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V17 2014 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 17, Number 31, July 27, 2014, Article 19

GOLD KENNEDY COINS RETURN TO ORIGINAL DESIGN

This Associated Press article discusses how the new gold version of the Kennedy coin returns to Roberts' original design. The reporter visited the West Point Mint. Check out the slideshow of photos from the visit. -Editor

Gold Kennedy 2014 John F. Kennedy is getting his old look back on new collectors' coins.

The slain president's profile debuted on the half dollar 50 years ago, and the image was subtly tweaked and sharpened in the 1990s. Now the U.S. Mint is producing collectors' coins that restore the original 1964 design, which incorporated suggestions from a grieving Jacqueline Kennedy.

Gold coins being stamped at the mint's West Point plant this week portray JFK's famously tousled head of hair a bit fluffier, his part is less severe and his cheeks less chiseled than on the half dollar discontinued in 2001. The throwback design being featured on the coins this year is truer to both the president's appearance and his widow's wishes, mint officials say.

"We felt we got away from the original," said West Point plant manager Ellen McCullom. "This really does look a lot more like him ... one of the things that struck me was even the little differences in the nose, and in the face and the lines around the eyes."

In the 1990s, improved technology allowed for tweaks in the design to show more detail — sort of the engraver's version of a high-definition broadcast. Not only did JFK's part become pronounced, but the strands of his hair became more defined, a characteristic collectors sometimes refer to as "spaghetti hair." His cheeks became more angular, too.

The mint stopped making the Kennedy half dollar for general circulation in 2001, but it has continued on as a collectible coin.

The evolution of JFK's profile in coinage was noticed last year by San Francisco mint employee Michael Levin, who convinced higher-ups that the original design was fuller and more lifelike. That led to the old profile making a comeback on three products from the mint this year. The coin's "tail" side, a presidential coat of arms, is unchanged.

The gold proof coins being made at West Point with three-quarter ounces of 24-karat gold will begin going on sale Aug. 5 at the World's Fair of Money in Rosemont, Illinois. That coin will be dated 1964-2014 and its price will be around $1,300, depending on the market price of gold.

Kudos to mint employee Michael Levin. I hate the "spaghetti hair" look that came to dominate our coinage. Sometimes less is more. For an alternative style, check out the Kennedy hair imagined by artist Shaun Hughes in another article in this issue. -Editor

To read the complete article, see: Profiles in Coinage: JFK returns to more lifelike look in collectors' coins made at West Point (www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/14863beecc6f4497b5be7ce201735c84/US--JFK-Coin)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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