1934 Walking Liberty Half Dollar

Many coin collectors regard 1934 Walking Liberty half dollars the first of the “latter” dates in the series. This might seem arbitrary to the uneducated coin collector unless you realize that 1934 marks the first year of substantially increased production of the Walking Liberty half dollar (this is true for other U.S. coin series, too) and roughly signifies the halfway point for the series’ production. Therefore, it is a great area of the series to divide between “early” and “latter” dates among Walking Liberty halves. For the aforementioned reasons, 1934 is also the year that usually begins a so-called Walking Liberty half dollar short set, which is an abbreviated date-and-mintmark run of the series.

1934 is also the earliest date in the Walking Liberty half dollar series for which well-circulated pieces will usually be priced more accordingly to the prevailing silver bullion values, instead of primarily numismatic value.

Well more than 10 million Walking Liberty half dollars were made in 1934; here’s a run down of the mintages and approximate values in Good-4 for each of three Walker issues made that year:

• 1934, 6,964,000 minted; $10

• 1934-D, 2,361,000; $10

• 1934-S, 3,652,000; $10

While the 1934 (Philadelphia) issue us pretty common right into the uncirculated grades, in which you could land one for as little as around $80, the D- and S-mint 1934 Walking half dollars are quite a bit scarcer and are significantly pricier, at $150 and $365, respectively.