I'm sure this topic has been covered. But I just received the 2016 Walking Liberty Half in gold and I'm impressed. I think it may be the best of the 2016 centennial coins. I didn't much like the Mercury dime. The Standing Liberty quarter was better. But I think the WLH was very well done. Below are some old photos of a 1917 for comparison (no 1916 on hand). Lance.
I like how well they executed the breast feathers, but am disappointed at the loss of detail in the long feathers of the left wing . . . not sure what happened there.
I have always disliked the central band on the wlh, but this gold coin does that justice. Very nice pickup.
If they made them in silver but kept the mintage limits, yes, they would have sold out in seconds. However, the price point would have likely been at or below that of the silver quarters set make it very affordable and very desirable. Mintage would have probably been very high. I really like the way the half turned out compared to the other two coins. The only thing that feels off about it is the size. The smaller size of dimes and quarters helped hide the difference in diameter for the Mercury and Standing Liberty. This Walking Liberty half however is visibly smaller than a normal half.
Being that I just purchased this 2 weeks ago, and it's gotta be atleast 1/4 the price of the gold version, I'll take my new one (old one) ***** it's a rare birdfor this series*****