Franklin Halves
The History of Silver Franklin Half Dollar Coins
The following history of the Benjamin Franklin Half Dollar shows an inner-history about how coins get designed, approved and released into our treasury. The reason the Franklin Halves are unique is because they were the first U.S. coin to feature a non-president. They were also the first place the Liberty Bell was depicted with it's crack in place.
Some coin collectors claim that common knowledge on the part of the general public about details of Ben Franklin's contributions and life story are due to the influence of seeing his face on the common half-dollar for sixteen years. Others claim it stood out more because the design of the first Franklin half dollar had a certain edging design called a "full bell line" that flared out slightly, causing them to contain higher volumes of silver, respectively, making them slightly heavier and therefore more valuable than other Mint coins. The coins contain 90 percent silver and ten percent copper.
Issued in 1943, the Franklin Half was circulated until 1963. The desire to honor Benjamin Franklin on a coin began with U.S. Treasury Mint Director Nellie Tayloe Ross. Respected not only for his role as a founding father, Franklin received many accolades for his contributions as a writer, printer, inventor and scientist. The project began in 1947 when Ross commissioned Mint Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock to begin making designs for the half dollar coin. Sinnock had begun his initial drawings before the formal request was initiated, and he died before the coins had been cast into molds.
The new Mint Chief Engraver assigned to the project was Gilroy Roberts. Roberts inherited the task of adding an eagle which is a mandatory part of U.S. Mint coin design since the Coinage Act of 1873. Roberts included an unusually small eagle and added the crack that exists in the Liberty Bell. The office of the U.S. Mint then submitted the coin designs to the Commission of Fine Arts, who rejected the idea of displaying a crack in the liberty bell, and disliked how small the eagle was. The fear from the commission was that design details would invoke ridicule and fuel jokes. The Mint officials and the Treasury Department officials ignored the review and proceeded with Roberts and Sinnock's designs.
Within 16 years, 498 proofs and Benjamin Franklin half dollars were released. Most common coins are not worth anything beyond simple silver value and are often termed "junk silver coins". The "full bell line" in its design helped it hold unique value. It had its lowest production year in 1953 when the Philadelphia Mint produced 2.8 million of them. It was at its highest in 1963 when the Denver Mint struck 67 million of these silver coins for release.
On the obverse side of the Franklin Half is the right facing bust of old Ben himself, with a tiny date just below his chin and Sinnock's signatory; "JRS" below the shoulder. At the top of the coin it reads: "Ben Frankline Half Dollar" and "LIBERTY" on the bottom it reads: "IN GOD WE TRUST".
The reverse side hosts the Liberty Bell including it's now famous crack, with the words "E PLURIBUS UNUM" on the left, and Roberts legally required eagle on the right. At the top the words "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" on the bottom it reads "HALF DOLLAR". Above the Liberty Bell you can see the U.S. mint-mark.
As politics would have it, when the first release of April 1948 happened, the U.S. Mint received complaints that the JRS signatory stamp was referencing Joseph Stalin. Further implications to communist infiltration seemed to be the cut-off shoulder of Ben Franklin's bust. Regardless of the complaints, the Mint continued production until Kennedy's assassination triggered the need to quickly commemorate his presidency, and the silver Kennedy half dollar coin was born into it's replacement.
The Sesquicentennial half dollar coin typically displays the original Liberty Bell, before it cracked on one side. This half dollar was known as the "Walking Liberty" half dollar and they began to strike these in 1916. This design is what was altered and integrated for the reverse of the Franklin coin. By law, this coin could be replaced without congressional action beginning in 1941, however, heavy demand for coins during times of war prevented any replacement considerations.
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Franklin Halves USD 10
Franklin Halves USD 20
