Intended as a memorial to the assassinated 35th president of the United States John F. Kennedy, it was authorized by Congress just over a month after his death.

Use of existing works by Mint sculptors Gilroy Roberts and Frank Gasparro allowed dies to be prepared quickly, and striking of the new coins began in January 1964.

Production of Kennedy half dollars for general circulation was temporarily suspended in 2001; from 2002 to 2020, the coins were produced to satisfy the demand from collectors and sold at a premium through the Mint.

Adams called Roberts again on November 27 and authorized the project, stating that the late president's widow, Jacqueline Kennedy preferred that he be depicted on the half dollar,[2] replacing the previous design of Benjamin Franklin.

In 1962, President Kennedy had three hundred appreciation medals struck by the United States Mint in Philadelphia that were later presented during his June 23, 1963 through July 2, 1963 trip to the nations of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany (West Berlin), Ireland, United Kingdom, Italy, and the Vatican City State.

[3] In early December, Representative Henry Gonzalez (Democrat-Texas) introduced a bill for Kennedy to appear on the half dollar.

[7] On December 10, the new President, Lyndon Johnson, endorsed the call for a Kennedy half dollar, asking Congress to pass the legislation promptly to allow striking of the new piece to begin early in 1964.

A line a block long formed at the department's windows in Washington to purchase the 70,000 coins initially allocated for public sale.

[14] The Mint struck Kennedy half dollars in large numbers in an attempt to meet the overwhelming demand.

However, a public announcement of the increase failed to cause more coins to actually circulate or to decrease the prices on the secondary market.

[22] According to coin dealer and numismatic author Q. David Bowers, "Where the hundreds of millions of them went remains somewhat of a mystery today.

"[23] In May 1969, the Treasury sought authorization to eliminate the half dollar's silver content, changing it to the same copper-nickel clad composition as the dime and quarter.

The Treasury also sought approval to strike copper-nickel clad one dollar coins, which would fill a need for gaming tokens in Western casinos.

[24] Despite the support of President Richard Nixon, some Republicans in the House of Representatives initially scuttled the legislation,[25] disliking the idea of depicting Eisenhower on a base metal coin.

With a mintage of 2.1 million, the 1970-D Kennedy half is considered the "key" coin in the series, although enough were produced to keep prices modest.

The Mint had anticipated a dramatic comeback for the denomination, but only a moderate increase in the usage of half dollars was noted after the 1971 clad coins were issued.

[28] In July 1971, Mint Director Mary Brooks disclosed that the Treasury was holding 200 million of the new base metal half dollars, as commercial banks expressed little interest in ordering them.

The New York Times numismatic columnist Ed Reiter suggested that hoarding had continued even into the base-metal era, accounting for the shortage of halves in commerce.

[36] Kennedy half dollars continued to be struck through the remainder of the twentieth century, and mintage numbers remained relatively steady in both the Philadelphia and Denver mints[37] until 1987, a year in which no half dollars were struck for circulation; the Treasury had accumulated a two-year supply of the pieces, making further production unnecessary.

[38] Demand for half dollars dropped, and casinos (where they were commonly used) increasingly began producing fifty cent chips to use in place of the coins.

[39] With mintage numbers remaining low,[37] beginning in 2002, the Kennedy half dollar ceased to be struck for general circulation.

[40] In January 2014, a private firm on behalf of the Mint, began surveying customers on possible options for a special issue in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy half dollar.

[41] In June, the Mint announced plans to issue seven special 2014 Kennedy halves in commemoration of the series' fiftieth anniversary: two in clad, from Philadelphia and Denver, four in silver from Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, and the West Point Mint, and one in .9999 gold, from West Point.

Early strikes depicted Kennedy with heavily accented hair; an estimated 100,000 coins were struck with this feature.

[47] A few of the 1966 halves from the Special Mint Sets are known with Gasparro's initials "FG" missing from the reverse, apparently because of an overpolished die.

[46] In 1973, Congress authorized silver-clad collector versions of the Bicentennial coins; in April 1975, the Mint began to strike them.

[36] In addition to the Accented Hair variety, one variety of the Kennedy half which receives significant interest due to its rarity is the 1964 Special Mint Set ('SMS') half dollar; Approximately 'a dozen or so' examples have been located over the course of the 2000s to the present day, and feature a 'satin finish' with well-defined strikes and die polishing lines.

[53] Examples of this variety typically sell for significant amounts of money; a 1964 Special Mint Set half dollar sold for $47,000 in 2016.