Walking Liberty Halves

History of the Walking Liberty Halves

The Majestic Walking Liberty Half Dollar silver coin is considered by many as the most beautiful of the US half dollars ever minted. Designed in 1915, and released into circulation in 1916, it was in production until 1947. The design was so well loved that it also appears on the one-ounce Silver Eagle silver bullion coin, still in production today.

The year 1916 marked a year of many changes in the US Mint Department coinage development process. A few years before the Liberty Nickel was changed and now change had been scheduled for the dime, quarter and half dollar. Technically this marked an end to the "Barber Era" a time when the coin designs were largely done by Chief Engraver Charles Barber, whose designs were now being judged as "boring".

The beauty and majesty of the Walking Liberty can be confirmed by the 50 year hiatus. It is because of its extraordinary appeal that it was brought back into circulation. This is true for no other US coin. With foreknowledge of the coming design changes US Mint Director, Robert Woolley, decided to open a competition between the nation's leading sculptors. The winner, of course, would have his designs honored by immortalizing them onto the US currency. Many Americans loved this new idea. Tired of the simplistic images produced by Barber, the excitement over the new coins drew much attention from the public. Many Americans felt this competition represented a search for the American spirit of independence and love for beauty.

Some trepidation was being experienced by the staff of the Mint Department. History tells us that Barber had a rather cantankerous reputation. The first of the American Chief Engravers for US coinage, he was known to have an arrogance that caused hostility when other artists were working on coins he felt it was "his job" to design. He also had a grudge against female sculptors and worked hard to prevent designs submitted by any prominent female artists. Still working at the age of 75, much speculation about him can be made. He died later that year, while still in office. He was replaced by his apprentice; George T. Morgan, who is the creator of the famous silver Morgan Dollar coin.

The coins designer, Adolf Weinmann, was an emigrant from Germany who arrived at the age of ten, in the year 1880. He was a student of renowned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens who is also credited with having provided outstanding US coin designs.

The obverse design hosts a full length figure of Lady Liberty striding across the landscape. Stars and stripes are whipping in the breeze behind her. She walks toward the dawn of a new day, with the sun rising on the horizon. She carries branches of laurel and oak, symbolic of civil and military glory. Her hand is outstretched as a bestowal of the very spirit of liberty. On its reverse an eagle raises its wings from a mountain crag, fearless in spirit and conscious of power. Behind him springs a mountain pine sapling out of the rock, the symbol of America's emergent and growing spirit.

The patriotic themes excited and resonated with many people across the nation. Ironically, the US was about to begin preparing for Word War I, against the land of Weinmann's birth. His initials (AW) were placed directly under the tail feathers.

The 90 percent silver Walking Liberty Halves were released into circulation in late 1916. They began with mintage of 608,000 at the Philadelphia Mint, 1,014,400 in Denver and 508,000 from San Francisco. Major metropolitan newspapers praised it highly, especially in New York and Boston. Whereas these mintage numbers may seem low to some, they were comparable to the numbers released for the Barber half, as in 1916 a half dollar coin bought a big basket of groceries from any market, and was largely viewed as "a lot of money".

The circulation run for the Walking Liberty ended in 1948. At this time president Franklin D. Roosevelt had recently passed away, and the nation craved a way to honor his presidency, and show the intent to immortalize his spirit. This was the year the Franklin Half Dollar was created, and this became the very first coin to host an image of a man who was currently not president.

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