With all the interest in the proposed John F. Kennedy coin sets, I am surprised to have read no comments about the fact that we seem to be commemorating 50 years of a half dollar design, not the president. 

The year 1964 was the year following Kennedy’s assassination, hardly an event to memorialize in this way, and there is little precedent for commemorating the fact that a particular coin has been in production for 50 years, especially considering that one stopped circulating decades ago. 

The real irony here is that if we could simply wait for three more years, we could celebrate the 100th anniversary of JFK’s birth — the traditional life event we celebrate on commemorative coins and much more uplifting. 

President Kennedy has been considered by many to have been a “special” president, especially to those who were living during his term. If the Mint does ending up producing the usual hodgepodge of offerings to celebrate 50 years of the Kennedy half dollar, I doubt there would be much justification to produce more coins to celebrate his 100th birthday just three years from now. It’s probably too late now, but let’s wait three more years and do it right.