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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Tim C, post: 4361776, member: 71569&quot;]Trial strikes of the new half dollar were produced and were immediately delivered to Miss Adams, Director of the US Mint, in Washington, D.C. on December 15, 1963.</p><p><br /></p><p>Chief Engraver of the US Mint, Gilroy Roberts along with Secretary of the Treasury, (Dillon) met with Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy and Attorney General Robert Kennedy on December 17, 1963, the same date that Congress considered and passed the legislation in the House of Representatives for the authorization of the new design.</p><p><br /></p><p>From Gilroy Robert’s REMINISCENCE ON THE CREATION OF THE KENNEDY HALF DOLLAR, dated April 29, 1964:</p><p><br /></p><p>“Mrs. Kennedy was favorably impressed with the design on both sides of the coin but felt it would be an improvement <u>if the part in the hair, on the portrait, was less pronounced and more accents were added</u>.” (emphasis added)</p><p><br /></p><p>“Mrs. Kennedy’s suggestions were carried out on the intermediate size and another trial die was made for the obverse.&nbsp; New trial strikes were prepared.&nbsp; Secretary of the Treasury Dillon wanted to see this second trial piece and on December 27th, I flew to West Palm Beach where the Secretary and Mrs. Dillon inspected the strikes.&nbsp; They both felt that Mrs. Kennedy’s wishes had been complied with and in their opinion, the coin was very handsome.&nbsp; It was decided to proceed with tooling up for production.”</p><p><br /></p><p>“Time was fast running out and if we did not have working dies for Proof Half Dollars, the coiner would be unable to start Proof coin production which meant that up until the time dies were available some thirty or fifty employees would be without work.&nbsp; Extreme pressure was exerted to push this program through and by January 2, 1964, Kennedy Half Dollar Proof dies were delivered and our tremendous Proof coin production could get started.”</p><p><br /></p><p>Gilroy Roberts wrote his statement within months of when the coin was designed.&nbsp; Jacqueline Kennedy wanted <u>the part in the hair</u> less pronounced, not just part of the hair, with more accents added.</p><p><br /></p><p>Proof dies were not created until the second trial strikes showing Mrs. Kennedy’s wishes were created and shown to Secretary of the Treasury Dillon (with the part in the hair less pronounced and more accents added).</p><p><br /></p><p>The myth that Jacqueline Kennedy wanted the accents removed is in direct contradiction to the written record.&nbsp; Why was the design chanced from the accented hair to the normal hair is anyone’s guess?&nbsp; I have to wonder if it is something simple like the broken serif on the I in LIBERTY was on the master hub and when they made a new hub to correct it they just forgot to add the wishes that Mrs. Kennedy wanted back onto it.</p><p><br /></p><p>The next item is the 1965 Special Mint Sets were not produced in 1965 but in the spring of 1966.</p><p><br /></p><p>The only other point is the mintmark on the reverse of the coin.&nbsp; This has happened twice in the series, first with the 1964-D and again with the 2014-W gold Kennedy half dollar.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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