1953 Franklin Half Dollar

1953 Franklin half dollars are considered common by and large, though have a much lower overall mintage than 1952 pieces. In fact, only about 27 million half dollars were made in 1953, and the vast majority were struck at the Denver mint, meaning Philadelphia and San Francisco halves from 1953 are relatively scarce.

It would be the case in the 1950s and 1960s that the Denver mint usually had higher outputs of half dollars than either of the other two mints (bear in mind, too, that in 1955, the San Francisco would stop producing business-strike coins for over a decade).

Here’s a rundown of mintages and values for 1953 Franklin half dollars:

• 1953, 2,668,120 minted; $11

• 1953 proof, 128,800; $250

• 1953-D, 20,900,400; $11

• 1953-S, 4,148,000; $11

*Values listed above are for coins in a grade of Very Fine-20, unless otherwise stated.

As you would expect, the uncirculated values for the Philadelphia and San Francisco halves are much higher than for their Denver counterpart. In fact, while you can buy a Mint State-63 Denver half for about $20, it costs twice as much to buy either a Philadelphia or San Francisco example in the same grade. As a testament to the relative scarcity of all Franklins in Mint State-65, all three are worth $100 to $120.