Wikipedia:Today's featured article/January 9, 2019
The Walking Liberty half dollar is a silver 50-cent piece that was designed by Adolph A. Weinman and issued by the United States Mint from 1916 to 1947. In 1915, the new Mint director, Robert W. Woolley, incorrectly believed that he was not only allowed but required by law to retire coin designs that had been in use for 25 years. He began replacing the Barber coinage: dimes, quarters and half dollars bearing similar designs, first struck in 1892 by long-time Mint Engraver Charles E. Barber. Weinman's design of Liberty striding towards the Sun for the half dollar proved difficult to perfect, and it never struck well, which may have been a factor in its replacement by the Franklin half dollar beginning in 1948. Nevertheless, art historian Cornelius Vermeule considered the piece to be among the most beautiful US coins. Since 1986, a modification of Weinman's obverse design has been used for the American Silver Eagle, and the half dollar was issued in gold for its centennial in 2016. (Full article...)