When John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, U.S. Mint Director Eva Adams proposed issuing a coin to commemorate the fallen President. Under existing law, coindesigns could not be changed more frequently than every 25 years, and the Franklin half dollar had only been minted for 15 years. Nonetheless, Congress passed an act authorizingthe Kennedy half dollar on December 30, 1963. Designed by Mint Chief Engraver Gilroy Roberts, production of the coin commenced in 1964 and it remains the standard design for halfdollars produced by the U.S. Mint.

The ANA has its own special connection to Kennedy: in 1912, President William H. Taft granted the ANA a federal charter, which was revised and made permanent by PresidentKennedy in 1962. The pen he used to sign the charter into law is in the Money Museum's collection.

To read the complete article, see:
Tales from the Vault: John Fitzgerald Kennedy (https://www.money.org/ana-blog/kennedy)