| Franklin Half Dollar (US) | |
| Value: | 0.50 US dollars |
| Mass: | 12.5 g |
| Diameter: | 30.6 mm |
| Edge: | reeded |
| Composition: | 90.00% Ag, 10.00% Cu |
| Obverse | |
| Design: | Benjamin Franklin |
| Designer: | John R. Sinnock |
| Design Date: | 1948 |
| Reverse | |
| |
| Design: | Liberty Bell |
| Designer: | John R. Sinnock |
| Design Date: | 1948 |
The Franklin half dollar is a coin of the United States, minted from 1948 to 1963. The half dollar pictured Benjamin Franklin on the obverse and the Liberty Bell on the reverse. A small eagle to the right of the bell was necessitated by law; ironically, Franklin himself had opposed the selection of the eagle as the US national symbol. A bill rushed through Congress after the assassination of John F. Kennedy caused the Franklin half to be replaced by the current Kennedy half dollar in February 1964, nine years before the design would otherwise have been eligible for a change.
Approximately 510 million Franklin halves were minted during the period 1948 to 1963. Coins without a mint mark were minted in Philadelphia, whereas those with a "D" were minted in Denver and with an "S" in San Francisco. Numbers in parentheses are the number of coins minted that year which were distributed in mint sets.
| Year | Philedalphia Mint | Denver Mint | San Francisco Mint |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | 3,006,814 | 4,028,600 | |
| 1949 | 5,614,000 | 4,120,600 | 3,744,000 |
| 1950 | 7,793,509 (51,386) | 8,031,600 | |
| 1951 | 16,859,602 (57,500) | 9,475,200 | |
| 1952 | 13,696,000 | ||
| 1953 | 2,796,820 (128,800) | 20,900,400 | 4,148,000 |
| 1954 | 13,421,503 (233,300) | 25,445,580 | 4,993,400 |
| 1955 | 2,876,381 (378,200) | ||
| 1956 | 4,701,384 (669,384) | ||
| 1957 | 6,361,952 (1,247,952) | 19,966,850 | |
| 1958 | 4,917,652 | 23,962,412 | |
| 1959 | 7,349,291 (1,149,291) | 13,053,750 | |
| 1960 | 7,715,602 (1,691,602) | 18,215,812 | |
| 1961 | 11,318,244 (3,028,244) | 20,276,442 | |
| 1962 | 12,932,019 (3,218,019) | 35,473,281 | |
| 1963 | 25,239,645 (3,075,645) | 67,069,292 |