Franklin Half Dollar Rolls: 1954 Uncirculated

The Philadelphia Mint is the first mint facility to ever produce US currency. Being the main branch of the US Mint, the Philadelphia Mint has had its proverbial hand in almost every coin series in 1792! The Franklin Half Dollars were no different, being minted in outrageous numbers by the Philadelphia Mint. The 1954 Franklin Half Dollar Roll consists of 20 coins, each in glistening brilliant uncirculated condition and stacked in a plastic tube for protection.

The Franklin Half Dollar replaced the beloved Walking Liberty Half in 1948 and wowed the public with its honorary depiction of the late Founding Father. The Mint Director at the time, Nellie Tayloe Ross, long since admired Benjamin Franklin, so when it was time to replace the Walking Liberty, she knew which design would be next. Ross approached the Mint Engraver, John R. Sinnock, and asked him to design a portrait of Franklin for the new half dollar. Sinnock used past designs of his to get the new half dollar underway but would not see the end result. Sinnock died before the completion of the Franklin Half Dollar, leaving it up to his successor, Gilroy Roberts, to finish the job. Once the final design was finished, the Mint Director took it to the Commission of Fine Arts to get it approved. The final design wasn't approved, due to the cracked Liberty bell, but was minted anyway. The controversial design reveals a side portrait of Benjamin Franklin, with the coin's date of mintage next to it. The reverse depicts the famous Liberty Bell, with its crack down the middle, and also contains the coin's legal monetary denomination. Due to the Mint Act, passed when the first mint in the US was established, the US Mint was required to detail the coin's legal tender value on the actual coin. The Franklin Half Dollar has a special place in the Philadelphia Mint's heart, since the pictures on the actual coin are native to the original capital of the US.

• Denomination: N/A
• Year: 1954
• Diameter: N/A
• Mint Mark: N/A
• Thickness: N/A
• Grade: N/A