I am working on a presentation on Walking Liberty Halves, and I am looking for information on why they changed the mintmark location in 1917 from the obverse to the reverse. Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Traditionally, the mint mark on US coins was always struck on the reverse of the coin, with very few exceptions.........why they (mint) chose to strike the mint mark on the obverse of this example is pure conjecture........but I do enjoy anomaly's.
The mint marks had initially been placed on the obverse, the first time that had been done for a regular issue US half dollar since 1839.] On February 14, 1917, Mint Director Von Engelken ordered that the mint mark be moved from the obverse to the reverse, stating that the obverse placement had the appearance of a die defect. At that time, Von Engelken had resigned pending appointment to the post of president of the Federal Land Bank for the Third District; once he left to take that position, he was succeeded by Raymond Baker. In April, Baker was asked for written confirmation of Von Engelken's order, and after he obliged, the mint mark was duly moved. The majority of the 1917 half dollars struck at Denver (1917-D) and San Francisco (1917-S) bear the mint mark on the reverse. I don't think it looks like a die defect.
