Walking Liberty Half Dollars (1916–1947)

Weinman Studied Under Saint-Gaudens, and the Obverse Shows It

Adolph Weinman came to the Walking Liberty half dollar with a specific formation. He had studied under Augustus Saint-Gaudens around 1896, and Saint-Gaudens' influence runs visibly through the design: Liberty moves forward toward a rising sun, cape billowing behind her with the stars of the flag, right arm extended as though clearing space, left arm cradling branches of oak and laurel. The composition pulls from the same vocabulary Saint-Gaudens used for the double eagle of 1907, though Weinman's execution translates the idea to a circle 30.6 millimeters in diameter rather than a broad canvas. The design was chosen again for the obverse of the Silver Eagle bullion coin when it was introduced in 1986.¹

The reverse shows an eagle standing on a rocky crag from which a pine branch grows, wings spread, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA above, E PLURIBUS UNUM in small letters at left above the pine branch, HALF DOLLAR below, and Weinman's AW monogram at lower right. Beginning in 1915, Mint Director Robert W. Woolley engaged sculptors and the Commission of Fine Arts to evaluate new designs for the dime, quarter, and half dollar, and the designs were chosen in early 1916. Woolley selected Weinman for the dime and half dollar, and Hermon Atkins MacNeil for the quarter. The dime entered circulation in October 1916 and the quarter and half dollar in January 1917, replacing the Barber series that had run since 1892.²

Two Chief Engravers Attempted to Fix the Strike, and Neither Succeeded

Weinman's design proved difficult to strike consistently from the beginning. The high-relief obverse, with Liberty's outstretched hand nearly reaching the rim and the flag occupying substantial field space, demanded pressure distribution that the Mint's presses rarely delivered uniformly. George T. Morgan, then Chief Engraver, modified the design in both 1918 and 1921 to improve striking characteristics. John R. Sinnock, his successor, made further modifications in the late 1930s. None of these interventions resolved the problem. Even late-series issues from the 1940s, struck on equipment considerably more advanced than the 1916 originals, show weakness in the central areas on a significant proportion of examples. The consistent trouble spots are Liberty's left hand and the separation of her fingers, the skirt lines along her lower body, and the breast and leg feathers of the eagle on the reverse.³

The practical consequence for the collector is that grade designation alone does not describe a Walking Liberty half dollar adequately. A well-struck example in Mint State 64 can be more desirable to a specialist than a weakly struck example in Mint State 65. The San Francisco issues are the most notorious for weak striking, with the 1923-S, 1927-S, and 1928-S regularly cited in specialist literature as coins where full strike is a genuine rarity at any grade level. Buying a Walker on strike requires more direct examination than buying almost any other 20th-century silver coin. The weakness comes from the original striking, so it is no sign of a counterfeit.⁴

The 1921-D Has the Lowest Mintage. The 1921-S Is the Hardest to Find in High Grade.

Coinage was sharply reduced in 1921 as the postwar recession cut demand for coin and the Mints concentrated on striking silver dollars under the Pittman Act of 1918. The three 1921-dated half dollars are the series' major key dates. The 1921 Philadelphia issue had a mintage of 246,000. The 1921-D carried a mintage of 208,000, the lowest of any Walking Liberty half dollar. The 1921-S, while not the lowest by raw mintage, is the most difficult of the three to acquire in high grade and is consistently described in specialist literature as the practical key to the series. Most examples of all three dates circulated heavily, and the 1921-S compounds the usual circulation losses with particularly poor striking quality on most surviving examples. Gem examples of the 1921-S graded Mint State 65 brought $88,920 at Bonhams in September 2017 and $117,500 at Legend Rare Coin Auctions in September 2018.⁵

Mintage alone does not rank the three 1921 halves by difficulty. A date set assembled in Extremely Fine can be completed with patience and a substantial budget; a date set assembled in Mint State 64 or above requires all three 1921 dates in high grade, and the wait for acceptable examples of all three can span years.⁶

Pre-1934 Dates Are Scarce Across the Board, Not Just on the Key Dates

Beyond the 1921 trio, all Walking Liberty half dollars minted before 1934 are scarce in Extremely Fine and rarer above it. Most circulated heavily and were not saved in any systematic quantity by the public during the Depression years. Organized saving of Uncirculated rolls began only in 1934, too late for the earlier dates. Other significant keys include the 1916-S at 508,000 mintage, the 1917-D and 1917-S Obverse mintmark varieties (struck before the mintmark moved from the obverse to the reverse in 1917), and the 1938-D at 491,600, the lowest mintage of any Walking Liberty half dollar after 1921. The 1916 Philadelphia issue in its first-year status also commands a premium.⁷

From 1934 Through 1947, the Series Opens Up

Production resumed at scale in 1934 after the Depression-era gaps (no halves were struck in 1922, 1924 through 1926, or 1930 through 1932) and continued without interruption through 1947. Most dates and mintmarks from this period cost little in circulated grades and are easy to find in lower Mint State. The 1941 through 1947 issues in particular are common enough that the Short Set of those years, 20 coins from all three mints, is a legitimate and satisfying entry point for collectors who want the design without the key date cost. Philadelphia strikes of the 1940s are generally sharper than the San Francisco issues of the same years. Proofs were struck at Philadelphia from 1936 through 1942, totaling 74,400 pieces. The 1936 Proof has the lowest mintage of the Proof series and is the most expensive; most Proof Walking Liberty halves show little Cameo contrast.⁸

Building the Set

A type set requires one coin: any date and mint in any grade. Late-1940s Philadelphia issues are the practical choice for type, combining accessibility with above-average strike quality. A Short Set of the 1941 through 1947 issues (20 coins from Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco) is an achievable project at modest cost in grades through Mint State 65. A date set of all 65 date-and-mintmark combinations is the established specialist goal; completing it in any Mint State grade requires sustained commitment, and completing it in Gem requires the kind of long-term program that distinguishes the most serious Walker collectors. The controlling specialist reference is Fox, Bruce W., The Complete Guide to Walking Liberty Half Dollars (Virginia Beach: DLRC Press, 1993), supplemented by Bowers, Q. David, A Guide Book of Mercury Dimes, Standing Liberty Quarters, and Liberty Walking Half Dollars (Atlanta: Whitman Publishing, 2015).⁹