Coin reference › Top 10 half dollars: available reference selection
Top 10 half dollars: available reference selection
What to look for
The 1921 Walkers, the 1938-D, full bell lines on Franklins and the 1974-D doubled die on Kennedys.
Half dollars stopped circulating in 1971 and most people have never handled one, which is why the silver issues survive in quantity and the keys are keys for reasons of mintage rather than attrition.
| Coin | Year | Mintage | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1796 P 15 Stars | half-dollars-draped-bust | 1796 | 3,918 | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1796 P 16 Stars | half-dollars-draped-bust | 1796 | N/A | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1797 P 15 Stars | half-dollars-draped-bust | 1797 | N/A | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1806 P Knobbed 6 - Stem Not Through Claw | half-dollars-draped-bust | 1806 | N/A | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1817 P 7 Over 4 | half-dollars-capped-bust | 1817 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1838 O | half-dollars-capped-bust | 1838 | 20 | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1839 P Small Letters Reverse | half-dollars-capped-bust | 1839 | N/A | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1853 O No Arrows - No Rays | half-dollars-seated-liberty | 1853 | 4 | Date / mint / design issue |
| 1866 P Unique Proof - Not Regular Issue | half-dollars-seated-liberty | 1866 | 1 | Proof collector issue |
| 1878 S | half-dollars-seated-liberty | 1878 | 12,000 | Date / mint / design issue |
The difficulty
The problem with half dollars is mostly that people never practise on them. They stopped circulating in 1971, so the denomination that is easiest to photograph well is the one least often put under a lens.
If you are learning the bench, learn it here. A half dollar is 30.6 mm and fills the frame comfortably, so lighting, calibration and relief are all easier to see - and every setting you work out carries straight over to the cents and dimes where it is harder.
NumismaLab turns any USB microscope into a measuring bench for exactly this kind of work.
Put this list under a microscopeMore lists
Compiled 2026-09-15. Mintages and designations are matters of record; which coins are worth a second look is an editorial judgement, and this page says so rather than pretending otherwise.
