Within one month after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Congress gave its approval for coins to be minted for circulation bearing his likeness. Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of the assassinated president, had said she wanted her husband to be depicted on the half dollar because she did not wish to have the image of her husband replacing that of Washington on the quarter dollar. President Johnson, who had succeeded Kennedy, gave his endorsement.

The 1964 Kennedy Half Dollar first went into circulation in January 1964. Although the coins were released, most immediately went into the hands of collectors or hoarders eager for a memento to the fallen president. Some banks initially limited customers to a maximum of 40 coins. This measure was put in place to prevent hoarding by collectors, yet more than 70,000 coins disappeared from circulation the first day.

By November of 1964, nearly 160,000,000 coins had been minted, yet they were still almost never seen in circulation. Eventually, so many of these coins were being produced that the stock of silver in the treasury was becoming depleted.

Over time, the coin has been changed to lower silver content and eventually copper nickel clad composition, along with a few modifications to the design. Nonetheless, the coin has remained very popular with collectors and the public alike. More than one billion examples of the Kennedy Half Dollar have been struck in the past nearly five decades, yet the number of them in circulation remains very low as people still collect them instead of using them as currency.

Coin collecting would forever change in 1999, the the 50 State Quarters Program began. After more than a generation of completely static coinage designs (with the one exception of the 1976 bicentennial coinage), the quarter began to feature five different designs representing the states in the union. This proved to be an extremely popular concept and sparked renewed interest in collecting and altered the face of circulating coinage.

The new series also meant that the annual silver proof sets began to present nine different coins. The 1999 Silver Proof Set included the five quarters for that year, which were for the States of Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia and Pennsylvania, as well as the Lincoln Cent, the Jefferson Nickel, the Roosevelt Dime and the 1999 Kennedy Half Dollar.

Seven of these coins, all except the nickel and the cent, were 90% silver, so the value of all the coins as well as the silver metal content raised the price to $31.95 for the set. This was up from the $21.00 cost of previous sets. All coins carried an “S” mint stamp, as they were produced in San Francisco.  They were packaged in a red plastic holder. Total mintage of this original set was 804,565. Today, this 1999 Silver Proof Set is the most sought after and commands the highest value.

Named for its designer, the 1861 Paquet Reverse Double Eagle is a famous classic coin rarity. Although double eagles of similar design were produced for nearly 60 years, the Paquet coin hits the mark with collectors because of its design variation and low mintage numbers.

The designer, Anthony C. Paquet, was an assistant engraver at the mint. He had a preference for a particular lettering style which was taller than that used on previous versions of the double eagle; a style that also featured thick verticals and thin horizontal strokes and serifs. His modified choice of lettering on the reverse is what sets this coin apart with a few additional  small differences.

The rim of the coin was also determined to be too narrow. The mint director sent a telegraph to the mint in San Francisco directing it not to proceed with production of coins with the new reverse. Cross-country communication being what it was at the time, the telegram got no further than Missouri, and, lacking a directive to do otherwise, production commenced. Before it was halted, 19,250 coins had been struck and released quickly into general circulation.

No uncirculated examples are known of this coin. Approximately 100 specimens are in existence today.