Why Does The Franklin Half Dollar Have Such A Small Eagle?

PCGS - The Franklin half dollar, which was in production from 1948 through 1963, was the last series of circulating 90% silver United States coins to both debut and finish without transitioning to a copper-nickel clad format. As such, it remains highly popular with collectors today. Yet, at least one detail on the coin stands out as rather incongruous with the remainder of the design - a tiny, squarish eagle placed just to the right of a large rendition of the Liberty Bell.



Why is the eagle there? Why is it so small? And why does it share the coin with Franklin, a Founding Father who had a well-publicized dislike of eagles?

The Franklin half dollar was the last coin designed by John R. Sinnock, a talented artist who served as the United States Mint's chief engraver from 1925 until his death in 1947. Taking over the role from elder statesman George T. Morgan (of 19th-century Morgan dollar fame) and succeeded by mid-century Engraver in Chief Gilroy Roberts (who worked on the Kennedy half dollar), it can be said that Sinnock served as a bridge between two very distinct and chronologically distant eras in United States Mint history.

By the time he had begun work on the Franklin half dollar, Sinnock had already worked on the 1926 Sesquicentennial Commemorative Half Dollar and, 20 years later, the Roosevelt dime. Interestingly, the 1926 Sesquicentennial Half Dollar portrays a reverse depiction of the Liberty Bell, which cracked soon after it was cast in the 1750s and has long resided in Philadelphia as a landmark of freedom. Sinnock would resurrect his 1926 design of the Liberty Bell on the reverse of the Franklin half dollar, anchored by an obverse depiction of Benjamin Franklin - a Boston-born Founding Father who became inextricably linked to his adopted home of Philadelphia.

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