Silver calculator / Coin guide
Walking Liberty half dollars dated 1916-1947
Walking Liberty Half Value: Silver and Key Dates
A Walking Liberty half can be evaluated first for its date and mint, then for its metal estimate. The melt calculation does not decide whether an early-date example should be kept out of a bulk silver lot.
Silver spot
$51.75/ozt
Metal prices by MetalChartsUSD per troy ounce. As of . Fetched .
Estimated melt per coin
$18.72
Metal prices by MetalChartsUses the dated spot shown here and nominal silver content; no offer or collectible premium.
Price may be out of date. The saved quote is older than 36 hours or flagged stale. Check the source before relying on a metal estimate.
Melt value is an estimate of the silver content only, at the dated spot price shown. It is not an offer to buy or sell, and not investment advice. Dealer offers are often below melt, and collectible coins can be worth more.
Silver content and the formula
Nominal total weight: 12.50 g. Composition: 90% silver. Silver content: 11.25 g, approximately 0.36170 troy ounces per coin.
Standard weight and fineness set by the Coinage Act of 1873, sections 13 and 15 (linked below). Ounce values are rounded for display; calculations use silver grams divided by 31.1034768.
Melt value (USD) = (11.25 g ÷ 31.1034768 g/ozt) × silver spot (USD/ozt).
Source: Coinage Act of 1873, sections 13 and 15, 17 Stat. 426-427. Nominal original weights are used; wear and loss of metal can lower actual silver content. A troy ounce is different from the ordinary household ounce.
What can make one worth more?
The Mint table records 208,000 Denver halves in 1921. That is a useful reason to research a matching date-and-mint coin individually. It does not mean every worn or altered example has the same premium.
Date, mint mark and condition
An indistinct date, weak detail or surface damage is not sufficient to name an error variety. Authentication and a condition assessment should precede any collector-value claim.
Keep the date, mint and any suspected variety together in your notes. A mint mark identifies a production location; it is not a grade. Preserve the surfaces rather than cleaning a coin to make it look brighter. If an unusual coin warrants professional assessment, have it graded by PCGS or NGC; neither service sponsors this guide.
Suspected errors need authentication
Doubled-looking letters, a weak design or unusual color can have more than one explanation. This guide does not identify an error variety from a description or assign a premium. A damaged or altered coin is not automatically a mint error. Obtain an independent assessment before attaching a variety name or collectible value.
Mint-report production records
These are the manufacturing counts and categories stated in the linked Mint publications, not a survival census or a grade-price table. They can include proofs, assay pieces and production outside the year on the coin. They should not be substituted silently for circulation-strike catalog mintages.
| Issue and report category | Pieces | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Half dollars struck at Denver in calendar year 1921 | 208,000 | Director of the Mint, Domestic and Foreign Coins 1792-1965, table C27, printed p. 50 |
Sources and corrections
Last checked: . Weight/composition: Coinage Act of 1873, sections 13 and 15, 17 Stat. 426-427. Production sources are linked beside every count above. No PCGS, NGC or Red Book price-guide tables or descriptions are reproduced.
If a date, composition or count is wrong, send a correction with the source and page number. We review corrections and log changes in the source record.