Gary's 20th Century Type Set
50c FRANKLIN (1948-63)

Owner Comments:

In 1948 just as our nation was entering the “Cold War” with the Soviet Union, the Franklin Half Dollar replaced the Walking Liberty Half Dollar. In a significant departure from past practices, the reverse of the Franklin Half Dollar has as its prominent device the “Liberty Bell” rather than an eagle. Perhaps Benjamin Franklin’s disdain for the bald eagle as a national symbol and the fact that Philadelphia is his hometown is the reason for this change. Had Benjamin Franklin had his way, our national bird may have been a turkey rather than an eagle! Nevertheless, in compliance with laws concerning coinage designs, a small eagle appears to the right of the “Liberty Bell”. The “Liberty Bell” throughout the “Revolutionary War”, was a symbol of liberty and justice and in the “Civil War” became a symbol for the abolitionist movement. Over the duration of the Franklin Half Dollar, in the 1940’s, 50’s, and 60’s, the “Liberty Bell” would again serve to remind Americans of the enduring principles of liberty and justice by which our nation was founded. This would be especially important in light of the threat of communism that would have the United States entering the “Korean War” and the “Vietnam War” in the 1950’s and 60’s respectively. The Franklin Half, featuring a bust of Benjamin Franklin on the obverse, is the final coin in a transition from allegorical representations of Liberty to historical portraits that started in 1909 with the Lincoln Cent. In many respects, honoring Benjamin Franklin on one our circulating coins is appropriate given that among his many accomplishments, Benjamin Franklin is partly responsible for the designs on our nation’s earliest coins. In 1783 while in France, Benjamin Franklin commissioned the striking of the “Libertas Americana” medal that would become the basis for the obverse designs of our first copper and silver coins in 1793 and 1794. This MS-64, FBL, 1960-D Franklin Half Dollar is also in my wife’s 1960 birth year set. Franklin Halves, such as this one, that are well struck and fully feature the horizontal lines on the bell earn the designation FBL for “full bell lines”.