1942-S Walking Liberty Half Dollar
Circulation strike struck at the San Francisco Mint · 12,708,000 made
- Mintage
- 12,708,000
- 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 1942-S Walking Liberty Half Dollar worth?
In worn condition it trades for about its silver content, 0.3617 troy ounces. Uncirculated coins with full luster or attractive toning sell for more.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- A die variety or minting error
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1942-S Walking Liberty Half Dollar rare?
- No. With 13 million made, it's one of the most common Walking Liberty Half Dollars.
- Is the 1942-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 1942 Walking Liberty Half Dollar?
- On the reverse, at the lower left near the rim, below the pine branch. On this coin the mark is S, for San Francisco.
- Which San Francisco dates near 1942 are scarcer?
- The 1937-S at 2,090,000, the 1939-S at 2,552,000, the 1946-S at 3,724,000, plus 4 more. So the 1942-S is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1942-S Walking Liberty Half Dollar coins were made?
- 12,708,000.
What to check on your 1942-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 1942-D (11 million made).
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Proof or circulation strike? A proof has mirror-like fields and frosted design details and was sold to collectors, not released in change. The 1942 Walking Liberty Half Dollar Proof (21,120 made) is the one to compare with.
- 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.
Circulated examples are usually traded for their silver content. Pick out the best ones: original luster and attractive toning lift a coin above melt, while cleaned coins lose most of their collector value. 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 1942-S
San Francisco made 12,708,000 in 1942, up from 8.1 million in 1941. In 1943 the figure was 13 million.
1942-D came to 11 million and 1942 came to 48 million, so neither mint's 1942 coin is much scarcer than the other.
Across San Francisco's 24 Walking Liberty Half Dollar issues, the hardest to find is the 1916-S with 508,000 made. The 1942-S is one of the easier ones. Within the 1940s it's 16th smallest of 22, between the 1946 (12 million) and the 1943-S (13 million).
The short set of wartime halves (1941 to 1947)
Wartime demand pushed Philadelphia mintages to 47.8 million in 1942 and 53.2 million in 1943. Denver and San Francisco each struck around 8 to 13 million a year during the war. Because coins from 1941 to 1947 are common in high grades, many collectors assemble them as a short set rather than chasing the full series.
Some 1941 proofs lack Weinman's AW monogram because the die was polished too heavily. The 1946 doubled die reverse shows strong doubling in E PLURIBUS UNUM and in the eagle's feathers. Proofs ended after 1942. Production fell to about 4 million each at Philadelphia and Denver in 1947, the last year before the Franklin half. San Francisco made no halves that year. Silver remained at 90 percent throughout.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1942
Nickel was needed for the war, so from October 1942 the five-cent coin was struck in an alloy of copper, silver and manganese. These war nickels carry a large mint mark above Monticello, the first use of a "P" mint mark.
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 | 1942 |
| Mint | San Francisco Mint |
| Mint mark | "S" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 12,708,000 |
| 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 1942 Walking Liberty Half Dollar issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1942 Walking Liberty Half Dollar | 47,818,000 | Circulation strike | 0.3617 oz |
| 1942 Walking Liberty Half Dollar Proof | 21,120 | Proof | 0.3617 oz |
| 1942-D Walking Liberty Half Dollar | 10,973,800 | Circulation strike | 0.3617 oz |
| 1942-S Walking Liberty Half Dollar | 12,708,000 | 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.