1917 Walking Liberty Half Dollar, Reverse Mint Mark
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 12,292,000 made
- Mintage
- 12,292,000
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 12.5 g
- Diameter
- 30.6 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1917 Walking Liberty Half Dollar, Reverse Mint Mark worth?
In worn condition it trades for about its silver content, 0.3617 troy ounces. Uncirculated coins with full luster or attractive toning sell for more.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- A die variety or minting error
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1917 Walking Liberty Half Dollar, Reverse Mint Mark rare?
- No. With 12 million made, it's one of the most common Walking Liberty Half Dollars.
- Is the 1917 Walking Liberty Half Dollar, Reverse Mint Mark silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.3617 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1917 Walking Liberty Half Dollar?
- On the obverse below IN GOD WE TRUST (1916 and some 1917), or on the reverse at the lower left near the rim (some 1917). No mint mark means Philadelphia.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1917 are scarcer?
- The 1921 at 246,000, the 1916 at 608,000, the 1919 at 962,000, plus 2 more. So the 1917 is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1917 Walking Liberty Half Dollar, Reverse Mint Mark coins were made?
- 12,292,000.
What to check on your 1917
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Judge the grade under good light. Check Liberty's left hand, the skirt lines over her leg and the eagle's breast. Fully struck hands and heads are unusual.
Circulated examples are usually traded for their silver content. Pick out the best ones: original luster and attractive toning lift a coin above melt, while cleaned coins lose most of their collector value. A full strike shows Liberty's left hand and the lines of her skirt clearly. Many dates, especially from branch mints, come weakly struck in those areas.
The story of the 1917
Philadelphia ramped up hard in 1917: 12,292,000 coins, about 20 times the 1916 run. In 1918 the figure was 6.6 million.
It was the big producer of the year, well ahead of 1917-D (765,400) and 1917-S (952,000) and 1917-D (1.9 million) and 1917-S (5.6 million).
Across Philadelphia's 20 Walking Liberty Half Dollar issues, the hardest to find is the 1921 with 246,000 made. The 1917 is one of the easier ones. No Walking Liberty Half Dollar of the 1910s had a bigger run.
Weinman's design and the obverse mint mark (1916 to 1917)
Adolph A. Weinman's Walking Liberty half dollar was first struck in 1916 and reached the public in January 1917. Liberty strides toward the rising sun wrapped in the flag. On the reverse an eagle perches on a rock beside a mountain pine sapling. Weinman's AW monogram sits under the tips of the eagle's wings. The first coins carry the mint mark on the obverse below IN GOD WE TRUST.
The 1916 Philadelphia coins, 608,000 struck, have no mint mark. The 1916-S, at 508,000, is the scarcest of the first-year issues. In 1917 the mint mark moved to the reverse near the rim at the lower left, so the 1917-D and 1917-S exist in both positions. The obverse mint mark versions of 1917 are the scarcer pair. First-year coins are often found well worn with flat centers.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1917
The Standing Liberty quarter was redesigned to cover Liberty with chain mail. The mint mark on the Walking Liberty half dollar moved from the obverse to the reverse.
How to recognize it
Adolph Weinman's design shows Liberty draped in the flag, striding toward the rising sun with branches of laurel and oak in her arm. The reverse shows an eagle perched on a rocky crag with a pine sapling growing beside it. On 1916 and some 1917 coins the mint mark is on the obverse below IN GOD WE TRUST; after that it is on the reverse at the lower left, near the rim.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Walking Liberty Half Dollar (1916–1947) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 12,292,000 |
| Face value | 50¢ |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 12.5 grams |
| Diameter | 30.6 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.3617 troy oz (11.250 g) |
| Designer | Adolph A. Weinman |
Other 1917 Walking Liberty Half Dollar issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1917 Walking Liberty Half Dollar, Reverse Mint Mark | 12,292,000 | Circulation strike | 0.3617 oz |
| 1917-D Walking Liberty Half Dollar, Obverse Mint Mark | 765,400 | Circulation strike | 0.3617 oz |
| 1917-D Walking Liberty Half Dollar, Reverse Mint Mark | 1,940,000 | Circulation strike | 0.3617 oz |
| 1917-S Walking Liberty Half Dollar, Obverse Mint Mark | 952,000 | Circulation strike | 0.3617 oz |
| 1917-S Walking Liberty Half Dollar, Reverse Mint Mark | 5,554,000 | Circulation strike | 0.3617 oz |
Mintage: United States half dollar mintage figures (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.