Expert: PAPAJACK - 9/28/2008

Question
I have a 1984-P Kennedy half with no FG on reverse and I've tried to get info about this coin w/o much luck.Thank
you in advance for any help.
                               Jay  

Answer
Hello Jay,                         

The Kennedy Half dollar coin has the reverse using the Presidential Coat of Arms for the motif. This is the work of Frank Gasparro and it is his initials "FG" that are missing on the reverse of some strikes.

It is a bad spot on the die by design. And quite often the smaller die feature like this is filled debris and some features do not strike properly and in some cases like this the FG was lost due to polishing of the reverse die to the point where the design seems altered and the letters missing.

So in a coins description the term FG or NO FG states if the initials are on the coin or not. Many business strikes that do have the FG still look like the letters are un-defined.

Good Luck

PapaJack