Greetings all. I collect Kennedy halves, and I hope there is an expert in this series who can answer this question. We have some very knowledgeable people here. I know how to identify the Proof Accented Hair 1964 Kennedy variety. Here's a web page that explains it. http://www.ipotad.com/pages/ah2.html My question has to do with the reverse die characteristics. I was looking through my collection the other day, and I found a 1964 business strike graded MS66 by NGC that definitely has the reverse die of the proof accented hair variety. I can't find that on any on my other Kennedys. The obverse is the normal die. Has anyone ever heard of this die pairing? Are there any resources I can look at to confirm this die pairing? Can someone check Breen for me and see if he mentions this? This same situation happened on the 1972 Ike Type 2 dollar, where a proof die was accidentally used for a business strike, and that variety is worth something. Could the Kennedy half display a similar situation? Thanks. Steve
Are you referring to the broken ray reverse as the proof type? In that case it is a master die variation and is used on multiple working dies. It was used for circulation strikes early in the year, but mainly at Denver. Incidently the 1972 Philly Ike dollar was made from two working dies. One ended up with a die crack, no clash and the other had a clash without die crack. They can also be determined in early die states.
For the 1972 Type 2, that would "UP" the perceived mintages which used to be at 100,000 (Or at least believed to be so). As for the Kennedy, the Kennedy Half Dollar Book by James Wiles states: "A small percentage of the RDV-001 reverses were paired with the new obverse design. These are considered transitional varieties." Where, ODV-001 (The Accented Hair design) was paired with the RDV-001 (broken ray design), the RDV-001 was also paired with the ODV-002 (non-Accented Hair Design) during the design transistion. I would simply make "note" of the die transistions and add it to my collection.
Thank you so much for your responses. They are very helpful. Seems like this transitional variety could be given something like a FS number in the Cherrypicker's guide? This is a variety of the 1964 Kennedy that is much more scarce than the normal type. And I'm referring to the business strikes only here. I guess it's marketing!
I doubt it since it takes a lot of popularity to get ANYTHING in the CPG. While your coin may be uncommon to you, it's by no means rare. Just mentionable. The CPG entries are solicited by the authors from the numismatic experts within the coin series and not every coin variety makes the cut even after its nominated. I have some DDR 1968-S Kennedy Proofs that would fit much better between the pages of the CPG. Or perhaps the 1971 DDO? Better yet, how about the 1977-D DDO which is in the Appendixes but since its not listed in the Kennedy Section with pictures, TPG's (PCGS) will not attribute it. BTW, there are two significant varieties of the 1977-D DDO.
I have checked Breen's book and he does not mention the broken ray half at all. Neither does the Cherrypickers' Guide Fourth edition, volume II. Both of these sources include the accented Hair half. Another scarce early 1964 variety, found in proof sets with the accented hair half, was the pointed tail 9 which is in Breen. He estimated mintage at 2 million with 927 million blunt tail 9's for the Philadelphia mint circulation strikes. Denver was <40 million pointed versus >1,317 million blunt. The Cherrypickers' guide does not mention them. I don't think these dimes have a follwing today. I don't think there is much interest in the broken ray half dollar although those transitional pairings must be really scarce. The Ike Group Book now estimates the 1972 P type 2 dollar mintage to be maybe 20,000 for the March ones and perhaps 200,000 for the "August release" ones (chapter 4 page 3).
Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't the Pointed 9 Roosevelt appear in most 1964 Proof Sets that have the Accented Hair Kennedy?
Correct! My only question is was it "most" or "all"? Bill Edwards, an early researcher, stated that all Accented Hair proof sets had a broken ray reverse and a pointed tail dime. We now know there are exceptions in the broken ray case. Incidently Bill Edwards believed there was a third dime obverse variety in 1964 in use in very late production.
How about a 1964 Kennedy from Philadelphia being a business strike with proof reverse? This coin has a very striking luster and whiteness, I am not sure that this is a proof planchet. Also, the obverse does not show the normal characteristics of the ACCENTED HAIR variety, BUT the reverse does. It is very difficult for me to photograph such tiny details, but, I can assure everyone that the rays are broken and the G is straight, and NOT flared as in the common variety. There is a possibility of this being a business strike with reverse die #1 used on the proof strike. Does it carry any premium? Please see http://www.ebay.com/itm/120997766715?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1586.l2649 at eBay. Thanks for your comments Rafael
RDV-001, the "Broken Ray Reverse, was paired with Business Strike Coins including the 1964-D. As such, any premium associated with the reverse on a business strike coin would be minimal if any at all. The "uniqueness" of the reverse is that no Accented Hair Kennedy's (ODV-001) have ever been found without the RDV-001. Looking for an Accented Hair without the Broken Ray Reverse would be a neat find.
