What did the public, and more so Collectors think when the Franklin half was introduced?
braddick
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With the Walking Liberty half a dollar being such an attractive coin, I wonder out loud what the general public, and even more so what collectors thought when the Franklin half was minted and distributed? It seems like such a change in artistic design and for apparently no reason outside of it had been a little over 30 years since the half dollar had a design change (although the cent was still going strong with the same design). Was the Franklin half well received?
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I didn't like the Franklin as a kid in the 50's. Still not a fan of the design or any of the portrait designs that replaced their predecessors. Dull stuff IMO.
Despite being one of the four or five most important founding fathers I remember reading some people didn't think a non-president should be on a coin.
And he's the only one who has ever been taken off.
I wasn't alive in 1948, but I have met very few collector fans of business strike Franklin half dollars.
They came out a few years before I was born but it was one of my favorites as a young man. I can remember getting them in change through the early 60's... I do have a complete set (in MS) today and it's still one of my favorites.
My paternal grandmother, who died in 1983, did not like the designs and thought Franklins were not worth collecting. She was a coin collector.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
Eisenhower? Susan B. Anthony?
My wife and I were not around at the transition, but I just showed and asked her...she asked why they would change such a beautiful design to...that?
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They probably wondered where the bell lines were
I’m a baby boomer. I don’t remember half dollars ever really being used except in Las Vegas in the casinos.
Ike was president.
Correct. He was, however, taken off the dollar. I mentioned him because I'm not sure whether Cladking's comment about "the only one taken off" was meant to include presidents or not.
We thought they were great because they were shiny.
All we saw was worn out dingy walkers.
Wasn't a collector so shiny was best.
His comment referenced the Founding Fathers. Of that group, Franklin was the only non-President to ever be put on a coin, AFAIK.
As a kid I thought it was an odd coin......an old fat man with girl hair. Not that I saw too many of them. Fifty cents was........BIG MONEY!
I was born in 1956. I remember as a very young child that my great-grandfather always gave me a Franklin Half when I visited him. For that reason alone I've always been fond of them.
What do you mean by "he's the only one who has ever been taken off"? Eisenhower is a President who was taken off a circulating coin and Anthony is a non-President woman who was also taken off a circulating coin.
1948 is now 72 years in the past. The people who could answer that question (which is a good one) have mostly passed from the scene. I wonder if the general public of 1948 really cared one way or the other?
I was also born in 1956 and recall Walkers and Standing Liberty quarters still being in circulation. They were always a 'special' find. I recall I had over dozen or so Walker dates in my collection pulled from circulation as a 10-year-old in 1966. Franklin halves were new and clunky in appearance to me compared to Walkers. I regarded Kennedy halves as an improvement when they appeared.
I was 4 when they were issued. For many years it was just another coin to buy soda, candy, go to the movies. At my first job I would order to include rolls of half dollars.
I must say over the years I've come to like them. I even put together a raw set in a Dansco album.
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An excerpt from Q. David Bowers' Inside the Rare Coin Marketplace:
"At its launch in 1948 collector reaction was an unstifled yawn. Little notice was taken of it. Most felt that the abandonment of the beautiful Walking Liberty design was a mistake. For many years, through the 1950s, most interest in Franklin halves was from investors who bought bank-wrapped rolls."
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
This does not surprise me at all. It probably reflects the actual situation.
I used to build BU sets in the 70s. Sold them for $300. Yeek!
I do not dislike the Franklin half... even put together an album set... but the beauty of the WLH is amazing, and loved by most collectors. It was a shame to see it replaced. Yes, I was around then....not a collector yet though. Cheers, RickO
I figured I'd find editorial pieces in period newspapers with opinions of the new coin similar to all the dislike of the new Morgan Dollar, but I couldn't. Here is a newspaper article from the Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) April 30th, 1948.
"You Suck Award" - February, 2015
Discoverer of 1919 Mercury Dime DDO - FS-101
What about the Franklin dime?
I’d like it just fine if the reverse wasn’t cluttered up with the addition of the ridiculous eagle. I know the law required it to be there...... but last minute additions always ruin an otherwise nice design.
Interesting information about the government considering a 3-cent piece or new half-dime during the war. I didn’t know that previously.
I used to give them out to traveling business men from other countries as a parting gift. Always brought a smiling face to the traveler. They recognize Silver. I explain he was a famous inventor and statesman.
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Yeah, MasonG also pointed out that SBA was removed from the dollar and was never president.
Thanks.
Boring design when new, wore to a dead dog ugly when circulated.
However, a STRONG redeeming value:
Great fodder for the melting pot when silver spikes.
Thanks for the article "strikeout", love the use of the word "countenance"
When I was collecting coins in the late 1950's and early 1960's, a 50 cent investment for each coin in a set was a little beyond my budget, The SLH were way more attractive as a coin, and I would buy a few MS examples. Never occurred to me to buy rolls of Franklin halves as they were sooooo very common. And I think my logic makes sense to this day........oo nt tie up too much money in high mintage coins.
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