half dollar variations

[drewbaccas]

I was doing some reading about the accented hair Kennedy half variety and it said something about the broken rays on the reverse. Does anyone know about this reverse with broken rays being used on other years?

Drewbaccas

 

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[drewbaccas]

I'm refering to the the reverse side of the coin above the eagles left wing. There are stars with rays going through them. Sometimes the rays are broken at the star and sometimes they are not.

Drewbaccas

 

[coinguy*matthew]

That particular reverse was used on the 1964 proof kennedy half and is often times the diagnostic for the accented hair variety although that reverse has been found on normal 1964 proof half as well.

Something important to note about the reverse diagnostics is that they are not 100% reliable in determining the variety and should not be used as a stand-alone assessment tool. This is because reverse die #1 was also paired with obverse die #2. These are known as the "transitional variety" and, while rather uncommon, they do exist. Matter of fact, I came across one while shooting the pictures for this page.

The Accented Hair Kennedy Half Dollar

 

[drewbaccas]

That's the exact site I was reading. So this reverse was used on other years. One more ? about the accent hair proof what mint mark am I looking for?

Drewbaccas

 

[coinguy*matthew]

That's the exact site I was reading. So this reverse was used on other years. One more ? about the accent hair proof what mint mark am I looking for?

Drewbaccas

No its simply stating that there were two obverse dies and two reverse dies and they can be found in any combination. In 1964 all the proofs would have been minted at the Philadelphia mint branch which would explain the absence of the mint mark although a business strike and proof coin are very easily distinguishable.