The Franklin Half Dollar Turns 75

Above, Franklin half dollars. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

There was a time when silver Franklin half dollars were commonly found in pocket change as quarters and dimes. I remember those days.

This year marks 75 years since the U.S. Mint introduced the Franklin half dollar into our coinage in 1948. The Franklin half dollar superseded the Walking Liberty half dollar.

Above, a 1945 Walking Liberty half dollar. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

CoinWeek has an article celebrating the Franklin half dollar's 75th birthday.

It begins with:

Benjamin Franklin, the subject of the Franklin Half Dollar is perhaps one of the most famous Founding Fathers to have never become president of the United States. The Boston-born Franklin became a Philadelphia icon after running away from home at the age of 17 and serving as a printer, a postmaster, and a scientist in the City of Brotherly Love. He would even eventually invent bifocals, the glass armonica, the odometer, and several other contraptions.

As the American colonies worked harder to break free of their ties to Great Britain, Franklin took an active role as a patriotic statesman who eventually signed the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Paris, and the United States Constitution. He was 84 when he died in 1790 and has ever since been recognized as an amiable diplomat, a prudent philosopher, and one of America’s most enduring heroes.

To read more, go here.