Franklin Half Dollar

Above, some Franklin half dollars in my collection. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

For some reason, there are coin collectors who shun the Franklin half dollar and there are others who covet them. Since I like the coin, I guess I am in the latter category.

Lucky for me, I found several Franklin half dollars in a strongbox last year.

CoinWeek has posted an article on the history of the Franklin half dollar and its significance in U.S. coinage.

It begins with:

The Franklin half dollar was a silver half dollar coin produced by the United States Mint from 1948 to 1963. The coin featured the likeness of founding father Benjamin Franklin on the obverse and the Liberty Bell on the reverse. It was the first circulating half dollar to feature a historical portrait instead of an allegorical portrait of Liberty.

The Act of September 26, 1890 specified that the Treasury Department could modify coin designs without explict Congressional authorization only after a minimum of 25 years of use. Based on this law, the Walking Liberty half dollar design, which had proven difficult to strike, was eligible for replacement in 1941. 

To circumvent the Act of September 26, 1890, a law was passed by congress and signed by President Lyndon Johnson authorizing the minting of the Kennedy half dollar to replace the Franklin half dollar in 1964. The Franklin half dollar, because of this, was only minted for 15 years.

To read the full article, go here.