989
- 2021 200-coin bags – 9,976
- 2022 two-roll sets – 21,926
- 2022 200-coin bags – 10,999
- 2023 two-roll sets – 24,987
- 2023 200-coin bags – 11,146
Half Dollar Designs
A left-facing portrait of John F. Kennedy by Gilroy Roberts appears on the obverse (heads side) of each half-dollar. The inscriptions surrounding the portrait include LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST, the year, and a mintmark.
On the reverse (tails side) is Frank Gasparro’s modified depiction of the Presidential Seal. It features a heraldic eagle holding an olive branch and a bundle of 13 arrows with a shield.
This design has appeared every year on the half-dollar coins, except for 1975 and 1976, when it was substituted with an image of the Independence Hall of Philadelphia, commemorating the bicentennial founding of the nation. The reverse side includes inscriptions reading UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and HALF DOLLAR.
Ordering and Limits
Rolls and bags of Kennedy halves can be ordered directly from the U.S. Mint’s webpage dedicated to half dollar products.
A product limit of 26,250 is listed for the two-roll sets, with 11,550 for the 200-coin bags. Each has an initial household order limit of 10 in place.
