Silver Half Dollar History
The Walking Liberty Half Dollar is a silver half dollar coin issued by the United States government, equal to fifty cents. Walking Liberties were minted from 1916 to 1947. The coin is named after its representation of Liberty on the obverse. The coin’s obverse and reverse was designed by Adolph A. Weinman and his mark, “AAW”, appears under the eagle’s wing feathers on the reverse.
All American coinage at the turn of the 20th century was set to be changed in an effort started by President Theodore Roosevelt. The new half dollar succeeded the unpopular and often ridiculed Barber half dollar. This coin along with the Mercury dime (which Weinman also designed) and Standing Liberty Quarter eliminated the uniform design that was a tradition of American coinage since the mint opened in 1793.
The Walking Liberty half dollar obverse is considered one of the best designed silver coin in American coinage. As a result, it was used as the obverse design of the American Silver Eagle bullion coin while the St. Gaudens double eagle obverse was chosen for the obverse of the American Gold Eagle series.
Mintmarks were located on the obverse under ‘In God We Trust’ in 1916 and 1917. In mid 1917, the mintmark was moved to the reverse. It is located to the upper left of ‘half dollar’ along the rim.
* None (P – Philadelphia Mint in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
* D (Denver Mint in Denver, Colorado)
* S (San Francisco Mint in San Francisco, California)
Special varieties/errors
Unlike most United States coins, the Walking Liberty half dollar only has one significant error. The 1946-P has a Doubled reverse variety that has an increased value.
Rarities
In the series there are some difficult rarities and some low-mintage (less than one million made) dates. The five key dates are 1916-P, 1916-S, 1921-P, 1921-D, and 1938-D:
* 1916-P
* 1916-S
* 1917-D Obverse Mint Mark
* 1917-S Obverse Mint Mark
* 1919-P
* 1921-P
* 1921-D
* 1921-S
* 1938-D
