Dec. 8, 1964 - The little emblem on the base of the neck on Kennedy 50-cent pieces is not the Communist hammer and sickle, as some people think, but the initials of the coin designer, Gilroy Roberts.
The U.S. Treasury has issued the explanation in response to questions about the mark at the bottom of the President’s profile on the coin. The initials are run together and difficult to distinguish.
The reverse side of the coin bears the more easily distinguishable initials of another designer, John Gasparro.
An official said the incident reminded him of a rumor in 1946 that the new Franklin D. Roosevelt dime had Russian Premier Josef Stalin’s initials on it. The initials were those of the designer, John R. Sinnock.
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