Walking Liberty half dollars are one of the most beautiful American coins. They age gracefully and are much less expensive to collect than the more popular Morgan silver dollar.
His key date 1921-S, in MS-65 condition, will sell for about $100,000. The 1893-S Morgan in MS-65 condition will cost nearly $700,000. On MS-60 it’s about $20,000 compared to the 1893-S for $130,000.
However, The Walking Liberty is not the same bargain in AU. The 1921-S is around $7,000 and the 1893-S Morgan is around $21,000. Instead of a 1 to 7 ratio in the EM categories, it’s just a 1 to 3 ratio in AU.
As you enter the late date of Walkers, the cost of mint condition coins drops considerably. Mint-condition examples are plentiful and cheap after 1935.
A complete MS-65 Walking Liberties date/mint set would cost around half a million dollars. So, the entire collection would cost less than an 1893-S Morgan in MS-65 condition.
I see four fundamental strategies for collecting Walking Liberties:
1. US half dollar type set
two. Walking Liberty Year Set
3. Walking Liberty Complete Date/Mint Set
Four. Walking Liberty test game
1. The short US half dollar set could include each of the following:
Half flowing hair
Medium draped bust
covered bust
Half liberty sitting
half barber
walking for freedom
franklin kennedy
If you’re willing to accept lower mint status for the Flowing Hair and Draped Bust designs, this collection can be had for around $150,000.
two. The Walking Liberty annual set would contain 25 coins for an example of one from each year this issue was minted. An example of this would be:
1916-P to 1921-P
1923-S
1927-S
1928-S
1929-D
1933-S
1934-P to 1947-P
This strategy allows you to assemble each issue year in mint condition without breaking the bank. It would be acceptable to have the rare dates in MS-64 along with the common dates in MS-65. You’re looking at something under $40,000 for a collection like this.
3. A complete date/mint set would require 65 coins. A set like this could also use examples of MS-65 for the common coins of later dates and MS-64 for the more expensive dates. Depending on how you organize a collection like this, it could cost around $350,000 to complete.
Four. Here is the surprise. If you opt for a proof set, there are only 7 proof minted coins for this series. The proofs are surprisingly cheap and even more beautiful than the issue of circulation. There is only one key date in the test series, and that is 1936. A set of PF-65 Walking Liberty coins will cost just under $10,000.
I list the price of mint condition coins here because mint condition coins have the highest demand and collector value. They will retain their prices better and increase more than their circulated versions.
As I discussed in my article on Fundamental Grade Points, the highest profit potential is to buy the coin just below the fundamental grade. That is often, but not always, MS-64.
If you were to accept MS-64 as your degree standard, you could complete these set examples for much less money than described here. As demonstrated above, a full set is considerably less expensive than a full Morgan date/mint set.