Walking Liberty Half-Dollar
The other day I stopped into the coin shop, and what did I find in the world coin section? This guy
It's pretty worn, but that's still 90% junk silver there. He charged me ¥2000 (≈$14) which I didn't think was too bad.
For those unfamiliar, the Walking Liberty design was used on half-dollars from 1916 to 1947. It replaced the Barber half-dollar, and was replaced itself by the Franklin half-dollar in 1948.
It was deigned by Adolph A. Weinman and is usually considered to be one of the most beautiful coin designs in US history. Due to that, it was chosen for the American Silver Eagles when those started up in 1986 where it was only slightly modified to make it look better on the larger coin.
Stats
Some basic coin stats for you:
- Weight: 12.50 g
- Diameter: 30.63 mm
- Thickness: 1.8 mm
- Edge: reeded
and most importantly, it's 90% silver, so that means about 11.3 grams of silver, which as of today has a melt value of roughly $11.54. Woohoo silver!
obverse side
Well, again, this is pretty worn. Here is what a better copy looks like (from Wikipedia):
And here she is with her older sister:
Reverse
The reverse is just an eagle, as we might expect from a US coin. A fairly nice image, but then again, it's tough to do an eagle badly.
About
For a coin design that has in the years since been considered one of the most beautiful designs ever, it seems like it didn't get a lot of acclaim at the time. Although some people did like it, many others disliked it. Wikipedia quotes an Alabama paper that seemed to downright hate it.
But I suppose that is always how it is. People hate change and usually dislike anything new; it is only later generations that look back and recognize when one of those changes was truly great.
Anyway, overall a nice coin. Not one I'd really seek out more of, but cool to have at least one for historic value.
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David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Twitter or Mastodon. |
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In whichever condition, the Walking Liberty is my most favorite design in half-dollar coins, @dbooster !
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Nice I have a couple of these floating around somewhere in a childhood collection.
That's awesome. I wish someone had bought me a few when I was a kid.
Yeah my favorite is still the liberty head silver dollar I've got like a dozen of those.
Freedom.
Murica.
If I get a chance, I'll buy more. The mercury dime may be my favorite design, followed by probably the peace dollar, but this is a nice one to get more of.
Yeah if I can cash out a good amount of crypto in 2025 I'm definitely gonna buy a couple of tiny gold bars and some more junk silver. Never owned gold before; it's time.
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I have a bunch that look like that too!
That's awesome!
That about the only condition I've ever seen those in, in person xD
Nice score though.
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Haha I guess all the good quality ones have long since been pulled out by collectors.
Nice Walker pick up, I love those coins! Even the worn down beat up ones are pretty cool in my book!
I kind of like when they are worn down. It's like a nice patina on leather. Shows that it was well used during its lifetime.
I always makes me wonder all the places it's been and who's held it over the years...
I like old worn coins, they have seen history. Back in the 90s I decided to buy some Silver Eagles and one Gold Eagle, mint date in the 80s and 90. Probably not worth what I paid for them but every once in a while it is fun to look at them and handle them in their protective hard-plastic cover.