The year was 1916 and a whole lot was going on. The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) was formed. Black & Decker Co. introduced the pistol grip drill. Woodrow Wilson signed legislation creating the National Park Service and the Saturday Evening Post published its first issue featuring a Norman Rockwell. The Mercury dime, the Standing Liberty quarter, and the new Liberty Walking half dollar or as I like to call it the Walking Liberty half was introduced.
The US was going through a major design change on US coinage. The Barber dime, quarter and half were retired making way for 3 new designs. Also, this is just after the penny had been redesigned (in 1909) and the nickel (1913). Adolph A. Wienman created the design for the Walking Liberty half along with the Mercury dime. In 1986 the Treasury Department used the Walking Liberty Obverse on the Silver Eagle bullion coins.
The Walking Liberty Half Dollars were struck from 1916 through 1947 with several years where there were none produced. The initial run in 1916 started late and didn’t actually get released into circulation until 1917. Production was constant until 1921. After 1921 there were only a few years where they were struck until 1933. After that, there was constant minting until the last year which was 1947. All three mints, Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco minted this coin. It’s one of the few coins where the mint mark changed sides during its run. On the 1916 and some of the 1917’s the mint mark started out on the obverse just below the “In God We Trust”, then moved to the reverse just above the rim at about the 7 o’clock position. In 1917 Friedrich Hugo von Engelken, the director of the US mint, ordered the mintmark relocation. In his opinion, “the obverse had the appearance of a defect in the die and were entirely too prominent”. This was the second time that a half dollar had the mint mark on the obverse. The only other time was in 1839 when the New Orleans mint minted the Capped Bust half dollar was minted and was the only year that coin was minted by New Orleans. There are only 3 other examples of the obverse mintmark on coins before 1916. They are the Gold Quarter Eagle in 1938-1939, the Five Dollar Eagle in 1838-1839 and the Lincoln Cent in 1909-current
It’s been reported that until 1965 the Walking Liberty Half Dollars were common in circulation. When the silver coins stopped being minted they pretty much disappeared from pocket change. With the price of silver going up many were melted down. This came to a climax in the 1970’s when silver peaked at $52.35 an ounce. The melt price was greater than the numismatic value which reached about $18 per coin. Much of the silver coins got caught up in the elevated prices and were melted down.
For the collector, the Walking Liberty Half is a very good set to complete on a budget. There are no major rarities and only a few key date coins. By most accounts a person should be able to complete a set of circulated coins under $2500 USD. The key dates for this set are:
1. 1916
2. 1916-S
3. 1917-S OBV mint mark
4. 1919-D (in high grades)
5. 1921
6. 1921-D
7. 1921-S
8. 1938-D
This is one of the best US designs on a coin. The fact that it was brought back for the Silver Eagle is a testament to how enduring this design is. With the ability to collect these at a reasonable price makes this a great set to collect for any numismatist from a beginner to seasoned collector.
References –
1. A guide book of Mercury Dimes, Standing Liberty Quarters, and Liberty Walking Half Dollars (The Official Red Book)
2. Coin Week article – Why was the Mintmark Moved on the Walking Liberty Half Dollar?- https://coinweek.com/why-was-the-mintmark-moved-on-walking-liberty-half-dollars/
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