Current biography 1944 half dollar

In 1944, the United States Mint was working overtime to accommodate not only the wartime needs of the United States but also the needs of its allies.

Dollar rate

The need was so great that “nearly three billion domestic coins” and “nearly 800,000,000 coins” for 17 other countries were produced “at cost”, which combined to make the “largest output in the 152 years of Mint existence” up until 1944.

Part of that massive output was the 28,206,000 Walking Liberty half dollars struck by the Philadelphia Mint.

While it is by far the most common half dollar issue from that year and accounts for approximately 63% of all the half dollars minted that year, it still represents a 47% decrease from the previous year’s mintage of 53,190,000 pieces.

This massive demand for coinage also forced the Mint to become lax with quality control, leading to a drop in strike quality across the board during the war years.

While not the worst, the 1944 Philadelphia