Hey guys! Seems like lately there are an awful lot of YouTube CRH videos of people finding Walking Liberty halfs in significant quantities. I've never even seen a Walker in circulation, and it makes me wonder if the hunters are actually finding collection dumps or are they stacking the deck for views?
#1 - youtube is garbage #2 - when I actively searched half dollars, I found more Walkers than Franklins.
I wouldn't put a lot of stock in anything I saw on YouTube. However two years ago we had the Great American Coin Hunt and dealers all across the country were sneaking collector coins into circulation in all manner of ways. I could envision some Walkers being hidden in rolls that sat in the bank vault for a couple years. Particularly since halves aren't typically asked for by retailers these days.
Interesting! How many Walkers have you found? I usually find 40 percenters but occasionally get a '64 Kennedy.
I used to always find 64's more often than WL or Franklins. My frequency was 40%, 64's, Franklins, then WL. I think I only ever found 3 WL halves, maybe 15 franklins, 40 64's, and not sure how many hundreds of 40%. I still have everything I found in "the pile" save for the 40% I sold off long ago.
Its all just silver sir. Given 99% at least of my pile is purchased, I see no need to keep them separate, just like I never kept silver nickels, buffalos, wheats, etc that I found in change separate. Could be a question of scale. I might have 4-5k ounces total silver.
Yeah 64's are top for me, followed by Walkers, and then Franklins. 40%ers were obviously the most frequent.
Anyone ever find a worn 64? I have only ever seen one, a pocket piece of my neighbors who served in the same area of WWII as Kennedy so idolized the man. Looking back, I should have bought it from him. I wonder how much an AG 64 would go for nowadays to those lowest grade collectors. Every 64 I have ever found were BU or high AU at worst.
One can easily put a Walker in a roll, rewrap it and then do a video with a find, like WOW, look what I just found and act surprised.
I would guess collectors saved more Walkers than Franklins, and when collections get stolen or inherited and then deposited or spent, they come back into circulation. Briefly. Waaay back around 2010, a few things conspired to get me back into the hobby. Early on, I stopped in my bank and asked if they had any half dollars. The teller said she only had four. They were all Walkers, two 1940s and two dateless. But I don't think I've found any at face value since. The biggest silver score I ever had was several rolls that were mostly 40%, a few clad, and the balance 1964 or Franklins. Edit: and YouTube is for distributing attention, not information.
A couple of years ago I was doing my usual Saturday banking. I Always ask the tellers if they have any halves, large dollars or anything special . Teller says "I have a few dollars of halves" I look and silver all through the $5 she showed me. "I'll take em, Where did they come from?" I ask, "Oh a customer brought their grandfathers coins in", "Any more?" "Oh yer some rolls too" 5 x Ikes, and $68.50 in Halves, only $2.50 wasn't silver. Bunch of walkers and Benji's. Best Bank crh find I ever got lol
If you search for it, long ago in a CT post I recounted having found a solid roll of 20 walkers at the bank once . . . circa 2003, I think.
Kind of related, my mom is a TikTok person. I can't stand it myself, but she shows me these roll hunters who have loomis rolls packed with silver, however I noticed one end of each roll was already cut, so.