nineteen eighties.

while nineteen eighty has no major discovered varieties yet (see nineteen forty seven s), it is an integral part of one of the longest runs of proof coins of the same type ever issued by the united states mint. kennedy half dollar proofs (and sms) have been made for forty-seven continuous years and counting. (although there are none dated nineteen seventy five, millions were made with the seventeen seventy six - nineteen seventy six date during that year) always popular since nineteen sixty four, a collection of proof kennedys includes sixty-six redbook listings, and many more varieties in the cherrypickers' guide. a fine collection of kennedy proofs is easy to assemble; all the coins are readily available in gem proof at very reasonable prices.

two different types of 's' mintmark again! the style of the mintmark was changed during production at the san francisco mint, resulting in mintmarks which are very similar and not easily distinguished. type one, with an issue of three million, seven hundred and fourty nine thousand, and eighty three, shows a more closed 's', worn-looking, with the appearance of an 'eight'. the top curve is more rounded, the loops smaller, and the surface shiny; the highest parts of the 's' form a ridge of sorts. type two (issue of only three hundred and fourteen thousand) is scarce, and commands quite a premium in higher grades. the mintmark has a flatter top curve, a frosted surface, larger openings in the loops, and the serifs of the 's' are rounded and away from the middle stroke; the highest parts of the letter are flatter-looking.

this years' proof is the last use of the original obverse design, easiest to see on the second 't' in trust, which is shorter on the bottom than the other letters in trust, with the stem of the 't' slanting right from bottom to top. looking at a collection of kennedy proofs, "trust" starts to gradually fade on the master hub from the mid - seventies through nineteen eighty two. one way to find potential varieties of a coin is to compare them year by year and look for any changes, such as this gradual change in the final 't'.

this year is the twentieth issue of proof (including special mint set) kennedy half dollars. the obverse design is modified this year with all letters and date farther from the rim than nineteen eighty two and earlier. this is easily seen in the much more prominent serifs on all the letters, and especially in "trust". look at a nineteen eighty two and a nineteen eighty three side by side and the differences are dramatic. the numbers in the date are also redone with the 'nine' looking much clearer; by nineteen eighty two, so much of the tail of the nine was gone from the hub, it looks like a sloppily - made zero. once again, comparing a number of these coins side by side allows changes to be seen in a way that is not possible when only looking at a single coin.

there are no varieties (yet discovered) for these beautiful proofs, most with mirror fields and cameo devices, so let's try to find one! remember that essentially all modern die varieties are discovered by looking at coins very carefully for slight differences. magnification is important here (as well as light source - see nineteen eighty six) and i like a dual lens bausch and lomb glass (three x-three and a half x- six x) for initial examination. this magnifier has very large (thirty seven mm and thirty two mm) lenses, which allows more of the entire coin to be seen at one time. this is useful for evaluating overall appearance with a single lens, and for a more detailed viewing with both lenses. look very carefully at the serifs of the letters, as is where many kennedy varieties show themselves.

beginning with this year the master hub contains the entire design of the coin including the mintmark. a master hub is the originating part of the die making process; it is an exact image of the finished proof coin, used to make the dies which, in turn, make the coins in the presses. the significance of this change basically eliminates mintmark varieties, since a separate mintmark punch is no longer necessary. for examples of mintmark varieties due to different punches, see nineteen seventy nine s and nineteen eighty one s types one and two.

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this years' proof has no major varieties discovered yet, so let's talk some more of finding them. most modern varieties are fairly subtle, and need good magnification (see nineteen eighty four S) and a proper light source to see. bear in mind that mint errors and die varieties have different causes, and virtually all die varieties of later kennedy proofs will be due to doubling or overpolishing of the working dies. to find doubling, examine the coin under a point-generated light source (fifty -one hundred watt incandescent or halogen, not any kind of fluorescent) and rotate the coin through the entire three hundred and sixty degrees; what looks like doubling may only be a shadow at a different angle.

with the second highest mintage of any proof kennedy half dollar, gems of this year are plentiful and very inexpensive. the reverse of the coin features the heraldic eagle from the presidential seal, a modification of the reverse design of the seventeen ninety eight - eighteen and seven half dimes to dollars. variations of this design have been used many times with great success, appearing on all three types of the liberty double eagle and on the silver eagle bullion coins. they are all different, and side by side comparisons make a fascinating study.

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