1964 gold toned Kennedy half

[JIM F.]

This coin is golden toned. Comments?

[TomB]

It looks to have been gold plated. This was commonly done to sell to novice collectors or to use in jewelry.

[BillJones]

Yes, I'd say gold plated.

 

The plating actually damages the coin and lowers its value. If the gold is removed, the surfaces are no longer full Mint State.

 

A classic example of this was some of the Fort Vancouver, Washington commemorative half dollas were issued with gold plating. Today collectors view those coins as damaged.

[JIM F.]

I doubt that it is gold plated. It from a hoard that my father took out of circulation in 1964/1965 and I know for a fact that he would not have gold plated it. I guess it is possible someone messed with it when it first came out, but to me it looks like the gold color is due to toning. So I guess a better question to ask is have silver coins been known to naturally tone like this?

 

 

[physics-fan3.14]

Yes, silver coins can tone in any color of the spectrum. However, coins almost never tone that uniformly or that evenly. It is the homogenous appearance of the gold coloration that leads me to believe it is plated, although the color is exactly what I would expect for plating as well.

[BillJones]

Dipping a silver coin and leaving traces of the dipping solution can also cause gold colored toning, but it is seldom as even as what I see on this piece. For that reason it appears to be gold plated.

[coinman1794]

The scans are not clear enough to tellif the coin was plated or how even the toning actually is. It looks splotchy to me, personally. Toning changes color as the reaction progresses. Yellow is the first color in the spectrum of toning, and usually indicates that the reaction is in it's earlier stages.

[JIM F.]

The rev is even in color. The obv has a region of discoloration on the field left of the cheek and is slightly darker in color. The reeded edge is also gold in color, which makes me think that it is in fact gold-plated. If so, someone did it decades ago when it first entered circulation (see my original post for why that would be the case). I pulled this coin from my father's hoard after he passed away almost 2 decades ago since it was so unusual from the rest of the junk silver, and the color has been the same from the best of my recollection.

 

 

[James_OldeTowne]

It's really surprising how often these gold plated Kennedy halves pop up. (And that's my guess - gold plated.)

[WoodenJefferson]

 

Here’s a Bi-Centennial one that is plated with gold. I got this one off e-bay years ago for less than 3 bucks total, as a matter of fact, I think I was the only bidder.

 

Your kin folk probably picked up this 1964 along the way or it was given to him by someone else who knew he might like it, representing an era in the early 60’s.

[TomB]

As I wrote previously, the scan makes it appear as though it could be gold plated, but you believe it was not. You may be right since you have the coin in-hand. I will note, however, that simply pulling a coin from circulation does not mean that it was not previously plated. I ask my local bank for any half dollars that they get in and in the last year I have pulled out a fairly pristine 1987-S proof JFK as well as a pair of proof JFKs that were gold plated.

[bgraphics-migration]

I found a 1999 clad proof set "quarters" and the reverse was gold toned on all five. But it was not a solid gold tone. it was heavier from the rim inwards. and only on one side. That brings me to a question. does that make it more valuble, or less, or does it stay the same?