On your mark, get set, gold!

If you want to be among the first to buy a 50th anniversary gold Kennedy half dollar Aug. 5 at the World’s Fair of Money in Rosemont, Ill., you had better be prepared to stand in line yourself.

On Friday the American Numismatic Association announced the procedure it will ask potential buyers of the gold Kennedy coins to follow. Chief among them is a prohibition on individuals holding spots in line for others.

The Mint will make 500 gold Kennedy coins available on the first day of the convention. At 8 a.m., the ANA will begin a line outside the bourse floor. It will have signs directing people to the appropriate place.

The first 250 persons in the line will receive tickets from Mint officials beginning sometime between 10:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. These tickets are required for all purchasers of the Kennedy gold coins.

At 11 a.m. persons with tickets will be led directly to the U.S. Mint booth on the bourse floor through a special side entrance. There they will be able to buy no more than two gold Kennedy coins each. Price is almost $1,300 a coin.

Proper show credentials are required for admittance to the bourse floor. Public registration for admission to the show will also begin at 8 a.m. on that day.

Members of the ANA will be allowed in free, but non-members will be charged $6. A coupon available on www.WorldsFairofMoney.com is good for $2 toward the admission price.

The Mint will not serve anyone under the age of 18 and proper identification might be asked for.

On succeeding days at the convention the same procedure will be followed as the Mint plans to have 500 coins available each day.

Persons not attending the show will also be able to buy the coins online at the Mint’s website at www.usmint.gov. Coins become available online at the same time they go on sale at the convention, 11 a.m. Central Time. The household order limit for online buyers is higher at five gold Kennedy coins.

The Mint also has sales points at the mints in Denver and Philadelphia and at its headquarters in Washington, D.C.

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."