1946-S Walking Liberty Half Dollar
Circulation strike struck at the San Francisco Mint · 3,724,000 made
- Mintage
- 3,724,000
- 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 1946-S Walking Liberty Half Dollar 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 1946-S Walking Liberty Half Dollar rare?
- Not by date: 3.7 million were struck. A sharp uncirculated coin or a known variety is what makes one special.
- Is the 1946-S Walking Liberty Half Dollar silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.3617 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1946 Walking Liberty Half Dollar?
- On the reverse, at the lower left near the rim, below the pine branch. On this coin the mark is S, for San Francisco.
- Which San Francisco dates near 1946 are scarcer?
- None. Within five years either side, no San Francisco issue had a smaller mintage than the 1946-S.
- How many 1946-S Walking Liberty Half Dollar coins were made?
- 3,724,000.
What to check on your 1946-S
- Make sure the mint mark really is an S. A worn or filled mark can be misread. It's what separates your coin from the 1946-D (2.2 million made).
- 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 1946-S
Output at San Francisco slipped to 3,724,000 in 1946, from 10 million the year before. It turned out to be San Francisco's last Walking Liberty Half Dollar for circulation.
1946-D came to 2.2 million and 1946 came to 12 million, so neither mint's 1946 coin is much scarcer than the other.
Across San Francisco's 24 Walking Liberty Half Dollar issues, the hardest to find is the 1916-S with 508,000 made. The 1946-S is one of the easier ones. Among the 1940s issues, only the 1946-D had a smaller run.
The short set of wartime halves (1941 to 1947)
Wartime demand pushed Philadelphia mintages to 47.8 million in 1942 and 53.2 million in 1943. Denver and San Francisco each struck around 8 to 13 million a year during the war. Because coins from 1941 to 1947 are common in high grades, many collectors assemble them as a short set rather than chasing the full series.
Some 1941 proofs lack Weinman's AW monogram because the die was polished too heavily. The 1946 doubled die reverse shows strong doubling in E PLURIBUS UNUM and in the eagle's feathers. Proofs ended after 1942. Production fell to about 4 million each at Philadelphia and Denver in 1947, the last year before the Franklin half. San Francisco made no halves that year. Silver remained at 90 percent throughout.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1946
The Roosevelt dime was introduced in January 1946, less than a year after President Franklin Roosevelt's death, honoring his work with the March of Dimes.
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 | 1946 |
| Mint | San Francisco Mint |
| Mint mark | "S" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 3,724,000 |
| 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 1946 Walking Liberty Half Dollar issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 Walking Liberty Half Dollar | 12,118,000 | Circulation strike | 0.3617 oz |
| 1946-D Walking Liberty Half Dollar | 2,151,000 | Circulation strike | 0.3617 oz |
| 1946-S Walking Liberty Half Dollar | 3,724,000 | 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.