1937 50C MS65 Certification #39233681, PCGS #6601

Charles Morgan

The 1937 Walking Liberty Half Dollar

After intermittent production runs throughout the 1920s and early 1930s, the Philadelphia Mint resumed continuous annual coining of the Walking Liberty Half Dollar in 1934. Philadelphia would ultimately become the only minting facility to produce half dollars every single year through the remainder of the series and beyond — pausing only in 1970, when Denver handled strikes for Uncirculated Coin Sets and San Francisco struck Proofs.

With a substantial output of 9,522,200 coins, the 1937 issue ranks as the second most plentiful half dollar of the 1930s. It sits roughly three million pieces behind the decade-leading 1936 Philadelphia strike (#6598) and exceeds the 1935 (#6595) mintage by about 360,000. Up to 1937, only two issues in the entire series had topped this production level:

• 1917 (#6569): 12,292,000
• 1918-S (#6576): 10,282,000

Mintage numbers would balloon significantly during the 1940s, which is why the "Short Set" (spanning 1941 to 1947) remains a widely favored entry point for collectors exploring the series.

Coin Characteristics

Mint State 1937 Walking Liberty Half Dollars generally display crisp details and strong brilliance, but due to their age, specimens frequently exhibit light-to-heavy surface patina. However, vivid "PQ" rainbow toning is quite scarce for this date, particularly in upper-tier grades.

While total PCGS submission volume for the 1937 issue trails the 1936 by roughly 15%, both dates yield an almost identical proportion of MS65 coins. The gap widens at MS66 and finer, where lower certification rates make the 1937 notably tougher to find in top-tier grades.

* * *

David Hall

The 1937 is fairly available in mint state and Gem condition. It is rarer than the 1936 and 1939, but not as rare as the 1934, 1935, and 1938. Luster is usually white and frosty and strike is typically sharp.