Kennedy half dollar turns 46 The John F. Kennedy half dollar was
first issued on this date in 1964. Here is a brief history of
this coin: * Within days of Kennedy's assassination, on Nov. 22,
1963, the United States Mint received the first of many letters
asking officials there to honor the deceased president with a
coin. * President Lyndon B. Johnson added his voice to the
movement on Dec. 10, 1963, issuing a statement that asked
Congress to propose the "coinage of 50-cent pieces with the
likeness of the late John Fitzgerald Kennedy." Congressional
approval was needed, Johnson noted, due to an existing law
prohibiting more than one change to a coin's appearance every 25
years. At the time, the 50-cent coin had carried a likeness of
Benjamin Franklin, with the Liberty Bell on the "tails" side,
for just 15 years. * The House of Representatives approved the
measure 352-6, and Johnson signed the bill into law on Dec. 30,
1963. * The U.S. Mint had been quietly preparing to introduce
the Kennedy coin since the day