Owner Comments:
Mint Director, Robert W. Woolley, acting on a US Congressional Act in 1890, was eager to replace coin designs that had been in use for 25 years. He was responsible for replacing the Barbour coins and finding new artists to submit designs for the new coins. Charles Barber, was the designer of the barber coins and he was asked to submit new designs. The Commission rejected the designs and invited new artists to submit drawings. Adolph Weinman was selected as one of the three that were selected to prepare possible new designs. His design was selected.to replace the Barbour half dollar. Coins for 1922, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1930, 1931 and 1932 were not minted.
This design would later be used for the 1986 Silver Eagle dollar coins.
n 1917, there was a change in the location of the mint mark from the obverse to the reverse.
America's entry into The Great War in April of 1917 prompted a tremendous increase in demand for minor and subsidiary coins. This is reflected in the massive production of half dollars at the Philadelphia Mint that year. Indeed, this was a 50% increase over the prior record set in 1876. Most 1917(P) halves are fairly well struck, and a small percentage are extremely so. In terms of overall quality this issue is superior to that of 1916 and makes for a better type coin. The half dollars of 1916 and early 1917 display textured fields that were incorporated into the artist's original models. During 1917 the U. S. Mint smoothed out the fields to extend die life and give the coins a more conventional appearance. Gems of the 1917(P) half dollar are common through MS-65, but the number drop off rapidly above that level. A great number of these coins were saved by the general public for the simple reason that they were the first pieces encountered. The small mintage of 1916(P) halves was released at the same time as the first 1917 coins, and the latter far outnumbered them in the channels of commerce.
US Mint Website: September 26: The Act of September 26, 1890, amends Revised Statute 3510, by authorizing a procedure for new coin designs generally known today as “the 25-year law”. A portion of the legislation states that “no change in the design or die of any coin shall be made oftener that once in twenty-five years from and including the year of the first adoption of the design, model, die, or hub for the same coin.”