Coins were produced for circulation at the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco Mints. During only four years were coins produced at all three facilities, while for the remaining years production did not take place at San Francisco, but only at one or both of the remaining facilities.

Due to the nature of the design, Franklin Half Dollars are often encountered with weak strikes or excessive contact marks that preclude higher grades. As a result, despite higher mintages for some years, gem condition coins with full bell lines can be elusive.

The mint mark is located on the reverse of the coin above the Liberty Bell. The mint marks used were “D” for Denver and “S” for San Francisco. Coins minted in Philadelphia do not carry a mint mark.

The table below presents the mintage figures for circulation strike Franklin Half Dollars. There are a total of 35 different date and mint mark combinations for the entire series.

Franklin Half Dollar Mintages

Third party grading services PCGS and NGC both attribute Full Bell Lines as “FBL” on their holders. In order to receive the designation, PCGS requires the coins to exhibit complete, uninterrupted lower lines on the Liberty Bell. NGC has a higher standard for the designation, requiring all six lines (upper and lower sets) to be fully visible.

In general, the grading services will allow a few marks across the lines as long as they do not disturb the continuity of the lines. Slight incompleteness is also generally allowed just to the left or right of the vertical crack in the Liberty Bell within a measure of 1/64 of an inch.

Certain dates are extremely difficult to encounter with Full Bell Lines. Most notably, the San Francisco Mint coins after 1949 are typically softly struck without the detail necessary to achieve Full Bell Lines. A major strike rarity exists for the 1953-S Franklin Half Dollar, which is almost never encountered with attribution. Other challenging coins to find in gem grade with Full Bell Lines include the 1961, 1962, and 1963 Philadelphia issues.

Proof Franklin Half Dollars were minted from 1950 to 1963. This includes each year of broader series with the exception of 1948 and 1949, which occurred before the United States Mint resumed proof coin production. All proof versions were minted at the Philadelphia Mint and do not carry a mint mark.

The proof coinage of this era was offered by the United States Mint as part of a complete Proof Set. Each set contained a proof version of each denomination struck for circulation during the year. From 1950 to 1955, the US Mint packaged each proof coin in an individual cellophane sleeve, stapled all sleeves together at the top, wrapped them in tissue paper, and sealed them in a small square cardboard box. Part of the way through 1955, the US Mint switched to a flat pack style of packaging. Each coin was sealed within an individual compartment of a single cellophane pack and then placed within an envelope between two pieces of cardboard.

The earlier proof issues of the Franklin Half Dollar series have low mintages, creating high premiums for the coins. As the series progressed, mintage levels increased as the annual proof set offering gained popularity. In 1950, only 51,386 proof sets were sold, but by 1961 more than 3 million sets were being sold annually.

Proof Franklin Half Dollars are usually found with fully brilliant surfaces. Sometimes the coins will be found with a cameo or deep cameo finish. These are characterized by frosted raised design elements over mirrored background fields. This type of finish is rare for earlier proof issues, but more frequently encountered for later issues. Cameo or deep cameo proof Franklin Halves carry significant premiums for some years.

The table below presents the mintage figures for proof Franklin Half Dollars. There were a total of 15 different proof coins issued during the series.

Proof Franklin Half Dollar Mintages

The 1963 Franklin Half Dollar represented the final year for the series. This was despite the fact that there was a law in place requiring a duration of at least 25 years before the design for a circulating coin could be changed. Legislation was rushed through Congress at the end of 1963 to overrule the existing law and memorialize John F. Kennedy on the half dollar coin starting in 1964.

This year marked the highest overall production for circulation with nearly 90 million coins struck at the Philadelphia and Denver. The 1963-D actually has the highest mintage for a single issue of the series at 67,069,292.

The circulation strikes from Philadelphia are notable for their rarity in gem condition with full bell lines. This issue is a comparable conditional rarity with the 1961 Franklin Half Dollar in MS65FBL, although much more scarce in MS66FBL. The grading company PCGS has never graded a coin as such, while NGC has awarded the grade to only a single coin.

For the final proof issue of the series, the mintage declined slightly to 3,075,645. As for all other proof coinage of this era, the coins were issued only as part of complete Proof Sets issued by the US Mint for $2.10 each.

1963 Franklin Half Dollar Specifications

Designer: John R. Sinnock
Composition: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
Weight: 12.50 grams
Diameter: 30.6 mm
Edge: Reeded

1963 Franklin Half Dollar Mintages

1963: 22,164,000
1963-D: 67,069,292
1963 Proof: 3,075,645

Although it was unknown at the time, the 1962 Franklin Half Dollar would be the second to last year for the series. Coins were produced for circulation at the Philadelphia and Denver Mints with proof coins also produced at Philadelphia.

The circulation strike 1962 Franklin Half Dollar from Philadelphia represents a significant conditional variety of the series. It is the second most difficult issue to find in gem condition with full bell lines, behind the 1953-S. For this issue, the grading companies PCGS and NGC have certified approximately 175 pieces graded MS65 FBL and only 7 pieces graded MS66 FBL. These figures are no doubt inflated by some resubmissions. One of the examples graded PCGS MS66FBL sold for $17,825 at auction in 2004.

The 1962 Proof Franklin Half Dollar had the highest mintage for a proof issue of the series at 3,218,019. Although far from common, examples exhibiting cameo or deep cameo contrast for this issue are more frequently encountered.

1962 Franklin Half Dollar Specifications

Designer: John R. Sinnock
Composition: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
Weight: 12.50 grams
Diameter: 30.6 mm
Edge: Reeded

1962 Franklin Half Dollar Mintages

1962: 9,714,000
1962-D: 35,473,281
1962 Pro0f: 3,218

The 1961 Franklin Half Dollar saw its most dramatic change in the surging mintage for the proof version of the coin, which nearly doubled from the prior year. Since 1950, the Philadelphia Mint had produced proof coins for inclusion in the annual proof set. From the initial mintage of 51,386 coins, the total for 1961 had grown to more than 3 million.

A notable variety of the series occurred for this year with the 1961 Proof Franklin Half Dollar Double Die Reverse. The doubling is evident even without magnification on the inscription “E Pluribus Unum” and the word “United”. The major grading services PCGS and NGC have authenticated fewer than 200 examples out of the vast overall mintage. Values are in the thousands of dollars and even higher for the few cameo and single deep cameo examples of the variety.

The 1961 and 1961-D Franklin Half Dollars struck for circulation are easily encountered in lower grades, but scarce in gem condition. The Philadelphia issue in particular is one of the scarcest coins of the series in gem condition with Full Bell Lines, after the well known 1953-S and 1962. Both the 1961 and 1961-D half dollars are extremely rare graded MS66 or MS66 FBL, with no issues graded higher.

1961 Franklin Half Dollar Specifications

Designer: John R. Sinnock
Composition: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
Weight: 12.50 grams
Diameter: 30.6 mm
Edge: Reeded

1961 Franklin Half Dollar Mintages

1961: 8,290,000
1961-D: 20,276,442
1961 Proof: 3,028,244

For the 1960 Franklin Half Dollar, the United States Mint introduced a newly reworked master die, which resulted in a very different appearance for the coins. Whereas, the issues from the mid-1950′s onwards had a lack of detail in Franklin’s hair and the Liberty Bell resulting in a sometimes mushy appearance, the new die produced coins with much crisper detail in the hair and features of the bell. On the other hand, the lines at the bottom of the bell were not as deeply cut, resulting in few examples with Full Bell Lines.

Production for circulation consisted of 6,024,000 coins struck at the Philadelphia Mint and 18,215,812 coins struck at Denver. These circulation strikes can be somewhat difficult to find in gem grades.

Proof coin production rose, with 1,691,602 of the 1960 Proof Franklin Half Dollars struck at the Philadelphia Mint. These coins were only included in the annual proof sets sold to collectors for $2.10 each.

1960 Franklin Half Dollar Specifications

Designer: John R. Sinnock
Composition: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
Weight: 12.50 grams
Diameter: 30.6 mm
Edge: Reeded

1960 Franklin Half Dollar Mintages

1960: 6,024,000
1960-D: 18,215,812
1960 Proof: 1,691,602

The 1959 Franklin Half Dollar was produced at the Philadelphia and Denver mints for circulation and at the Philadelphia Mint in proof version for collectors. While the coins are relatively common, they become scarce in grades above gem, particularly with full bell lines.. The proof version of the coin is most desirable with strikes exhibiting cameo or deep cameo contrast.

Circulation strike coins from this year until the end of the series are less likely to be encountered with the dark or sometimes colorful toning found on earlier issues. This can be attributed to the US Mint switching the packaging for the annual mint sets to an inert cellophane packaging, which did not chemically react with the coins. As such, brilliant uncirculated coins are more common than toned coins.

1959 Franklin Half Dollar Specifications

Designer: John R. Sinnock
Composition: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
Weight: 12.50 grams
Diameter: 30.6 mm
Edge: Reeded

1959 Franklin Half Dollar Mintages

1959: 6,200,000
1959-D: 13,053,750
1959 Proof: 1,149,291

The 1958 Franklin Half Dollar completes a trio of three consecutive years where circulation strike issues of the series are more readily encountered in high grades with full bell lines. From the following year until the conclusion of the series, there are numerous issues which are uncommon at the gem level with full bell lines and nearly all very infrequently encountered in grades higher than MS65.

For the present year, production for circulation took place at the Philadelphia and Denver Mints with final mintages of 4,402,000 and 23,962,412, respectively. Proof coins were struck at the Philadelphia Mint for inclusion in the 1958 Proof Set. For this year, collector orders dropped resulting in a mintage of 875,652.

This year represented the last time the US Mint would issue the annual uncirculated coin sets in paper and cardboard holders. This packaging had been used from 1947 to 1958 and imparted distinctive toning to the coins included in the sets. The following year, the uncirculated coin set would be offered in flat packs, similar to those used for the annual proof sets.

1958 Franklin Half Dollar Specifications

Designer: John R. Sinnock
Composition: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
Weight: 12.50 grams
Diameter: 30.6 mm
Edge: Reeded

1958 Franklin Half Dollar Mintages

1958: 4,042,000
1958-D: 23,962,412
1958 Proof: 875,652

After two years of only being struck at a single mint in relatively low numbers, the 1957 Franklin Half Dollar saw production resume at the Denver Mint and an expansion in mintages. The proof version of the coin struck at the Philadelphia Mint was the first proof half dollar to have a mintage above one million. Despite this high mintage, it is less frequently encountered with cameo or deep cameo devices.

Compared to many other years of the series, the circulation strike 1957 and 1957-D Franklin Half Dollars are relatively easier to find in higher grades and with full bell lines. Through grades MS66 FBL, prices remain on the low end compared to similarly graded coins from other years. Many examples for this year will exhibit toning, which can range from dark and obscuring to colorful and attractive.

1957 Franklin Half Dollar Specifications

Designer: John R. Sinnock
Composition: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
Weight: 12.50 grams
Diameter: 30.6 mm
Edge: Reeded

1957 Franklin Half Dollar Mintages

1957: 5,114,000
1957-D: 19,966,850
1957 Proof: 1,247,952