Greatest Half Dollar Design

So, a while back I began a series of polls for fun to determine the favorite design of each denomination according to the members. I got through the quarter dollar design before I got too busy to continue the posts. Well, today I remembered so I thought it would be fun to start back up where we left off.

So, here are the "rules" of my little scenario. The premise is, the US government has decided to change the design on all coins to a "historical" design based on a popular vote. The idea is that the coins will reflect the best America has ever used. However, they are using the current planchet still. This week's poll is the Half Dollar...but no matter what the winning design is, it would be made on a 30.6mm diameter reeded edge copper-nickel clad planchet.

The poll will run for 7 days and you may only vote for one choice. When this poll is done, we'll do the dollar next.

Previous Winning Designs​

Cent: Flying Eagle Cent 34.15% of vote
Nickel: Buffalo Nickel 39.13% of vote
Dime: Mercury Dime 74.00% of vote
Quarter Dollar: Standing Liberty Quarter 79.31% of vote

 

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Barbie Dollars.

 

Great poll Camero. Gotta go with the Walking Liberty. That design is timeless. I have a beautimus set of Franklins but the WL design wins hands down.

 

Eh - none of these designs will work on the current steel Planchette. The walking liberty will look like a fun house mirror trap

Ruben

 

Ruben - please elaborate... I'm not sure what a "fun house mirror trap" would look like on a coin.

 

I think he means that the design is to detailed to look good on the clad planchet. The WL design is very intricate and looked good on silver. Silver is softer and therefore the design was better imprinted onto the coins when made. But, even on silver the WL had strike problems. With clad it could be even worse if the strike pressure wasn't altered.

 

Silver is unique and designs made for silver - that is properly made for silver, don't translate to the harder - white - non-toning metal of a clad...

See the discussion here

http://www.cointalk.com/forum/t51055/#post565671

 

I agree with you to a point, but there have been coins that were struck on both and they weren't a problem. All the silver designs struck in 1964 were changed to clad. Both the Roosevelt Dime and Washington Quarter were designed when silver was the metal to be used for the foreseeable future. I'd imagine their designs needed to be modified a little, but they worked just fine on clad for many years.

 

My avatar should show you which one I voted for. We have had several good half designs though.

 

It's funny because I voted Walking Liberty, because I think thats hands down the greatest design ever on any US coin. But, I prefer to collect Capped Bust halves over WL halves. Don't ask me why, because I don't know.
Guy~

 

I voted for the Walking Liberty, I think it's probably my second favorite coin design.

 

Had to go for the Walker also. Thanks for the poll.

 

Its always been the Walkers for me....
Hands down. :high5:


RickieB

 

No there haven't. See the IKE threads.

I think your underlining my point. They were ugly in silver and down right reprehensible in Clad. You want a good clad design...look at the Bald Eagle Commemorative Half from last year.

Ruben

 

You put a walker on Clad it will look like cheap tin foil....

 

Gee, I guess I'm wrong again. I still like the design of the WL half in spite of it being decreed as impossible to mint properly. But, that's what the question was, what design.

 

I had to go with the Draped Bust, Small Eagle. It is truely a beautiful coin that most people won't even consider.

 

I don't think there would be any problem. It's true that the clad is harder than silver and the design would probably have to be modified. But, the Roosevelt Dime, Washington Quarter and even the Kennedy Half were all originally struck in silver and transferred to clad without significant loss in quality or modification. Say whatever opinions you want about those designs when they were in silver...the point is, they were transferred from one metal to another with minimal problems.

 

I voted the Walker too before reading the thread. It's just made more of an impact than the rest of them (ASE's) and is so detailed. The symbolism is the best of all of them also.

They all have their place.

 

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