I recently saw several of these at my LCS and then discovered that they may be worth more than standard generic rounds, so I'd like to know more about them. Specifically, where and when were they minted? The dealer didn't know, and while I've found several websites that sell or discuss them, none of them have any mint info. Thanks for your help.
From the way the design sinks into the fields -- look especially at the details where Liberty's left meets the right obverse field -- I'd assume this was a cheap fake. If the dealer can prove that it's solid silver, I guess it's worth an ounce of silver, but I sure wouldn't pay a premium for one. Welcome to CoinTalk!
From the Highland Mint The round is a curious design based on the Walking Liberty coins from the era of the World Wars. The obverse shows Liberty walking with a sunrise (or sunset) over mountains behind her. A wide band around the outside of the coin bears the legend “Walking Liberty 1916 – 1947”, while the smaller area within this where Liberty herself appears includes the words “Liberty In God We Trust 1916”. The reverse features another wide band with the disclaiming statement “Commemorative Copy One Troy Ounce 999 Silver” while the inner “field” shows the eagle of the Republic with the words “United States of America E Pluribus Unum Half Dollar”. This round design is interesting because it precisely replicates legal tender of the United States from 1916, including a face value, but manages to avoid the charge of counterfeiting by cleverly including a border which declares the round to be no more than a commemorative copy – an interesting method of reissuing a coin without falling foul of the law.
Thanks for the replies. Sorry it took so long to get back to you - I work long hours every other week. This is definitely real silver, and my dealer was only selling them for generic round prices, so I went ahead and bought a couple. rte - Do you have a link for any more info regarding how you know they're from Highland Mint? This is a rare curiosity for me, so I'd like to know more. I checked the Highland website, but that didn't get me anywhere, nor did Google. I emailed Highland, but they haven't repsonded. Thanks again.
Hmmm, let's see where I found that info. Back in a bit. https://www.buysilver.org/silver/rounds/highland-mint/
I would think the same for the buffalo generic round, but a copy ? that doesn't speak to me as being worth any premium.
There seems to be some misunderstanding here. The round is definitely 999 silver. The "copy" designation is just there so people don't confuse it with legitimate US currency, thereby getting in trouble with the Secret Service for counterfeiting. I emailed Highland to see if they could tell me when they were minted or give me any more details. They directed me to contact their sister mint, Westminster Mint. Haven't received a reply yet. Will update when I do.
There was no chance of getting in trouble with the Secret Service whether copy was on it or not. It's not remotely close faking any coin and putting copy on it really just killed most peoples interest
I prefer the real walking liberty half dollar as I used to collect them but I only have around 5 or 6 left. Allow me to showoff! I liked the design so much, I even bought the gold one in 2016 and it's a beauty!
Very Nice, I got the dime and quarter in sp70. The prices spiked and I didn't want to pay the price for the half in sp70...then the prices went up another $400. I'll wait.
Yeah, I'm missing the dime and although I want it, I'll wait as well the prices online are crazy high!
