Remembering Robert F. Kennedy 30 Years After His Assassination
In 1998, on the 30th Anniversary of the death of Senator Robert Kennedy, Congress authorized the minting of up to 500,000 1998 Robert F. Kennedy Commemorative Silver Dollar coins to honor his life and accomplishments.
Robert F. Kennedy enrolled at Harvard University to study government and politics, but before completing his degree, he joined the U.S. Navy as a seaman apprentice during World War II. After the war, he returned to Harvard, earned his B.A., and later obtained a law degree from the University of Virginia.
In 1951, he entered the U.S. Department of Justice but left the following year to manage John F. Kennedy’s Senate campaign. He later directed his brother’s presidential campaign and, after the election, became U.S. Attorney General.
He helped push the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which barred discrimination on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; ended segregation in public facilities, schools, and workplaces; and eliminated unequal voter-registration standards. Through this act, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was created.
Kennedy was the Attorney General until September 1964, and he resigned to run for the U.S. Senate for New York. In 1968, he was running for President and had just won the California primary when he was fatally shot by assassin Sirhan Sirhan on June 5, 1968. Kennedy was at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles when he was shot, and he passed away at the Good Samaritan Hospital on June 6. Sirhan Sirhan later said he was driven by anger at Kennedy’s support for Israel, which had captured East Jerusalem, his birthplace, during the 1967 Six-Day War.
Design Details
Thomas S. Rogers, the coin’s sculptor and designer, worked with Kennedy’s widow, Ethel, to perfect the depiction of her late husband. The obverse depicts a portrait of Senator Kennedy looking directly at the viewer, with “ROBERT F. KENNEDY” above, “IN GOD WE TRUST” to the left, “1998” and “LIBERTY” to the right of his portrait.
The reverse bears two emblems: the Department of Justice seal to represent Kennedy’s tenure as Attorney General, and the United States Senate seal, representing his position he held at the time of his assassination. Above the eagle on the Justice Department seal is the word “JUSTICE”. “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA“ is on the upper periphery, and the denomination, “ONE DOLLAR,” is on the lower periphery.
Mintage Details
The uncirculated and proof versions of this coin were both struck at the San Francisco Mint. 106,422 uncirculated coins were sold, and 99,020 proof coins were sold. A silver dollar with a matte finish was sold in collectors’ sets as well.
Over 200,000 of the authorized 500,000-coin mintage were sold. The surcharge proceeds went to the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Fund. Add this coin to your collection as you shop our premium assortment of U.S. silver modern commemorative coins.
