Many collectible coins exist in the history of the United States coinage. Some are more valuable than others, but the times can change and all coins may become highly valuable. However, the half dollar coins are easily some of the most valuable ones in circulation.
The half dollar coin, or Walking Liberty coin as it is popularly called, features a beautiful design of Lady Liberty on the obverse, and a magnificent eagle on the reverse. This article is a detailed value guide for the 1936 half dollar to help you determine the actual value of these coins.
1936 Half Dollar Details
Some specific details of the Walking Liberty half dollars will help you understand why they have any value and where to place the coins in your possession. Therefore, check the following details to see the value of the half dollar with this specific date.
- Category: Walking Liberty Half Dollars
- Mint: Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco
- Mintage: 20,750,400
- Obverse Designer: Adolph A. Weinman
- Reverse Designer: Adolph A. Weinman
- Metal Composition: 90% Silver, 10% copper
- Edge: Reeded
- Fineness: 0.36169 troy oz.
- Weight: 12.50 grams
- Diameter: 30.63 mm
- Thickness: 1.8 mm
All half dollar coins have the same design and features, from the inception of the coin until it was removed from circulation in 1947. They all show the waking Liberty striding toward the sun cradling a laurel on one arm and holding out the other hand on the obverse.
The word LIBERTY is struck at the top of that side, just above Liberty’s head, and extending from the left to the right of the coin. The obverse also features the words IN GOD WE TRUST on the right side, behind Liberty’s leg. Then, the minting date appears at the bottom of that coin’s side.
The coin’s reverse shows the image of a bald eagle about to take off from its perch on a mountaintop. There is a small tree or branch to the left of the coin, and you will typically find the mint mark under this tree, near the rim.
The words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA appear at the top of the coin, E PLURIBUS UNUM appears on top of the tree to the eagle’s left, and HALF DOLLAR appears at the bottom of the reverse. Since the coin is made almost completely of silver, it typically has a bright color.
1936 Half Dollar Value Chart
The 1936 half dollar has several types, differentiated by the mint marks. The mint marks represent the mint branch where they were struck, and in the case of this particular year, the half dollar was minted in three branches of the United States Mint.
Consequently, each mint carries a value separate from the others, and the chart value breaks it down for easy understanding.
| Mint Mark | Good | Fine | Extremely Fine | Uncirculated |
| 1936 No Mint Mark Half Dollar | $7.45 | $9.22 | $11.17 | $38 |
| 1936 ‘D’ Half Dollar | $7.45 | $10.24 | $12.59 | $74 |
| 1936 ‘S’ Half Dollar | $7.45 | $10.24 | $26 | $116 |
From the chart above, it is clear that coins with the S mint mark are the most valuable of all the half dollars minted in 1936. As mentioned, three mints handled the striking of this coin for that year, so it is easy to tell them apart by checking for the mint mark.
You will typically find the mark under the small tree on the reverse. If you find a coin with the D mint mark, it was struck in the Denver mint. Others have the S mint mark, which means they were struck in the San Francisco mint. But if your 1936 half dollar has no mint mark, it was struck in the Philadelphia mint.
Even in only good condition, the half dollar from 1936 still has a good value. However, you must note that for the coin to fetch you good money, it must be in extremely fine or uncirculated condition. The higher the coin grade is, the more valuable it becomes.
Nevertheless, the condition is not the only factor that adds value, although it is vital. Some coin collectors prefer coins that are not in mint state. The rareness of the coin matters, and at other times, completing a specific collection is more important than finding one in mint state.
Grade
There are four main grade categories in which you will find any coin. They are the categories under which we created the value chart. A coin can be in an uncirculated (mint state +) condition, extremely fine, fine, or good condition. The lower you go, the more worn the coin will appear.
A coin in an uncirculated condition is typically pristine and the luster is still intact. It is usually in the same state in which it was minted, hence the term ‘uncirculated’. Sometimes, it may have a little wear, but nothing that takes away from the overall look and feel of the coin.
If it is extremely fine, the coin is near perfect but also shows some signs of wear. It would have lost some luster due to circulation, but most of the details are still visible. Check Liberty’s stretched-out arm and the leg behind her. If they appear in good relief, the coin has value.
For a coin in fine grade, there should be obvious signs of wear. The details that were in sharp relief no longer appear so due to handling and circulation. The same applies to a good-grade coin, except that the wear is worse. Fortunately, both coins can still get you good money.
1936 Half Dollar Value and Varieties Guides
To break the value of each coin type further, we have separated them into different sections to explain the details and why they are valuable. The value guides show the mintage for each coin, which is vital to how much value collectors typically place on it.
1936 No Mint Mark Half Dollar
- Type: Walking Liberty Half Dollars
- Edge: Reeded
- Mint Mark: None
- Minting Place: Philadelphia
- Minting Year: 1936
- Face Value: 50 cents
- Price: $7 to $38 (or more)
- Quantity Produced: 12,614,000
- Designer: Adolph A. Weinman
- % Metal Composition: 90% Silver, 10% copper
- Mass: 12.50 grams
- Diameter: 30.63 mm
The 1936 half dollars struck at the Philadelphia mint are more in abundance than the other coins, accounting for almost three-quarters of the total mintage for that year. The Philly half dollar does not bear any mint mark, but due to its abundance, it is not always in high demand.
Nevertheless, the coin still has some value because of the type it is. Most Walking Liberty half dollars are valuable, although some years are more valuable than other years. The Philadelphia mint is the main U.S. mint and consequently strikes more coins than any other branch.
1936 ‘D’ Half Dollar
- Type: Walking Liberty Half Dollars
- Edge: Reeded
- Mint Mark: D
- Minting Place: Denver
- Minting Year: 1936
- Face Value: 50 cents
- Price: $7 to $74 (or more)
- Quantity Produced: 4,252,400
- Designer: Adolph A. Weinman
- % Metal Composition: 90% Silver, 10% copper
- Mass: 12.50 grams
- Diameter: 30.63 mm
The half dollars from the Denver mint are the second most valuable coins from 1934. They are less in circulation than the coins from the Philadelphia mint, which makes them less available for the taking. Consequently, they fetch more money, especially if they are in excellent condition.
You will find the mint mark D on the coin’s reverse, under the little tree or branch on the left of the coin. It is close to the rim of the coin and may be easily missed. But knowing where to look for it eases the process. A collector is more inclined to pay more for a 1936-D half dollar if they can find it, not necessarily if the coin is in mint condition.
1936 ‘S’ Half Dollar
- Type: Walking Liberty Half Dollars
- Edge: Reeded
- Mint Mark: S
- Minting Place: San Francisco
- Minting Year: 1936
- Face Value: 50 cents
- Price: $7 to $116 (or more)
- Quantity Produced: 3 884 000
- Designer: Adolph A. Weinman
- % Metal Composition: 90% Silver, 10% copper
- Mass: 12.50 grams
- Diameter: 30.63 mm
The San Francisco mint struck even fewer coins than the Denver mint, making it rarer than the other coins. As a result, the value of these coins is higher than the value of coins from Denver or Philadelphia.
You will find the mint mark on the coin’s reverse, under the tree, and close to the coin’s rim. It is small enough to be missed, but you can easily find it if you know where to look. Even in good condition, the coin with this mint mark can be worth a lot of money, depending on who is buying it.
In all, the 1936 half dollars are some of the most valuable coins in the history of coinage. Sometimes, you can get up to thousands of dollars for one coin, but it must be in near-perfect condition. For some, you may get up to $2,000 per coin.
History of the 1936 Half Dollar
The 1936 half dollar has an interesting history because of the part it plays in the series of half dollar coinage. The half dollar began circulating in the year 1916 and stopped in 1947. It is a fifty-cent coin that was borne out of a need for a new type of coin. This was after the previous coins had been used for about 25 years.
The Mint Director, Robert Wolley, had the thought to replace the dimes, quarters, and half dollars that mint engraver Charles barber had designed decades before that. All these coins had similar designs, so Woolley thought it ideal to create different designs for different coins.
With his order, the Commission for Fine Arts held a contest to find a design for the half dollar, and while there were many entries, the design by Adolph Weinman won the day for the half dollar and dime.
Unfortunately, the design of Lady Liberty striding toward the sun with all the details was challenging to replicate on a coin planchet. This difficulty did not sit well with the treasury which was also in charge of the U.S. Mint. Consequently, he wanted to get Charles Barber to do a fresh design for the coin.
However, the minting professionals saved the day by successfully creating that design on the coin. It began circulating in 1916, but the design did not appear very sharp on the coin, at least not the way it was envisaged to be.
That may be the reason behind the quick replacement of the coin by the Franklin half dollar beginning in 1948. It did nothing to detract from the design’s beauty, and the obverse design is still in use, after some modifications, on the American Silver Eagle.
The Walking Liberty half dollar came out in gold in 2016 for the centennial celebration of the coin’s existence.
1936 Half Dollar Grading
To get the actual value of any coin, you must understand how coin grading works. We have already talked about the four main categories, but within each category, some levels can increase or decrease a coin’s value.
These levels are identifiable by using numbers on a grading range, going from 70 to 1, with 70 being the best grade. So, a coin can be in uncirculated condition, but it ranges from 63 to 70. Grade 63 is in less perfect condition than grade 68.
This video explains this coin grading in detail.
List of 1936 Half Dollar Errors
There is only one notable error in the 1936 half, dollar, which makes it an almost perfect coin.
1936 Half Dollar Doubled Die Obverse Error
The doubled die error refers to striking the design or details at different angles and creating double or triple images. It is a common error among coins, but it is rare in the coins struck in this particular year.
The error appears on the date at the bottom of the obverse and only on a few coins. You can see clear markers showing that the die struck the date more than once and at slightly different angles. The same is also obvious in the words IN GOD WE TRUST on some coins. A coin with this error recently sold for about $15,000.
1936 Half Dollar FAQs
Where is the mint mark on a 1936 half dollar?
The mint mink on a 1936 half dollar is typically on the reverse, under the branch to the left of the coin, and close to the rim. It is a small mark, so it is easy to miss. However, if you do not find the mark under that branch near the left side of the rim on the reverse, the coin does not have any mint mark.
Denver coins should have a D mint mark, while the San Francisco coin should have a mint mark ‘S’. Those coins without a mint mark are from Philadelphia.
How much is a 1936 half dollar worth?
The half dollar from 1936 is usually worth about $120 in uncirculated condition. But it can be less if it is in less than mint state condition. You may get between $7 and $100, but in rare and unique conditions, you may get as much as $10,000.