Gold Kennedy Half Dollar Poll

[BillJones]

Would you pay $1,200 for Kennedy Half Dollar in gold? That was one of the questions I answered on a mint survey I took yesterday. It would be issued to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the coin.

[Mr.Mcknowitall]

No.

[bsshog40]

Not even!!

[McBlzr]

Not gold Kennedy, maybe RP Silver......

[rrantique]

[e1cnr]

did they mention size or weight?

[jom]

did they mention size or weight?

 

Exactly. If it were two oz. of gold of course I'd pay $1200...the poll needs more specifics.

 

jom

[Coindude]

at that price I'm betting it would be a half ounce. I like the idea of a reverse proof packaged with another satin proof.

[jpcienkus]

Not sure.

 

I like the idea of a Kennedy anniversary set, but not sure about having any in gold.

[BillJones]

did they mention size or weight?

 

Exactly. If it were two oz. of gold of course I'd pay $1200...the poll needs more specifics.

 

jom

 

The question did not specify a size. The presumption was that it have the same diameter and thickness as the standard half dollar. If that is true it would contain something like .65 of an ounce of gold. That is just an educated guess.

[CoinZip]

The question did not specify a size. The presumption was that it have the same diameter and thickness as the standard half dollar. If that is true it would contain something like .65 of an ounce of gold. That is just an educated guess.

 

 

I'll leave the educated guesses to the folks betting on the ponies.....

 

The best answer I can give you for the original question is I would buy a Gold Kennedy based on bullion prices, provided it was the same size as a modern half dollar.

[Hurricane4911-migration]

I'm a Kennedy era boomer and I don't like the idea. Since 1990 the mint is tripping over itself making with special issues and series. You cant buy and own everything.

 

JFK has been immortalized in a street name in almost every American city. He even has an aircraft carrier, an airport, been the subjects of scores of books and movies, and has his own space center.

 

...and a coin

 

I like the modern Eagle series in gold and even the Buffalo coinage, But that about it from the late 20th century.

 

[BillJones]

The best answer I can give you for the original question is I would buy a Gold Kennedy based on bullion prices

 

If you are only going to buy it based on the current price of gold bullion, you won't be buying it.

 

I really admired the four piece Buffalo fractional gold set, but I didn't buy it because at the time the mint price was something over 1.5 times the melt value at the time. As a result few people bought these sets, so of course now the price is high. My impression is that the mint's price for this Kennedy coin will equally beyond the price of bullion.

[e1cnr]

The best answer I can give you for the original question is I would buy a Gold Kennedy based on bullion prices

 

If you are only going to buy it based on the current price of gold bullion, you won't be buying it.

 

I really admired the four piece Buffalo fractional gold set, but I didn't buy it because at the time the mint price was something over 1.5 times the melt value at the time. As a result few people bought these sets, so of course now the price is high. My impression is that the mint's price for this Kennedy coin will equally beyond the price of bullion.

 

So you bought it speculating the price would go up based on previous experience with mint products?

 

Many people feel USPS killed stamp collecting with the proliferation of commemorative issues - lose the collector base, and eventually just have dealers selling to each other and picking up estates.

[johnny9434]

no, im not ever remotely interested in one

[BillJones]

Many people feel USPS killed stamp collecting with the proliferation of commemorative issues - lose the collector base, and eventually just have dealers selling to each other and picking up estates.

 

Right you are except the stamp dealers wouldn't even hand these things as collectables. Most of the time they were sold as discount postage.

 

And yes the mint is issuing too much "stuff." I realize the Congress authorizes almost all of this material, but it still too much.

[orifdoc]

Not for me, unless there's chocolate inside.

[AcesKings]

I'm a Kennedy era boomer and I don't like the idea. Since 1990 the mint is tripping over itself making with special issues and series. You cant buy and own everything..

 

This is why I stopped buying from the Mint, just became too much to even try to buy everything. So, no for me.

[mkman123]

It needs to look good so I hope we see pics sometime soon!

[cmorg-migration]

I'd buy one. Having grown up with it (the tooth fairy left them under my pillow!), I love the Kennedy Half and will buy the 2014 coin/sets, but I also hope this will be the last year they are produced. What good is there in continuing a coin that isn't released to the public for daily use? I feel the same way about the dollar coins. Get them into circulation (my preference) or quit minting them.

[KeyMan64]

Not for me.

[RWB]

Please, no more imitations, fakes, counterfeits, phony off-metal pieces and other junk. The counterfeiting laws and hobby protection act should prevent most of this krap!

[gpnyc]

Wait... a coin commemorating a coin? Seriously? I will go the other direction and say that 50 years of Kennedy is enough. Time for a design change.

[CoinZip]

Wait... a coin commemorating a coin? Seriously? I will go the other direction and say that 50 years of Kennedy is enough. Time for a design change.

 

 

I like this idea......

[Crohnos01]

Wait... a coin commemorating a coin? Seriously? I will go the other direction and say that 50 years of Kennedy is enough. Time for a design change.

 

+1

 

Besides, didn't I see Franklin Mint or one of those other "mints" do a gold clad version already? You know the late night "rip off the old folks pensions" programs where the talk about the gold coin and then in small type seniors can't read run the disclaimer about the coin only be clad in gold.... Seems like issuing a mint version could create a lot of confusion.

[Conder101]

And you know that if they do a gold version in the same size and design,someone out there will start gold plating the regular coins and selling them as the gold ones to the unknowledgeable.

[Crohnos01]

Bingo!.... Oops, sorry.... I was echoing what I was hearing here in the background at the old folks home where the TV was on and I just saw this limited edition World Trade Center coin ad....oooohhh....ahhhhh....Where's my pension checkbook?

[cmorg-migration]

Why redesign a coin that isn't used or even made available at face value? It seems to me that every year the Kennedy Half is minted without being placed into circulation makes it a candidate for consideration as an imitation of a coin. Why is the U.S. Mint granted authority to mint a legal tender coin denomination that is never placed into circulation at face value? If made available at face value, I'd use the Kennedy half and dollar coins in cash transactions, but I won't pay a premium for coins for such use.

 

The question that began this thread was, will you pay $XXXX for a gold Kennedy Half if the Mint produces one this year? My answer is yes and is admittedly based on sentiment. I'll try to buy whatever is produced this year to complete the fifty year set. I don't like nor do I own a reverse proof, but I'd even buy one of those if minted for the Kennedy, this year only. My set will likely end this year, even if they continue the series. My Lincoln set stopped in 2010. If the Mint makes the 2014 Kennedy special coins and sets inaccessible or highly difficult to obtain, I'll probably sell the unc/proof collection and move on. Already they've made the 2012 Silver Kennedy difficult for set completion. But I'll not likely part with the old album that I began as a child.

[BillJones]

Why is the U.S. Mint granted authority to mint a legal tender coin denomination that is never placed into circulation at face value?

 

You will have to talk to Congress. They could do away with the half dollar by voting it out of production. As for the mint they can produce that coin and generate a profit from by selling it. So why shouldn't they continue as long as collectors are buying them.?

 

If made available at face value, I'd use the Kennedy half and dollar coins in cash transactions, but I won't pay a premium for coins for such use.

 

I'm sure that you could go to your local bank and probably pick up some. I imagine that they have some available.

 

It seems to me that every year the Kennedy Half is minted without being placed into circulation makes it a candidate for consideration as an imitation of a coin.

 

Unfortunately the Kennedy half dollar has been a virtually none circulating issue since it was introduced in 1964. Prior to 1964 half dollars did circulate. You didn't get them in change on a regular basis, but the coinsthat were in circulation were usually worn, which was an indicator that they were used.

 

As a dealer who has seen a number of family hoards, you will almost always find some clad JFK half dollars in them. Non collectors have long been confused about the silver content of half dollars probably because of the 40% silver clad pieces that have had a melt value in excess of their face value for many years. Perhaps if Congress had not compromised an authorized the 40% JFK half dollars, the coin would have reach circulation eventually.

 

If the Mint makes the 2014 Kennedy special coins and sets inaccessible or highly difficult to obtain, I'll probably sell the unc/proof collection and move on. Already they've made the 2012 Silver Kennedy difficult for set completion. But I'll not likely part with the old album that I began as a child.

 

I am with you. It really sucks when the mint makes an expensive collectors' item that cuts out the small collector from maintaining his complete set because of the distribution games or high prices. The only people who benefit from that are the "flippers" who are into it only for profit and don't care about the hobby.

[CyberspaceVoid]

What good is there in continuing a coin that isn't released to the public for daily use? I feel the same way about the dollar coins. Get them into circulation (my preference) or quit minting them.

 

I agree with you, cmorg, but I hate the Presidential dollar series. I only collect the Native American dollars now as they actually have an attractive design (lacking in most modern US coins) and teaches a bit of history while honoring our first Americans