Get jump on year of Kennedy

The U.S. Mint will honor the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy half dollar in 2014. We do not yet know the details, but we know something is coming.

This being the case, smart collectors should get a head start. Take a look at the 1964 proof set. Will intereset in it increase and therefore its price? You can count on it.

How about other Kennedy halves? The silver series of proofs that began in 1992 seems to be a good bet.

How about the special matte finish coin from 1998? It is a little known key date and it could explode higher in value if there is an increase in collector demand for it.

The good old 1970-D half dollar, which collectors used to love, might return to a place of greater hobby affection.

Silver Bicentennial coins could pop higher.

The regular clad coins struck since 1971 are probably the most hopeless, but these coins in ultra grades of MS-69 and MS-70 might get a boost.

Also, the 1982 and 1983 dates that have no uncirculated coin sets as backups might move up as well.

There are all kinds of possibilities.

When something arrives in the headlines, you can count on the fact that related items also bask in the attention.

Get started now and you will be that much ahead of the game.

I have to admit to a fondness for the 1964 proof set. Back in the 1960s it was once tipped to reach $50, a nice gain on a $2.10 issue price.

This was a lesson that not all investment forecasts come true. But there was no denying that it was fun to think about.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper is winner of the 2013 Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."