Why I love Coins of the Sixties

Like millions of baby boomers, I grew up in the 1960s, starting the decade in grade school and ending it in college. So everything from that decade – music, TV shows, movies, automobiles, coins and more – stirs up plenty of “coming of age” memories. But the sixties were memorable for much more than just growing up, as anyone who lived through them can attest. And that’s why I get a special thrill when I see or hold coins from that eventful decade…

Last silver coins and simpler technology

For those too young to know the 1960s, it was a much different world from today when it comes to media. Instead of the hundreds of cable TV stations available today, as well as live streaming of movies, sports and other events, everyone in the sixties watched the same network TV on ABC, NBC and CBS. So as Roosevelt dimes, Washington quarters and Franklin half dollars were being struck in 90% silver for the last times during the early sixties, each new episode of My Three Sons, Gilligan’s Island, Perry Mason or Gunsmoke was a big deal! An even bigger deal later in the decade was each new episode of Star Trek – the original series with Shatner and Nimoy. Every kid watched Star Trek!

But music defined the sixties more than anything else, and AM radio and vinyl records connected baby boomers with all the latest singles and albums. The early 1960s were the heyday of 45 rpm records, featuring singles of the Everly Brothers, Four Seasons, Bobby Vinton, Ray Charles, Elvis and many others. Then came 1964 with the British Invasion and the onset of 33 rpm long-playing albums…

Kennedy Half Dollars and Beatlemania

As Kennedy half dollars were rushed into production in early 1964 following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Beatles made their first visit to America. In addition to concerts in Washington, D.C. and New York, the “Fab Four” performed on the Ed Sullivan Show on three consecutive Sunday evenings in February 1964. With about 40% of the entire U.S. population tuned in to the live TV performances, Beatlemania swept through the country (a welcome change from national mourning). The album Meet the Beatles! ranked #1 on the charts for nearly three months until surpassed by The Beatles’ Second Album.

Due to rising bullion prices during the sixties, only the first-year 1964 Kennedy half dollars were struck in 90% silver. The silver content was reduced to 40% from 1965-1970 and then removed altogether in 1971. (Silver was eliminated from dimes and quarters beginning in 1965.)

Inspired by the amazing popularity of the Beatles, American bands and songwriters of the sixties, as well as other British groups including the Rolling Stones, treated young people to an incredible decade of music. And what a climax for sixties music at Woodstock in 1969! Any list of the decade’s popular bands, duos and solo artists would be endless – and they endure today on “classic rock” FM stations throughout the country.

A new era in film and automobiles

While Lincoln Memorial cents were enjoying their first full decade in the 1960s, top movies included The Graduate, The Great Escape, Bonnie and Clyde, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and 2001: A Space Odyssey. But the most successful actors of the decade had to be Sean Connery and Clint Eastwood. Connery bested evil foes in the first four James Bond films – Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger and Thunderball. Eastwood filled movie seats with the “Man With No Name Trilogy” – A Fistful of Dollar, For a Few Dollar More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

And who can forget the cars of the 1960s? As the first copper-nickel dimes and quarters rolled off the coin presses, the greatest muscle cars in automobile history rolled out of Detroit factories – the Shelby Mustang, Pontiac Firebird, Chevy Camaro, Dodge Charger and Plymouth Road Runner. The sixties were also the golden era of the sports car – including the Chevy Corvette, Porsche 911, MG Roadster, Triumph Spitfire, Austin-Healey Sprite, Fiat Spider and Mercedes-Benz 250SL. What an unforgettable decade for creativity in so many disciplines.

And of course – a truly eventful decade

The Sixties featured a vast array of memorable events and movements – the Space Race, Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy assassination, Vietnam War (the first “television war” with daily coverage and reports), the Civil Rights Movement, Women’s Lib, first men on the moon, first Super Bowl and much more!

Most Americans got their news from highly trusted network TV anchors like Walter Cronkite at CBS and Chet Huntley and David Brinkley at NBC. I’ll never forget hearing Walter Cronkite’s somber November 22, 1963 report over the school P.A. system that President Kennedy had been shot – and later that he died. And I’ll never forget watching TV breathlessly along with the entire world on July 20, 1969 as the familiar voice of Walter Cronkite narrated the landing of the first men on the Moon…

I’m fortunate to have in my possession two U.S. Proof Sets from the 1960s that I received from a late uncle’s collection. Needless to say, holding these sets and pondering the years that these coins were struck brings back plenty of youthful memories!

Do you recall the sixties and appreciate coins from that eventful decade as much as I do? Please share your thoughts with other readers and especially those who were there.