
history of the walking liberty half dollar
The walking liberty half dollar was made from 1916 to 1947 then replaced by the franklin half dollar. In 1915 when Robert W. Woolley came into commission he believed that when a coin design was circulating for 25 years that it had to be replaced so he set out to replace the Barber coinage. When he found people he chose Adolph A. Weinman and Herman Macneil. Herman made the standing liberty quarter and Adolph made the mercury dime and walking liberty half. The sun in the background proved difficult to perfect and even harder to strike. People believe that the "sower" design on the France coinage was his inspiration for the half dollar. Since the liberty half dollar was so hard to strike most people believe that that is the reason it got replaced by the franklin half dollar and the Treasury secretary before it was made he even considered that Barber creates his own new design for the half dollar. Many people believe the liberty half dollar was a really beautiful design but Art Historian Cornelius Vermeule considered that it was the most beautiful piece of coinage in U.S history. Since 1986 a few modifications have been made to the obverse of the coin and used as the American silver eagle, and even had its own gold centennial made in 2016.