1929-D 50C MS66+ Certification #64615784, PCGS #6589

Charles Morgan

The 1929-D Walking Liberty Half Dollar

Following a seven-year gap in half dollar production, the Denver Mint briefly restarted operations in 1929, striking 1,001,200 pieces. However, the stock market crash and the onset of the Great Depression cut this revival short. As a result, 1929 proved to be a single-year resumption, and Denver did not coin half dollars again until 1934.

Despite this low mintage, hoarders and collectors preserved enough 1929-D Walking Liberty Half Dollars (#6589) to make uncirculated coins through PCGS MS65 relatively accessible today. Market availability drops off sharply in MS66 or higher, with top-tier population coins topping out in the PCGS MS67 to PCGS MS67+ band.

Collecting the 1929-D Walking Liberty Half Dollar

The value of the 1929-D half dollar is strongly tied to wear and surface condition. As David Hall notes in his PCGS narrative, it stands as one of the final dates in the series — alongside the 1929-S (#6590), 1933-S (#6591), and 1938-D (#6605) — where even heavily worn, lower-grade coins command a premium over silver melt value.

Over the decades, the market for the 1929-D has seen dramatic shifts. In the June 1934 issue of The Numismatist (p. 416), collectors could still acquire uncirculated 1929-D half dollars directly from the U.S. Treasury for "the face value of the coins and an amount sufficient to cover the mail charges by first-class mail." Just over thirty years later, New York coin dealer Joel D. Coen advertised Choice BU 1929-D specimens for $375. In hindsight, both opportunities offered exceptional value, as current market prices for Choice Uncirculated 1929-D half dollars trade well above those historic entry points.

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David Hall

The 1929-D has a relatively low mintage and, along with the 1929-S and 1933-S, it the last Waliking Liberty half dollar (with the exception of the very low mintage 1938-D) that sells for more than it's silver value in the lowest grades. It is somewhat scarce in the higher circulated grades and definitely scarce in mint state. The 1929-D is not quite as rare in mint state and Gem mint state condition as the 1929-S and it is about the same rarity as the 1933-S, perhaps marginally rarer. All three coins are much rarer in mint state and Gem mint state than the dates that follow.

The typical 1929-D can be very frosty or toned in varying degrees. Strike is usually not a problem though sometimes Ms. Liberty's hand can be a little weak.