John F. Kennedy Friendship Spoon

Q: I have a John F. Kennedy “Friendship spoon.” One side of the handle is marked with the year “1961.” The other side just has the number “19” because the last two numbers of the year are missing. I saw one online that had all four numbers on each side. Why would two numbers be missing? What is the value of this spoon?

A: Wm. Rogers Manufacturing Co. made souvenir spoon honoring the 1962 flight of Friendship 7 in both silver plate and gold plate. Piloted by astronaut John Glenn, it was the first manned orbital flight launched by the United States. In 1961 President Kennedy announced the goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Seven astronauts were chosen and a tradition of letting the astronauts choose the name of their space capsules began with the first flight. John Glenn’s children chose the name “Friendship” and the number 7 was added in honor of the original group of astronauts. Most of the Rogers spoons found online have “1961” and “1963” underneath a bust of President Kennedy and were obviously made after he was assassinated in 1963, but we found one pictured that had only the number “19” on the right side of his bust. It was listed as being made in 1962. Value: about $10.