1948 Franklin Half Dollar
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 3,006,814 made
- Mintage
- 3,006,814
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 12.5 g
- Diameter
- 30.6 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1948 Franklin Half Dollar worth?
It's scarcer than a typical date, so even circulated examples sell above face and above their metal value. The best uncirculated coins are where the money is.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- Full bell lines (FBL)
- A die variety or minting error
- Certification by PCGS or NGC, which buyers expect for scarce dates
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1948 Franklin Half Dollar rare?
- Somewhat. 3,006,814 were made, fewer than most dates, so collectors treat it as a semi-key.
- Is the 1948 Franklin Half Dollar silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.3617 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1948 Franklin Half Dollar?
- On the reverse, above the Liberty Bell's beam. Philadelphia halves have no mint mark.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1948 are scarcer?
- The 1953 at 2,668,120. So the 1948 is on the scarcer side for those years.
- How many 1948 Franklin Half Dollar coins were made?
- 3,006,814.
What to check on your 1948
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Judge the grade under good light. The lower bell lines are the key: Full Bell Lines coins sell for several times the price of ordinary ones.
Never clean it. Collectors pay strong premiums for original surfaces and natural toning on a date like this. A cleaned coin can lose half its value or more.
The story of the 1948
1948 was the first year of the Franklin Half Dollar. Philadelphia struck 3,006,814 of them. In 1949 the figure was 5.6 million.
1948-D came to 4 million, so neither mint's 1948 coin is much scarcer than the other. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1953 (2,668,120) and the 1955 (2,498,181).
Only the 1955 and the 1953 have a lower mintage among Philadelphia's 16 Franklin Half Dollars. No Franklin Half Dollar of the 1940s had a smaller run.
Sinnock's Franklin and the first sets (1948 to 1950)
The Franklin half dollar replaced the Walking Liberty in 1948. John R. Sinnock prepared the design before his death in 1947 and Gilroy Roberts completed it. The reverse shows the Liberty Bell with a small eagle to its right, added to meet the legal requirement for an eagle on the larger silver coins.
Only Philadelphia and Denver struck halves in 1948, about 3 million and 4 million. Both are popular first-year coins. San Francisco joined in 1949. The 1949-S, at 3,744,000, is scarce with full bell lines, the grading term for complete horizontal lines across the lower bell. Proof Franklins began in 1950 with just over 51,000 sets, the lowest proof mintage of the series. San Francisco made no halves in 1950.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1948
The Franklin half dollar replaced the Walking Liberty half dollar.
How to recognize it
John Sinnock's portrait shows Benjamin Franklin facing right with LIBERTY above, IN GOD WE TRUST below and the date to the right. The reverse shows the Liberty Bell, crack included, with a small eagle to the right. The mint mark is above the bell's beam. Collectors look for "full bell lines", where the horizontal lines at the bottom of the bell are complete.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Franklin Half Dollar (1948–1963) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1948 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 3,006,814 |
| Face value | 50¢ |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 12.5 grams |
| Diameter | 30.6 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.3617 troy oz (11.250 g) |
| Designer | John R. Sinnock (completed by Gilroy Roberts) |
Other 1948 Franklin Half Dollar issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 Franklin Half Dollar | 3,006,814 | Circulation strike | 0.3617 oz |
| 1948-D Franklin Half Dollar | 4,028,600 | Circulation strike | 0.3617 oz |
Mintage: United States half dollar mintage figures (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.