1945 Half Dollar Error List with Pictures
Two very different 1945 errors each sold for $41,125 in November 2013. One used a tiny dime blank; the other was a San Francisco half dollar struck twice.
This 1945 Walking Liberty half dollar error list covers estimated values from $50 to $50,000. Small missing pieces and fine raised lines sit alongside those dramatic mistakes.
Read on to find where each feature appears and why the actual mintmark, metal, and remaining picture matter.
1. 1945 Walking Liberty Half Dollar Rim Clip (Estimated Up to $450)
A small section is missing near the bottom of a known Philadelphia half dollar. Heritage placed the rim clip at about 5:30 when the front is upright.
NGC graded the example MS63, meaning unworn with some marks. The description does not say whether its gap is curved or straight.
That shape must come from the photograph rather than the clock position alone. A genuine clip starts with an incomplete metal disc before stamping.
The coin’s picture then forms beside the gap. A notch cut later can occupy the same spot, but leaves different marks where it meets the finished design.
Estimated Value
Estimate $60–$450 for collectible genuine rim clips. A small gap on an ordinary example usually fits nearer the lower end.
A 1942-S graded ANACS MS62 sold for $81.90 including the buyer’s fee in May 2025. That recent sale offers a same-series comparison for a modest clip.
It is not the price of the 1945 NGC MS63. Better condition and a clearly original missing section can support a higher figure.
How to Identify
With the front upright, begin near 5:30. Use a 10× magnifier where the missing section meets the remaining rim.
Check whether the picture formed against an old gap or whether a sharp cut passes through finished details. Inspect the surviving edge grooves for filing.
A normal half weighs 12.50 grams and measures about 30.6 millimeters. Use a scale and calipers across intact areas when safely accessible, keeping the date and mintmark area in your photographs.
The opposite rim may be weak, but not every real clip shows this clearly. Look for naturally stamped silver beside the gap, without fresh cutting marks through the border.
2. 1945 Walking Liberty Half Dollar Reported Reverse Strike-Through (Estimated Up to $600)
Something blocking the eagle’s stamping tool can leave part of the back picture missing. It may also press its own shape into the silver.
This is called a strike-through. The year report lists it on the back without naming a mint or exact location on a certified example.
The mark must support any claimed material. A shallow hollow alone cannot tell you whether cloth, grease, or a hard object blocked the tool.
A dent made after minting can also form a hollow. Check whether the original picture failed to form there, rather than being crushed after it was complete.
Estimated Value
Estimate $75–$600 for genuine local interruptions through larger clear impressions. Visible texture and undamaged surrounding silver help a collector understand the error.
A 1951-S Franklin graded NGC MS64 with a strike-through is indexed at $134 in April 2026. It is a silver half with a different design.
That sale offers a comparison for the mechanism. It is not a 1945 sale and does not identify the material that caused the reported mark.
How to Identify
Before naming an object, examine the edge of the hollow through a 10× magnifier. Move the light to see how nearby details meet it.
Compare the eagle’s worn high points with the patch. Scrape trails, torn silver, or a raised impact lip may explain damage after minting.
Check the opposite face and edge grooves for related pressure marks. When safely accessible, use a scale against 12.50 grams and calipers against about 30.6 millimeters.
Those measurements identify the normal silver coin but cannot name an object. Look for original detail stopping at an impression without pushed-up metal that would suggest a later blow.
3. 1945 D Walking Liberty Half Dollar Planchet Streak (Estimated Up to $650)
A fine streak appears above IN GOD WE TRUST on a Denver PCGS MS66. Heritage described it as a planchet streak, meaning a mark from the original blank metal.
The term does not establish a deep split or peeling layer. A narrow flaw in the starting silver can remain visible without breaking the coin apart.
MS66 describes a well-preserved unworn coin. The small streak is only one feature on its surface.
Look in the open area above the motto. Lines elsewhere, including normal folds in Liberty’s clothing, should not be treated as the same mark simply because they look thin.
Estimated Value
Estimate $75–$650 for a collectible 1945-D with a genuine minor metal streak. The range runs from worn examples through attractive unworn coins.
Much of the upper value may come from condition. Northeast Numismatics offers a 1947 NGC MS65 with front-side peeling for $275.
That is an asking price for a different metal defect. It provides a related comparison, not a recorded sale for the 1945-D MS66 or its fine streak.
How to Identify
Use the open area above the motto as your starting point. Under a 10× magnifier, compare the line with the shine and texture beside it.
A sharp channel with silver pushed up along its edges suggests a later scratch. A fine original streak need not open into a crack or lift as a flake.
Check the edge grooves and use a scale and calipers when safely accessible. The normal silver coin starts at 12.50 grams and about 30.6 millimeters.
A small surface streak may leave both readings normal. Follow the line above the motto for original surface texture, rather than expecting missing weight or treating every thin line as peeling metal.
4. 1945 Walking Liberty Half Dollar Reported Cracked Planchet (Estimated Up to $800)
A crack opens into the coin’s metal. That differs from a crack in a die, the steel tool that stamps coins, which usually leaves a raised line.
The 1945 guide reports a cracked planchet, or metal blank. It does not name the mint, position, grade, or timing of the split.
Those details need an actual specimen. A generic picture of a fracture cannot supply them.
If the opening existed during stamping, the surrounding design may show how silver moved around it. A later bend or blow can also split a coin, so the nearby surfaces must explain when it happened.
Estimated Value
Estimate $100–$800 for a confirmed mint-made crack on a collectible Walking Liberty half. Its depth, visible effect on the design, and remaining condition affect the value.
A related 1947 NGC MS65 with peeling on the front is offered for $275. That is an asking price for a different defect.
Peeling separates a thin layer rather than necessarily opening through the coin. The offer gives context, not a direct cracked-blank sale.
How to Identify
A split can open without losing much silver. A normal scale reading near 12.50 grams therefore does not rule it out.
Use calipers against about 30.6 millimeters when safely accessible and inspect the edge grooves. Look at the suspected opening from the edge as well as both faces.
A 10× magnifier and low light should show whether it is a real gap or merely a raised line. Never force the coin apart.
Check for bending, dents, or stretched metal from later damage. Read the crack’s actual location from the coin.
Look for stamped details shaped around the opening, rather than a finished picture broken by a later impact.
5. 1945 Walking Liberty Half Dollar Sunburst Die Cracks (Estimated Up to $1,400)
The name Sunburst does not refer to the sun rays near the bottom of the coin. Look higher, where Liberty’s shoulder meets the flag.
Fine lines spread outward from that area on the recognized Philadelphia FS-401 variety. Repeated pressure cracked the steel stamping tool.
Silver filled those narrow cracks during stamping, creating extra raised lines on the coin. They can be faint under some lighting or softened by wear.
Their location is the key. A group of scratches spreading in different directions does not establish this variety unless the raised pattern matches the shoulder-and-flag area on a known example.
Estimated Value
Estimate $50–$1,400 across ordinary examples through exceptionally well-preserved coins. Greysheet’s retail guide lists MS67 at $875 and CAC-approved MS67 at $1,300.
These are guide values, not auction sales. MS67 describes excellent unworn condition, while CAC approval adds a separate quality judgment.
The higher prices concern the complete coin. A faint line on a worn example should not receive the price of a superbly preserved specimen.
How to Identify
Set the lamp low beside the coin and magnify the junction of Liberty’s shoulder and flag. Compare the added lines with a clear photograph of FS-401.
A normal coin at the same scale can help separate the extra pattern from intended design. Scratches cut inward, while the crack marks should stand above the surface.
Confirm Philadelphia by the absence of a mintmark and compare ordinary circulation coins. When safely accessible, check with a scale and calipers against 12.50 grams and about 30.6 millimeters.
Inspect the edge grooves too. The useful close-up shows raised lines spreading into the flag from the shoulder, not the normal sun rays lower down.
6. 1945 Walking Liberty Half Dollar Repunched Mintmarks (Estimated Up to $1,500)
Extra pieces of a D can appear below, above-right, above, or both above and below the Denver mintmark. They came from repeated hand punching into the stamping tool.
Wexler also lists a tilted D paired with front-side doubling. Other Denver coins have extra strokes in different directions, so compare the full mintmark.
The San Francisco example has rounded ends on its S and an extra impression to the right. It also shows small marks near LIBERTY’s E and inside the B of PLURIBUS.
Those nearby marks help compare examples. The extra letter shape itself identifies the repeated mintmark punch.
Estimated Value
Estimate $75–$1,500 for recognizable repunching on worn through attractive unworn 1945 coins. The upper end needs clear extra letter strokes and a desirable complete coin.
A 1939-D/D PCGS MS64+ sold for $1,292.50 at Kagin’s in September 2017. That is a different year and variety within the same series.
Minor 1945 examples can sell much lower. A coin with both repunching and front-side doubling still needs one whole-coin valuation.
How to Identify
Find the D or S at the lower left on the back. Use a 10× magnifier to inspect the inside and outside of the letter.
An ordinary silver half starts at 12.50 grams and about 30.6 millimeters. Check with a scale and calipers when safely accessible, and inspect its edge grooves.
For the tilted Denver example, compare the angled extra D and the accompanying front-side doubling together. Do not substitute a different downward-shifted D just because two catalogs use the number 001.
The San Francisco coin needs its own comparison. Look for a rounded-end S with a separate raised piece of the earlier letter on its right.
7. 1945 Walking Liberty Half Dollar Doubled Dies (Estimated Up to $2,500)
On Philadelphia examples, extra outlines appear in PLURIBUS UNUM, branches, and eagle detail. Separate varieties affect the outer lettering instead.
The Denver back-side variety needs its own match in the motto, branches, and eagle. Do not assume the Philadelphia pattern proves a Denver example.
Denver front-side varieties show inward extra outlines in the lower gown and nearby rays. One also affects the right shoe; another has tripled contours and a tilted repunched D.
The repeated picture began in the stamping tool. Small gouges or later crack lines can help match that tool, but they are not the doubled design itself.
Estimated Value
Estimate $75–$2,500 for recognized front-side varieties and $50–$1,200 for the reported back-side varieties. Condition and the strength of the extra outlines affect placement.
A 1939-D front doubled variety graded NGC MS67+ brought $2,160 in April 2025. A 1946 back variety graded NGC MS65 realized $2,040 in November 2024.
These are stronger examples from different years. Their prices help compare demand without giving every 1945 doubled letter the same value.
How to Identify
For a Denver front-side candidate, magnify the lower gown and the rays beneath it. Then compare the shoe and other marks with the appropriate Wexler photographs.
For the back, match the mint first. Inspect PLURIBUS UNUM, branches, feathers, or outer letters as shown for that particular variety.
Use a scale and calipers when safely accessible against 12.50 grams and about 30.6 millimeters, and inspect the edge grooves. These checks do not prove doubling by themselves.
Move the light while viewing the extra outlines. Look for rounded, repeated design that stays visible in the same place, rather than flat shelves or ordinary feather edges.
8. 1945 Walking Liberty Half Dollar Missing AW Initials (Estimated Up to $6,500)
The tiny joined letters AW stand for designer Adolph Weinman. They normally sit below the eagle’s wingtip on the viewer’s right.
On the recognized Philadelphia Missing Initials variety, polishing the stamping tool removed that shallow detail. Coins made afterward did not receive the normal letters.
The small mark is easy to overlook even when present. Compare a normal back to find the exact spot before checking a candidate.
This variety belongs to 1945 circulation strikes. Wear, a blurry photograph, or deliberate smoothing can also hide the initials, but those causes are different from their removal on the tool.
Estimated Value
Estimate $100–$6,500 from recognized worn examples through exceptional unworn pieces. Most ordinary coins should be priced far below the top.
PCGS records $6,000 for an MS66 in October 2019. That result belongs to a very well-preserved specimen.
It is not a fixed payment for two missing letters. Excellent surfaces, high condition, and a clear match to the variety must all support an upper-end comparison.
How to Identify
Place a normal coin beside the candidate and locate AW below the wingtip on your right. Use a 10× magnifier and light from several angles.
Before declaring the letters gone, check for tiny surviving strokes. Compare nearby feathers and the flat area for rubbed patches, fine scratches, or residue.
Confirm the Philadelphia mint identity and inspect the edge grooves. For a safely accessible coin, compare a scale reading with 12.50 grams and caliper width with about 30.6 millimeters.
Do not clean the initials area to make it easier to see. Look for absent letters beside undisturbed surrounding detail, rather than an isolated smooth patch where someone rubbed away the mark.
9. 1945 Walking Liberty Half Dollar Wrong Planchets (Estimated Up to $45,000)
The dime-blank example holds only part of the large Walking Liberty picture. It weighs 2.5 grams and is graded NGC MS64.
The place for a mintmark lies beyond its metal. That absence cannot identify Philadelphia, Denver, or San Francisco.
A separate San Francisco NGC MS63 was stamped on a blank intended for an El Salvador 25-centavo coin. Much of its date and large S survive, with weak detail elsewhere.
The blanks have different intended uses and different pictures remaining on them. Their size alone cannot identify the metal, and the dime’s measurements should not be assigned to the foreign blank.
Estimated Value
The dime-blank MS64 sold for $41,125 in November 2013. Estimate $25,000–$45,000 for that kind of example.
The El Salvador-blank MS63 realized $15,275 that month, supporting an estimated $12,000–$25,000. These are separate specimens on different blanks.
An undated Walking Liberty half on a silver quarter blank brought $15,000 in May 2022. Its missing date and different blank make it another comparison, not a price for either 1945 coin.
How to Identify
The foreign blank needs its own metal test, dimensions, and grading record. A small pit above LIBERTY’s I does not identify its intended country or denomination.
For the dime-blank coin, inspect the remaining date and picture through a 10× magnifier. The missing mintmark area is missing metal, not an intact empty space proving Philadelphia.
A scale should separate its recorded 2.5 grams from the normal half-dollar weight of 12.50 grams. Use calipers against the normal width of about 30.6 millimeters.
Examine the edge and any surviving grooves for trimming. Look for a large half-dollar picture stamped naturally onto a smaller blank, rather than a finished half cut down afterward.
10. 1945 Walking Liberty Half Dollar Double Strikes (Estimated Up to $50,000)
The dated 1945-S PCGS MS63 keeps a normal first picture and a second strike 55% off-center. Its original flared-tail S survives where the two pictures overlap.
Another San Francisco coin, graded PCGS AU53, has a second strike 90% off-center that hides the date. AU53 means lightly worn.
Its rounded-end S style narrows the date to 1945 or 1946 without choosing one. The two coins need separate comparisons.
Each should show two distinct picture positions. Fine scratches on the dated coin’s eagle wing are later contact marks, not another mint error or part of the second strike.
Estimated Value
The dated MS63 sold for $41,125 in November 2013. Estimate $25,000–$50,000 for a comparably dramatic identified example.
The undated S-mint AU53 brought $11,400 in August 2025, supporting an estimated $8,000–$15,000 range. It remains a 1945-or-1946 coin.
The newer sale cannot be assigned specifically to 1945. Readability and condition affect both ranges, which price separate whole coins rather than two premiums to add together.
How to Identify
Find the dated coin’s first S where the pictures overlap. Through a 10× magnifier, follow the second picture against the first, looking for two distinct placements.
For the AU53, photograph the area where the second strike covers the date and show the rounded-end S. That letter style cannot supply a missing final digit.
A safely accessible intact half should be weighed against 12.50 grams. Use calipers to record the changed outline against about 30.6 millimeters and inspect the surviving edge grooves.
Later squeezing can create confusing overlapping marks. Look for two genuine stamped pictures with original surfaces, while keeping the dated coin’s fine eagle-wing scratches separate from both impressions.
Conclusion
On a 1945 half dollar, look at the correct small area before choosing an error name. Sunburst belongs near the shoulder, while missing AW belongs below the wingtip on your right.
Estimated values run from $50 to $50,000. Photograph the whole picture and edge when examining the larger mistakes.
Keep the undated San Francisco double strike labeled 1945 or 1946 rather than guessing its year.