Walking Liberty Silver Half Dollars

The Walking Liberty Half Dollar is regarded by many coin collectors as one of the most beautiful silver coins ever produced for circulation in the U. S. It is one of the few U.S. coins to have its obverse design appear again on a modern coin - that being the hugely popular Silver American Eagle.

Designed by Adolph A. Weinman, a total of three U. S. Mints were involved in the production of approximately 485,395,000 Walking Liberty halves from 1916 thru 1947: Denver (mint mark "D"); San Francisco (mint mark "S"); and Philadelphia (no mint mark).

The obverse of this popular silver coin features the image of Walking Lady Liberty and the reverse contains the image of a majestic eagle. Almost all of these silver half dollars have the mint mark on the reverse near the "Half". Some limited 1916 and 1917 coins have the mint mark on the obverse side below the motto "In God We Trust".

Walking Liberty Silver Half Dollars - Investing Details

Walking Liberty half dollars consist of 90% silver and 10% copper. Uncirculated Walking Liberty half dollars contain .3617 Troy ounces of pure silver (11.2501 grams). Circulated Walking Liberty half dollars contain less silver because circulation = wear. The industry considers circulated "walkers" to contain approximately .3575 Troy ounces of pure silver.

With few exceptions, at least a few million Walking Liberty Half Dollars were produced each year. The Philadelphia Mint produced several million silver half dollars between 1941 and 1945 - these are the most common dates. Philadelphia also produced "Proof" Walking Liberty silver coins in 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941 and 1942.

Walking Liberty Half Dollars with mint totals of less than a million usually fetch a higher sale price. Most rare are the 1921 ( 246,000 minted) and 1921D ( only 208,000 minted). Other silver half dollars with less than a million minted are 1916, 1916S, 1917D ( obverse mint mark only), 1917S ( obverse mint mark only), 1919, 1921S and 1938D.

To determine the silver (melt) value of a circulated Walking Liberty Silver Half Dollar, multiply the current spot price of silver times .3575.

Example: $30.00 x .3575 = $10.725