1916-S Walking Liberty Half Dollar
Circulation strike struck at the San Francisco Mint · 508,000 made
- Mintage
- 508,000
- 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 1916-S Walking Liberty Half Dollar worth?
Collectors pay a real premium for this date, worn or not, because far fewer were made than usual. Uncirculated pieces go much higher.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- 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 1916-S Walking Liberty Half Dollar rare?
- Somewhat. 508,000 were made, fewer than most dates, so collectors treat it as a semi-key.
- Is the 1916-S Walking Liberty 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 1916 Walking Liberty Half Dollar?
- On the obverse below IN GOD WE TRUST (1916 and some 1917), or on the reverse at the lower left near the rim (some 1917). On this coin the mark is S, for San Francisco.
- Which San Francisco dates near 1916 are scarcer?
- None. Within five years either side, no San Francisco issue had a smaller mintage than the 1916-S.
- How many 1916-S Walking Liberty Half Dollar coins were made?
- 508,000.
What to check on your 1916-S
- Make sure the mint mark really is an S. A worn or filled mark can be misread. It's what separates your coin from the 1916 (608,000 made).
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Judge the grade under good light. Check Liberty's left hand, the skirt lines over her leg and the eagle's breast. Fully struck hands and heads are unusual.
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. A full strike shows Liberty's left hand and the lines of her skirt clearly. Many dates, especially from branch mints, come weakly struck in those areas.
The story of the 1916-S
1916 was the first year of the Walking Liberty Half Dollar. San Francisco struck 508,000 of them. The next year it made 952,000 (1917-S).
1916 came to 608,000 and 1916-D came to 1 million, so neither mint's 1916 coin is much scarcer than the other. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1938-D (491,600) and the 1921-S (548,000).
Of the 24 Walking Liberty Half Dollars San Francisco struck between 1916 and 1946, this is the scarcest. No Walking Liberty Half Dollar of the 1910s had a smaller run.
Weinman's design and the obverse mint mark (1916 to 1917)
Adolph A. Weinman's Walking Liberty half dollar was first struck in 1916 and reached the public in January 1917. Liberty strides toward the rising sun wrapped in the flag. On the reverse an eagle perches on a rock beside a mountain pine sapling. Weinman's AW monogram sits under the tips of the eagle's wings. The first coins carry the mint mark on the obverse below IN GOD WE TRUST.
The 1916 Philadelphia coins, 608,000 struck, have no mint mark. The 1916-S, at 508,000, is the scarcest of the first-year issues. In 1917 the mint mark moved to the reverse near the rim at the lower left, so the 1917-D and 1917-S exist in both positions. The obverse mint mark versions of 1917 are the scarcer pair. First-year coins are often found well worn with flat centers.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1916
A new generation of silver designs arrived: the Mercury dime, the Standing Liberty quarter and the Walking Liberty half dollar. The first Standing Liberty quarters were struck in very small numbers late in the year.
How to recognize it
Adolph Weinman's design shows Liberty draped in the flag, striding toward the rising sun with branches of laurel and oak in her arm. The reverse shows an eagle perched on a rocky crag with a pine sapling growing beside it. On 1916 and some 1917 coins the mint mark is on the obverse below IN GOD WE TRUST; after that it is on the reverse at the lower left, near the rim.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Walking Liberty Half Dollar (1916–1947) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
| Mint | San Francisco Mint |
| Mint mark | "S" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 508,000 |
| 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 | Adolph A. Weinman |
Other 1916 Walking Liberty Half Dollar issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1916 Walking Liberty Half Dollar | 608,000 | Circulation strike | 0.3617 oz |
| 1916-D Walking Liberty Half Dollar | 1,014,400 | Circulation strike | 0.3617 oz |
| 1916-S Walking Liberty Half Dollar | 508,000 | 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.