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The
Walking Liberty Half Dollar -
Walking Liberty Half Dollars for Sale
History of the Walking Liberty Half Dollar
The year 1916
marked a radical change in our US coins. The Liberty Nickel had been replaced a
few years before and now the dime, quarter and half dollar would be changed
marking and end to the “Barber era”.
Of all the coins
produced throughout the history of the US, many will say the Walking Liberty
Half, or “Walkers” as they are commonly called, is perhaps the most majestic of
all US coins. Who can argue when looking at a fully struck Walking Liberty Half
in GEM mint condition? It is simply exquisite. Even though the Walking Liberty
half ended its run in 1947, the beauty of the obverse can still be had today in
the form of a one-ounce Silver Eagle silver bullion coin. How many designs are
ever repeated on a coin after nearly a 50 year hiatus? So, how did this design
come about?
In 1915, US Mint
Director Robert W. Woolley offered the opportunity to three noted sculptors,
Adolph A Weinman, Albin Polasek and Herman A. MacNeil to prepare designs for
three silver coins. Outside artists, not chief engraver Charles Barber,
supplied designs for the previous six changes and Woolley felt this was a great
option. By 1916, Barber was 75 years old but had a track record of being
hostile to outside artists designing coins he thought he should be designing.
With three new designs, all replacing coins Barber had designed, it could have
gotten unpleasant. The records suggest Barber was on his best behavior. Maybe
he finally just gave up or was too old too fight anymore or just recognized the
beauty in the designs. Barber died in February 1917 and was replaced by George
T. Morgan, who had designed the Morgan Dollar.
It is assumed that
Woolley intended to award a different coin to each person. It may not have been
planned this way, but Weinman ended up getting two of his designs as the winning
designs. One being what would become known as the Walking Liberty Half and the
Mercury Dime. MacNeil won the design for the quarter with Polasek getting shut
out.
Adolph A. Weinman
was born in Germany and came to the US at the age of 10 in 1880. He was a
student of well known sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Saint-Gaudens is also
credited with some truly outstanding coin designs. By 1915 when the design
process began, Weinman was widely celebrated as one of the nation’s best
sculptors.
For the obverse of
his design, Weinman chose a full-length figure of Liberty. In Barbers report he
had described the half dollar as “a full length Liberty, the fold of the stars
and stripes flying to the breeze as a background, progressing in full stride
toward the dawn of a new day, carrying branches of laurel and oak symbolical of
civil and military glory. The hand of the figure is outstretched in bestowal of
the spirit of liberty. The reverse of the half dollar shows an eagle perched
high upon a mountain crag, his wings unfolded, fearless in spirit and conscious
of his power. Springing from a rift in the rock is a sapling of mountain pine,
symbolical of America."
These strongly
patriotic themes resonated perfectly across a nation then preparing (knowingly
or not) to enter World War I, ironically against the land of Weinman's birth.
Weinman placed his initials (AW) directly under the eagle's tail feathers.
Even though the
Barber half was not produced in 1916, the new design of the Walking Liberty Half
was not released until late 1916 with mintages of 608,000 at Philadelphia,
1,014,400 at Denver and 508,000 at San Francisco. It drew immediate praise from
major metropolitan newspapers in New York, Boston, etc. While these mintages
seem low today, it was not all that different from mintage figures for the last
few years of the Barber Half. Also, back in 1916, a half dollar was a large
amount of money as it could buy nearly a whole basket of groceries.
The Walking Liberty half would be replaced in 1948 by the
Franklin Half ending a run of nearly two centuries of US coins with symbolic
figures to coins with actual historic individuals although Franklin was the
first non-president to appear on a coin.
Collectibility
General
Walking Liberty Halves,
“Walkers” as they are frequently called, are heavily collected due to their
beauty. They hold great appeal for traditional collectors as well as non
collectors. Over 485 million of these coins were produced between 1916 and 1947
with many that still exist in MS65 condition or better. A full set of 65
different date-and-mint combinations can be bought for around $1000 in average
circulated condition (AG-VG for earlier years and F to XF for later years)
making this series achievable for many collectors. As always, coins in higher
grades and mint state condition will command huge premiums.
You can also start with
what is called the short set with are coins dated from 1941 to 1947 which is 20
coins. Acquiring these in better grades can be very rewarding.
One thing to look for in
high grades is weakness of strike. Most dates are weakly struck, particularly
on Liberty's left hand and leg, head and skirt lines and on the eagle's breast
and leg feathers. As you would guess, sharply struck coins typically demand
substantial premiums. An effort to improve this issue was attempted by Chief
Engraver George T. Morgan in 1918 and again by Assistant Engraver John R.
Sinnock in 1937 and 1938. None of the revisions seemed to help though as later
issues were still weak in the central parts of the design. Places to check for
wear and weakness include Liberty's head, breast, arms and left leg and the
breast, leg and forward wing of the eagle.
Key/Semi Key Dates
Although over 485
million Walkers were produced, they were issued sporadically during the 1920’s
and early 1930’s which is generally where many of the key dates are. A couple
dates/mints in the teens can also be challenging. Coins dated 1916 can run
around $50 for a 1916P or D in VG-8 condition and over $130 for a 1916-S. When
first issued, the mint mark appeared in the obverse of the coin. This changed
during production in 1917 resulting in two types for that year. Halves with the
mint mark on the obverse command a premium over coins with the mintmark on the
reverse as coins with obverse mint marks had a lower mintage. Still, each type
is generally very available at reasonable prices.
The coins of 1919 has
similar mintages of other dates but is priced much higher. The 1919-D in MS65
lists for $130,000 making it the most costly of MS65 type coins.
The rarest of Walkers
are coins dated 1921 from Philadelphia and Denver with mintages of 246,000 and
208,000 respectively. An example of each of these will cost you several hundred
dollars each for even a G4. The 1921-S had a higher mintage of 548,000. Though
not has pricey in lower grades as the other 1921 examples, finding this coin in
MS gem condition is extremely tough with the 1921-S in MS65 retailing for
$105,000 in the March 2006 issue of Coins Magazine.
For the remainder of the
1920’s and 1930’s, production never fell below 1 million except for the 1938-D.
This date is considered a key. Total mintage was 491,600 making it the third
lowest coin in terms of production. A G4 coin could cost you around $100 while
a MS65 lists at $1,550 well below the 1919-D even though the 1919-D had a
mintage of triple of the 1938-D. Simply put, there are far less 1919-D’s in
MS65 condition. PCGS has graded only 10 of these coins while 669 1938-D’s in
MS65 have been graded.
During the 1940’s
production boomed. Prior to 1940, production exceeded 10 million only three
times. From 1940 through the end of the Walker run, production exceeded 10
million 12 times making supplies of 1940’s dated Walkers readily abundant. The
only exception being 1946-D, 1946-S, 1947 and 1947-D where production ranged
from 2-4 million.
Errors
The Walking Liberty
series has only one significant error, the 1946-P double die reverse. It is the
only one listed by PCGS. There are some less notable varieties/errors that have
been reported such as 1928-S large and small mint marks, 1942 D over S and a
1943/2 overdate. Also, proof coins in 1941 were struck without the designers
initials.
Proofs
Only about 74,000
Walking Liberty ˝-dollar proof coins were minted, all from 1936 to 1942, and a
few matte-finish proofs in 1916 and 1917. Well-struck coins have higher values
as many Walkers display weak striking. Some minor revisions were made to improve
the striking and design but were not dramatically successful. Later issues of
Walkers also have striking problems. For grading purposes, typical areas of wear
should be looked for around the eagle's leading leg and wing, and Liberty's left
hand and leg, head and skirt lines.
Vital Statistics Summary
Key Coin Info
Designed by:
Adolph A. Weinman
Issue dates: 1916-1947
Composition: 0.900 part silver, 0.100 part copper
Diameter: 30.6 mm
Weight: 192.9 grains
Edge: Reeded
Business strike mintage: 485,320,340
Proof mintage: 74,400
Mintage
Date Mint
Pop
1916 P
608,000
1916 D
1,014,400
1916 S
508,000
1917 D
OBV 765,400
1917 S OBV
952,000
1917 P
12,292,000
1917 D Rev
1,940,000
1917 S Rev
5,554,000
1918 P
6,634,000
1918 D
3,853,040
1918 S
10,282,000
1919 P
962,000
1919 D
1,165,000
1919 S
1,552,000
1920 P
6,372,000
1920 D
1,551,000
1920 S
4,624,000
1921 P
246,000
1921 D
208,000
1921 S
548,000
1923 S
2,178,000
1927 S
2,392,000
1928 S
1,940,000
1929 D
1,001,200
1929 S
1,902,000
1933 S
1,786,000
1934 P
6,964,000
1934 D
2,361,400
1934 S
3,652,000
1935 P
9,162,000
1935 D
3,003,800
1935 S
3,854,000
1936 P
12,617,901
1936 D
4,252,400
1936 S
3,884,000
1937 P
9,527,728
1937 D
1,676,000
1937 S
2,090,000
1938 P
4,118,152
1938 D
491,600
1939 P
6,820,808
1939 D
4,267,800
1939 S
2,552,000
1940 P
9,167,279
1940 S
4,550,000
1941 P
24,207,412
1941 D
11,248,400
1941 S
8,098,000
1942 P
47,839,120
1942 D
10,973,800
1942 S
12,708,000
1943 P
53,190,000
1943 D
11,346,000
1943 S
13,450,000
1944 P
28,206,000
1944 D
9,769,000
1944 S
8,904,000
1945 P
31,502,000
1945 D
9,966,800
1945 S
10,156,000
1946 P
12,118,000
1946 D
2,151,000
1946 S
3,724,000
1947 P
4,094,000
1947 D
3,900,600
Walking Liberty Half News
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