This guide will hopefully help you to become better at assigning grades to Walking Liberty Half Dollars. I am not an expert, and this guide is by no means "the law". I will give a rough guideline on what should and should not be present in order for a coin to qualify for a particular grade. There are a LOT of overgraded Walkers on Ebay. If you are a person who buys coins based on eye appeal alone and never plan to trade or sell them, this guide will mean little to you. If however you do plan to upgrade or sell your collection in the future, these guidelines may help you make more informed purchases. Ebay only allows 10 pictures per guide, but these should give you a good representation of each grade. I encourage you to buy the ANA Grading Standards for US Coins 6th edition. It covers all US issues and is a wonderful reference.

Walking Liberty Half Dollars 1916-1947

(AG) - About Good - Figure is outlined, nearly all details worn away, IN GOD WE TRUST is half or more worn away, date is weak and/or difficult to read, rim is not complete. Examples:

(G) - Good - Coin is well worn, very little detail remains, top of date may be worn flat, rim is nearly complete. Examples:

(VG) - Very Good - Heavy wear, overall design is weak, details in gown are worn smooth on pre-1921 coins...post 1921 coins show half of lines in gown, date and letters of LIBERTY are all clear, rim is complete. Examples:

(F) - Fine - Moderate to heavy wear of entire design, half of lines in gown must show on pre-1921 coins...post 1921 coins must show all lines, left leg is nearly flat, right sandal is worn but visible. Examples:

(VF) - Very Fine - Light to moderate wear of entire design, features are sharp, breast is outlined. Examples:

(XF) - Extra Fine - Light wear on high points of design, high points are head-breast-arms-left leg and foot, all skirt lines clearly visible, sandals are bold and complete. Examples:

The following coins Range from AU-50 to MS-67. These are very difficult to grade without a pro to help. Many coins of the Walking Liberty series were weakly struck and can appear to be worn when they are not. Full details in the head and on the hand which passes in front of the body are usually not found. Use the following as a general guideline between AU and BU. There is a lot of wiggle room between grades here...
(AU) - About Uncirculated - Traces of wear on head-arms-breast-left leg, half or most of mint luster is still present. Examples:

(BU) - Bank/Brilliant Uncirculated - Absolutely no trace of wear, what distinguishes a MS-60 from a MS-67 is the amount of luster present on the coin, if the surface of the coin is dull or spotted, weakly struck pieces will grade lower, and the amount and placement of contact marks the coin recieved while in transit in mint bags after being made. Examples:

(PF) -Proof - Walking liberty halves were not made in a proof version, but there are proof examples out there. A proof Walker is a coin that most likely was struck very early in the life of the die and was struck with a great deal of force. These coins are very hard to come by. Here is an example of one of the beauty's:

Feel free to check out my other guides. You may find something else that interests you. They are all coin related.