The Walking Liberty half dollar was a silver 50-cent piece or half dollar coin issued by the United States Mint from 1916 to 1947; it was designed by Adolph A. Weinman.
In 1915, the new Mint Director, Robert W. Woolley, came to believe that he was not only allowed but required by law to replace coin designs that had been in use for 25 years. He therefore began the process of replacing the Barber coinage: dimes, quarters and half dollars, all bearing similar designs by long-time Mint Engraver Charles E. Barber, and first struck in 1892. Woolley had the Commission of Fine Arts conduct a competition, as a result of which Weinman was selected to design the dime and half dollar.
Weinman's design of Liberty striding towards the Sun for the half dollar proved difficult to perfect, and Treasury Secretary William G. McAdoo, whose department included the Mint, considered having Barber create his own design. Mint officials were successful in getting Weinman's design into production, although it never struck very well, which may have been a factor in its replacement by the Franklin half dollar beginning in 1948. Nevertheless, art historian Cornelius Vermeule considered the piece to be among the most beautiful US coins. Since 1986, a modification of Weinman's obverse design has been used for the American Silver Eagle.
Read more about Walking Liberty Half Dollar: Inception, Design, Preparation, Modification, Reception, Production and Collecting, Replacement and Design Reuse
Famous quotes containing the words walking, liberty and/or dollar:
“O Lord! I don’t know which is the worst of the country, the walking or the sitting at home with nothing to do.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“Man has lost the basic skill of the ape, the ability to scratch its back. Which gave it extraordinary independence, and the liberty to associate for reasons other than the need for mutual back-scratching.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)
“Johnny Clay: You like money. You got a great big dollar sign there where most women have a heart. So play it smart. Stay in character and you’ll have money. Plenty of it. George’ll have it and he’ll blow it on you. Probably buy himself a five-cent cigar.
Sherry Peatty: You don’t know me very well, Johnny. I wouldn’t think of letting George throw his money away on cigars.”
—Stanley Kubrick (b. 1928)