1948 Franklin Half Dollar

The Franklin half dollar debuted in 1948, which was the year after the last Walking Liberty halves were struck. The Franklin half dollar was designed by John R. Sinnock, who was the same artist behind the Roosevelt dime, which was first released in 1946. The Franklin half dollar is largely considered a “sleeper” coin series by many collectors because it has not seen much action in terms of price or a tremendous amount of interest from numismatists in general.

However, there’s little reason that this coin series should be disregarded. After all, it is a relatively compact series of artistic 20th century coins, of which several dates were minted in very small batches.

1948 was not the most prolific year for the Franklin half dollar series, during which little more than 7 million Franklin halves were made. Here’s a breakdown of the mintages and values of 1948 Franklin half dollars:

• 1948, 3,006,814 minted; $12

• 1948-D, 4,028,600; $11

*Values are for coins in Very Fine-20 grade.

While Franklin halves deserve more attention than they currently receive from the larger coin collecting community, their relative obscurity means you can get many great deals. 1948 Franklin half dollars can be bought for under $25 in uncirculated grades, and for less than $35 in Mint State-63.