So, I really got into collecting Walking Liberty half dollars a while back. I mean, who wouldn’t? That design is just a classic piece of Americana, really beautiful. I started off just grabbing any that I came across, thinking they were all pretty much the same beyond the year. Boy, was I wrong.
I began to notice in some old coin chats and dog-eared price guides I picked up at a flea market that folks were paying way more for certain dates. That’s when I stumbled onto the whole idea of key dates. It’s not rocket science, really. It just means some years and mint mark combinations are way harder to find because they didn’t make as many, or a lot of them got melted down or just disappeared over time.
My practical journey started right there. I dumped out my little pile of Walkers – wasn’t much, maybe a dozen or so I’d picked up here and there. I got myself a basic magnifying glass because my eyes aren’t what they used to be, especially for those tiny mint marks. First thing I learned was where to look for them: on the obverse, down by the bottom left, for the 1916 and some 1917s, and then on the reverse, near the bottom left by the rock, for the later ones. That little detail alone took me a bit to get straight!
Then I started my “hunt list.” I didn’t have any fancy software, just a notepad. I’d jot down the dates that kept popping up as being tough.
- The 1921-S, that one’s like the holy grail for many. They just didn’t make many at the San Francisco mint that year.
- Then you’ve got the other 1921s – the 1921 (Philadelphia, no mint mark) and the 1921-D (Denver). Still tough, still pricey.
- The 1916-S is another one. Being the first year of issue from the San Francisco mint, it’s always in demand.
- And I can’t forget the 1938-D. That one’s a later date but still a tough cookie.
So, armed with my list and my trusty magnifier, I started looking. Every coin show, every antique shop, even going through rolls from the bank (though finding silver there now is a long shot, I still tried!). Most of what I found, honestly, were common dates. Lots of 1940s coins, which are beautiful, but not the key dates I was dreaming about. It’s a bit like fishing; you cast your line a lot and mostly get seaweed, but you keep hoping for that big one.
I remember spending hours just sifting. I’d lay out a bunch of coins, and go one by one. Check the date, then squint for that little ‘S’ or ‘D’. Sometimes the coins were so worn down you could barely make out the year, let alone a mint mark. That was the frustrating part. You’d think you had something, get all excited, then realize it was just a scratch or some gunk on the coin.
My “record keeping” was pretty simple. I’d write down the date and mint mark of any Walker I acquired. If I thought I found something even remotely interesting, like a slightly better date or one in nicer shape than my others, I’d make a special note. It wasn’t very scientific, just my own way of keeping track. I wasn’t trying to grade them professionally or anything, just “looks good” or “pretty worn.”
I haven’t found a 1921-S yet, let me tell you. Those things are either locked away in collections or cost an arm and a leg when they do show up. But I did manage to find a 1917-S with the mint mark on the obverse, which felt like a small victory. And I’ve got a decent collection of the more common dates, which I still enjoy looking at. It’s the hunt, the learning, and the history that keeps me going with these Walking Liberty key dates. It’s a slow process, this whole practice of collecting and identifying, but it’s rewarding in its own way. You just gotta have patience, and lots of it.
