August 2013 Table of Contents

MY TWO CENTS’ WORTH: BAD PERFORMANCE REVIEWS By Ed Reiter For years, I have been lamenting the dull, dreary–sometimes deplorable–coin designs emanating from the U.S. Mint. The result has been a huge collective yawn, followed by a murky stream of more insipid “artwork.” Recently, however, my futile cry in the wilderness has been echoed by […]

The Birth of the Kennedy Half Dollar The vivid memories and images still conjured up by the coin can be attributed to the artists who created it by Ed Reiter The Rise and Fall of the Half Dollar Political decisions concerning the half dollar made this former workhorse the non-circulating coin it is today by […]

COINage, like the Lincoln cent, is marking a major milestone this year. This is a special birthday for us: the 45th anniversary of this magazine’s first appearance on the nation’s newsstands. For those keeping “score,” that’s two score and five years—far short of four score and seven, much less five score (the cent’s 100-year lifespan) […]