THE WALKING LIBERTY HALF DOLLAR
ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL United States coins of the 20th century, in the opinion of many modern collectors, is the Walking Liberty half dollar, issued from 1916 through 1947. It has been so popular, in fact, that when the Treasury decided upon the design for the silver bullion coin first issued in 1986, the Walking Liberty motif got the nod and is still being used.
The history of this interesting artwork began in 1915, when Treasury officials realized that the old Barber designs for the minor silver coins were approaching that magical 25-year date when designs can be changed without Congressional oversight.
Treasury Secretary William McAdoo, who just happened to be the son-in-law of President Woodrow Wilson, was legally responsible for choosing the new designs on American coinage. He almost certainly conferred with the President about the kind of artwork that Wilson would like to see. Theoretically, of course, artists were free to choose whatever subjects they thought appropriate for the coinage but McAdoo thought otherwise and saw to it that their talents were properly focused.
The key element in the 1916 design choices was the state of the world and, in particular, the war then raging on many fronts throughout Europe. There had been several attempts to get the United States involved but Wilson
