There were 510 million Franklin half dollars minted between 1948 and 1963. Those without a mint mark were minted in Philadelphia and those with a D were minted in Denver while those with a S were made in San Francisco. Engraver John R. Sinnock’s initials appear at Franklin’s shoulder.

A great many of the Franklin half dollars were melted into silver bullion in 1965 when their value exceeded the face value of the US silver coinage. In spite of this, the Franklin halves in good condition are quite affordable today.

One error in the series of the Franklin half dollar is what is called the “Bugs Bunny” error. Damage to the coin’s obverse die put a split in Franklin’s upper lip that gave the appearance of big front teeth. This error is found on the 1955 coins from the Philadelphia mint.

After the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Congress replaced the Franklin half dollar with the Kennedy half dollar in February 1964.

The US Mint produced the Barber Half Dollar between 1892 and 1915 and the coin is named after the designer, Charles E. Barber. New half dollars were not struck much at all in the 1880s because the Mint had plenty of the older coins in its vaults to satisfy demand.

The Barber half dollar shows lady Liberty facing right with her hair bound in a cap and a laurel wreath resting on her hairline and a diadem bearing her name over her brow. IN GOD WE TRUST appears above Liberty with the date below and thirteen stars alongside.

On the reverse is a heraldic eagle with a shield superimposed on its breast and an olive branch in his right claw and a bundle of arrows in the left. On the top border is UNITED STATES OF AMERICA with E PLURIBUS UNUM on a ribbon in the eagle’s beak. There are thirteen stars above the eagle.

Annual production of the Barber Half Dollar never was more than six million coins in any given mint, with Philadelphia making just over 5.5 million in 1899. Barber halves were minted in New Orleans, San Francisco and Denver as well, with the mintmark placed under the eagle’s tail.

At the turn of the century American coinage was being changed due to President Theodore Roosevelt’s doings. The new half dollar replaced the unpopular Barber half dollar. It was released along with the Mercury Dime and the Standing Liberty Quarter.

The Walking Liberty half dollar is considered to be one of the best designed silver coins in American coinage history.

The design is full length portrayal of a flag-draped Miss Liberty marching toward a sunrise. The reverse represented American’s strong military might with a powerful eagle ready for flight. The world recognized these symbols within a few months of the release of the coins, as more than just boasting. The United States was know to enter a conflict, mobilize quickly and in the end defeat Germany in World War II.

Walking Liberty half dollars are called “Walkers” for short and are highly sought after by collectors. The attractive design and affordability for all dates have built a very devoted following. Most Walking Liberty half dollars are weakly struck and especially those struck during the war when the dies were used for too long.

The Walking Liberty half dollar’s design was resurrected in 1986 for the design for the front side of the American Eagle one ounce silver bullion cube which is still in production.

The late 1830s were years of progress and changes within the US Mint. Steam-powered coinage made its debut in 1836 and the first branch Mint opened in New Orleans in 1838. New designs were placed on all gold and silver coins between 1837 and 1840.

The Seated Liberty half dollar came to being in 1839. Liberty had her right hand resting on a shield and her left arm holding a pole that was topped by a Liberty cap to symbolize preparedness and freedom. Thirteen stars are around her and the date is below.

The Seated Liberty design was made by portraitist Thomas Sully and executed by engraver Christian Gobrecht. The style of the Seated Liberty reflected American’s taste for mid 19th century art.

The Philadelphia Mint made 2 million Seated Liberty half dollars in 1839 in two versions. The first coins show no drapery at the crook of Liberty’s elbow but the subsequent strikes all exhibit a fold of drapery there. The coins with no drapery are scarce in every grade and extremely rare in mint state levels.

The Seated Liberty half dollars were minted for more than fifty years from 1839 through 1891. These coins were widely used and people viewed them with respect because many Americans made well below ten dollars a week at that time in history. The unusually long production of this coin makes them hard to collect. Collectors have divided up the series into sub-categories with the most important division being “No-Motto” and “With Motto”. The motto is IN GOD WE TRUST. The Mint added it to the half dollar in 1866 on the banner above the eagle on the reverse. It stayed there for the remaining quarter century of the production of this coin.

German-born engraver John Reich was hired for a salary of $600 a year to re-design coinage at the US Mint. Reich came to the United States to escape the Napoleonic Wars. Reich’s redesign was very comprehensive, re-designing every coin the Mint produced.

The Capped Bust half dollar depict Liberty, facing left, with curly hair tucked into a mobcap with a high puffy crown. Liberty is wearing a headband that bears her name and she is surrounded by a circle of thirteen stars with the date below. This likeness is often called “Turban Head”. Reich was accused of basing the rather buxom Liberty on his “fat mistress” though that has never been confirmed.

On the reverse is a naturalistic eagle with a shield on its breast. It clutches an olive branch in the right claw and a bundle of three arrows in his left claw. Above the eagle is the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is in an arc around the edge.The edge of this coin bears the statement of the coin’s value: “FIFTY CENTS OR HALF A DOLLAR”.

In 1796 Congress responded to widespread dissatisfaction of the Flowing Hair design and ordered a new design. All denominations at that time in history bore the same design. There were certain features that were mandated to be on each coin: The eagle, the word Liberty, stars, and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Chief Engraver Robert Scot transformed a portrait of a society lady into a buxom Miss Liberty. Some say she is the likeness of a socialite from Philadelphia, Ann Willing Bingham. She remained unchanged for several years except for an extra curl that was added to her flowing hair in 1798.

Draped Bust half dollars come in two types: one with a small eagle on the reverse and the other with a large, heraldic eagle. The Draped Bust with the small eagle was replaced in 1801 by the heraldic eagle. This bird was more formal with a shield superimposed on its breast. This new series was short-lived, lasting just six years. By this time the Mint’s total output of the Draped Bust half dollar greatly surpassed the levels of the previous years and for the first time the half dollar was being used by everyone.

The Draped Bust design may very well have been influenced by President George Washington himself. The president was very interested in upgrading the US coinage and may have arranged to have painter Gilbert Stuart prepare this design.

There were fewer than 4,000 Draped Bust/small eagle half dollars struck but in contrast more than 1.6 million Draped Bust/heraldic eagles were minted with 1806 being the year that more than half were produced.

1794 was the first year that Half Dollars were struck by the US Mint. In recent years the half dollar has pretty much disappeared from the ranks of US commerce, almost becoming irrelevant to the country’s coinage system. That is far from the case the half dollar played in its beginning when it had a significant function and carried a lot of weight. The year 1794 was when US silver coinage began and the half dollar was one of the first three denominations to be issued in silver, along with the silver dollar and half dime.

After completing the first production run of the Flowing Hair half dollars the Mint was ready to make more but its rolling equipment broke down so it could not make the coin blanks the right thickness. The repairs took weeks and as 1794 was drawing to a close, the Mint had around six obverse dies on hand. Instead of throwing them away, it continued to make 1794 half dollars in 1795. When all of the 1794 dies got to the point of being unusable, the Mint then start using dies dated 1795.