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United States of America
Walking Liberty Half Dollar
1944 Silver Half Dollar 30.6mm (12.50 grams) 0.900 Silver (0.3617 oz. ASW)
Reference: KM# 142, Schön# 136
LIBERTY IN GOD WE TRUST 1944, Lady Liberty , the folds of the Stars and Stripes flying to the breeze as a background, progressing in full stride toward the dawn of a new day, carrying branches of laurel and oak, symbolical of civil and military glory. The hand of the figure is outstretched in bestowal of the spirit of liberty.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA HALF DOLLAR E PLURIBUS UNUM, a bald eagle perched high upon a mountain crag, his wings unfolded, fearless in spirit and conscious of his power. Springing from a rift in the rock is a sapling of mountain pine, symbolical of America.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
A beautiful coin illustrating true U.S. Constitutional currency which defined the dollar as a quantity of silver. What is interesting to note is that United States of America coins, which were dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollars were made of silver until 1964 as per the mandate of the 1792 Coinage Act. The advantage of currency backed by precious metals being a medium of exchange that maintains and perhaps even gains buying power over time. There was little or no inflation when the ideals of the founding fathers were followed. The idea of paper money was a piece of paper which was exchangeable for coins at any time. It allowed you to easily transport your money without having to carry the weight of the gold silver and non-precious metal USA coins.
Article I, Section. 10 of U.S. Constitution
“No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin as Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.”
It is also interesting to note that silver is an industrial metal and supplies are being used up at rapid rates. Silver coins were placed in jugs of water as per it’s anti-microbial properties. Also when cows were milked, many used or still use silver pails to catch the milk. Silver is also used in electronics as it is non-corrosive. Another interesting thing was that at times in history, American people were actually able to bring their silver to the U.S. mint and get silver coins in exchange.
The great idea of money is for it to be plentiful to allow for easy exchange. You see, contrary to popular belief, US money, even with the 1792 Coinage Act did have what may be described as fiat, or coins of non-precious metal. The 1 Cent or Penny Coins were made of copper and the 5 Cent or Nickel coins were made of nickel. However, the brilliant thing is that the copper and nickel coins were exchangeable for silver and gold coins. So because of this, there was gold and silver backing, in effect for the copper and nickel coins. So the amazing thing is that there was plentiful money, which was issued constantly and did not bear any interest for it’s use.
So in conclusion, money is an interesting topic of discussion and study. It can both free and enslave and there is a lot of good in all types of systems. What is also amazing is that the money of the United States has the words “In God We Trust”. This makes this phrase the most written phrase in existence. The more we love people and use money as a tool for their benefit, the better the world is becoming. We live in an amazing time and world where we are connected via the internet and where the best ideas are winning.
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 .
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