The Half Dollar is a United States coin worth 50 cents, or one half of a dollar. It is the largest United States circulating coin currently produced in both size and weight, being 1.205 inches (30.61 millimetres) in diameter and 0.085 in (2.16 mm) in thickness, and is twice the weight of the quarter dollar. The coin's design has undergone a number of changes throughout its history. Since 1964, the half dollar depicts the profile of President John F. Kennedy on the obverse and the Seal of the President of the United States on the reverse.
The choice of a "half dollar" as a denomination - and not simply '"50 cents" - originated with the practice of dividing Spanish milled dollars into eight wedge-shaped segments, which gave rise to the name "piece of eight" for that coin, or into halves. |
