1955 Franklin Half Dollar Value

Silver melt value, mintage by mint, and how this year compares with every other year of the Franklin Half Dollar series.

Silver content

Composition 90% silver, 10% copper
Silver content, as struck 0.3617 troy oz
Silver content, worn (trading convention) 0.3575 troy oz 0.715 troy oz per $1 of face value, the figure dealers quote from
Face value $0.50
Silver years 1948 - 1963

1955 mintage by mint

Issue Mint Mintmark Struck for circulation Proofs
1955 Philadelphia No mintmark 2,498,181 378,200
Total 2,498,181 378,200
  • 1955: Coin World names the 1948, 1949-S, 1953 and 1955 as the key dates of the series 'based on mintage figures', Wikipedia prints the same four with a footnote citing Coin World, and coincollecting.com repeats the list. This is the lowest business-strike mintage of the series, and the four named are exactly its four lowest, which is why none of them carries a key-date flag here: this dataset does not flag an issue from mintage size. CoinWeek's collector guide and Gainesville Coins both say the series has no date rarities at all. Every Franklin half dated 1955 was struck at Philadelphia: Denver struck no half dollars in 1955 or 1956, and San Francisco had struck its last half dollar in 1954.

Ranked by circulation mintage against all 35 Franklin Half Dollar issues struck 1948 to 1963, lowest first:

  • 1955 (Philadelphia): 1st lowest of 35

Key dates: Price guides name four key dates for this series, and it is worth saying why none of them is flagged here. Coin World writes that "Based on mintage figures, the key dates in the series are 1948, 1949-S, 1953 and 1955 coins". Wikipedia prints the same four, but the footnote on that sentence cites Coin World, so the two are one witness rather than two, and coincollecting.com repeats the list without offering a reason of its own. Those four issues are also exactly the four lowest business-strike mintages of the series, so what is on offer is a mintage ranking relabelled, and this dataset never flags a key date from mintage size. The specialist sources disagree outright: CoinWeek's collector guide says Franklin half dollars "were produced in significant quantities and there are no date rarities in the series", and Gainesville Coins writes that no regular-issue business-strike Franklin half dollar can be considered truly rare. Both put the series' scarcity in strike quality instead. Coin World and Wikipedia each add that Franklin halves were heavily melted for their silver, so some dates are scarcer today than their mintages suggest.

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Questions about the 1955 Franklin Half Dollar

How much silver is in a 1955 Franklin Half Dollar?
A 1955 Franklin Half Dollar is 90% silver and contains 0.3617 troy ounces of pure silver as struck. Circulated coins have lost a little to wear, so the trade prices them at 0.715 troy oz per $1 of face value, or 0.3575 troy oz for this coin.
What is a 1955 Franklin Half Dollar worth?
Its silver melt value is shown at the top of this page and is recalculated from the live silver spot price each time the page loads. Coins in collector grades can be worth more than melt, which depends on condition and is not covered here.
How many 1955 Franklin Half Dollars were made?
2,498,181 were struck for circulation across 1 mint. Philadelphia struck 2,498,181 with no mintmark. A further 378,200 proofs were struck.
Is the 1955 Franklin Half Dollar a key date?
No. No issue of the Franklin Half Dollar series is flagged as a key date here. Price guides name four key dates for this series, and it is worth saying why none of them is flagged here. Coin World writes that "Based on mintage figures, the key dates in the series are 1948, 1949-S, 1953 and 1955 coins". Wikipedia prints the same four, but the footnote on that sentence cites Coin World, so the two are one witness rather than two, and coincollecting.com repeats the list without offering a reason of its own. Those four issues are also exactly the four lowest business-strike mintages of the series, so what is on offer is a mintage ranking relabelled, and this dataset never flags a key date from mintage size. The specialist sources disagree outright: CoinWeek's collector guide says Franklin half dollars "were produced in significant quantities and there are no date rarities in the series", and Gainesville Coins writes that no regular-issue business-strike Franklin half dollar can be considered truly rare. Both put the series' scarcity in strike quality instead. Coin World and Wikipedia each add that Franklin halves were heavily melted for their silver, so some dates are scarcer today than their mintages suggest.
Is a 1955 half dollar silver?
Yes. Every Franklin Half Dollar struck from 1948 through 1963 is 90% silver.

Mintage sources