The debut of what many collectors simply call the most beautiful coin America ever circulated: Adolph Weinman's striding Liberty, flag over her shoulder, walking into the sunrise. The 1916 Philadelphia issue is a 608,000-coin start, modest by the standards the series would set in the 1940s, and every 1916, from all three mints, ranks among the scarcer entries on the roster.
The first-year coins also carry the series' short-lived signature: the mintmark on the obverse for the branch strikes, a placement abandoned within months in 1917. Weinman's design outlived its own series; it returned in 1986 on the American Silver Eagle and has been struck by the hundreds of millions since, which means the 1916 half is the rare case of a debut that is also an ancestor.
First-year coins were saved a little better than the brutal keys that followed, so the 1916 is attainable with patience. The series rewards strike quality everywhere: Walkers are notoriously soft-struck, and two coins in the same holder grade can look a class apart.
| Issue | Mint | Mintage |
|---|---|---|
| 1916 Walking Liberty Half Dollar | Philadelphia | 608,000 |
| 1916-S Walking Liberty Half Dollar | San Francisco | 508,000 |
| 1916-D Walking Liberty Half Dollar | Denver | 1,014,400 |
Mintage figures: United States Mint (Annual Report of the Director of the Mint), Royal Canadian Mint records, and — for the 1935 banknote issue — Bank of Canada printage records as published in the Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Government Paper Money, cross-checked across independent published references. Specifications: United States Mint coin specifications.