1946-S 50C Walking Liberty Half Dollar PCGS MS65 (CAC)

Here is a simply beautiful—and very affordable—1946-S Walking Liberty half dollar to add to your collection. David Hall writes, “The 1946-S is the most common San Francisco Mint Walking Liberty Half Dollar. Obviously, a significant quantity of uncirculated rolls was saved in the year of issue. The typical specimen is relatively well struck. There are many frosty Gems available.” PCGS has graded 7,136 as MS65 with 3,013 finer. Collectors Universe prices this issue at $200.00 in MS65. In CAC, there are 339 in MS65 with 482 finer.

An early eagle by Adolph Weinman, who crafted the Walking Liberty design: The 1907 American Institute of Architects medal reverse. Photo: American Numismatic Society.

Numismatic art critic and scholar Cornelius Vermeule writes of this beautiful coin, "The Liberty Walking half dollar ... really treat[s] the obverse and reverse as a surface sculptural ensemble. The Liberty Walking design particularly gives the true feeling for breadth and sculptural surfaces on the scale of a coin. These surfaces are formal, like a well-carved marble or precisely cast bronze relief for a war memorial .... the rising sun amid landscape anchors the motion of Liberty, her olive branch, and her starry cloak. On the reverse, the eagle standing on rocks with a gnarled tree at the left dominates but does not overwhelm the design. The working of the feathers is a miraculous coup de force ....”