1936 Walking Liberty Half Dollar - 1936 Walking Liberty 50C NGC PF66. This Superb Gem proof 1936 Walking Liberty Half Dollar comes in an old, fat NGC holder. The coin is a brilliant proof with a sharp, medallic strike and delightful rainbow highlights sprinkled throughout on both sides. The original, undipped surfaces are clean with no visible hairlines or other distractions. There are no slide marks from National and other album slides scuffing the relief of the cheek, which are frequently found on coins of this type. The vertical lines on the right obverse field are on the holder not the coin.

Proof Walking Liberty half dollars were made from 1936 to 1942. Because they are all brilliant, forgeries exist that were made by buffing or plating business strikes. (All USRCI coins are certified and guaranteed genuine and authentic.) The first year of issue, 1936, had the lowest mintage and is the rarest of the series.

Adolph A. Weinman designed the Walking Liberty Half Dollar, which was minted from 1916 to 1947. The obverse depicts a full length portrait of Liberty striding towards a rising sun, perhaps symbolizing a new era. Behind her shoulders is a star-spangled cape. In her left hand she holds olive branches. Her right hand is outstretched in a gesture of peace. She is surrounded by a widely spaced LIBERTY. At her lower right is a brilliant, rising sun that has thirteen rays. IN GOD WE TRUST is in two lines between the Y in LIBERTY and her back foot. The date is below.

On the reverse a fierce looking eagle is perched on a rocky cliff. It faces left and its wings are upraised. A sprig of pine grows in a crevice to the left. The sprig represents strength. Eventually it could crack the rock as it grows. At the end of the branch of pine is the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM written in two lines. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is in an arc at the top. The denomination, HALF DOLLAR, is below the eagle.

Adolph A. Weinman was born on December 11, 1870 in Karlsruhe, Germany. He moved to the United States when he was ten years old. He attended night classes at Cooper Union when he was fifteen, and later he was a student at the Art Students League of New York, where he studied with sculptor, designer Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Philip Martiny, another sculptor. In 1904 he opened his own studio.

He considered himself an architectural sculptor, as was Saint-Gaudens; however, Weinman is now best known for his coin and medal designs. He is particularly remembered for his Walking Liberty half dollar, from which the American Silver Eagle bullion coin is derived; the Mercury dime, and several medals for the armed services of the United States. His sculptures can be found in several state capitol buildings, the Manhattan Municipal Building, Madison Square Presbyterian Church, Penn Station and others. He created a dramatic sculpture on the Elks National Veterans Memorial in Chicago as well as sculptures for the Post Office Department Building, the Jefferson Memorial and the U.S. Supreme Court. He died on August 8, 1952 in Port Chester, New York.