The Bugs Bunny Half Dollar
by Staff EditorMany coins have taken on strange descriptive names that add to the interest in collecting them, but probably none has a more colorful moniker than the “Bugs Bunny” half-dollar. It got its name from the buck-toothed cartoon character we all know and love.
In reality the “Bugs Bunny” is nothing more than a defective 1955 Benjamin Franklin half dollar that shows small marks on Franklin’s upper lip. The marks look like protruding teeth, and when an enterprising merchandiser applied the name to this minor variety, it became an immediate hit with coin collectors. The novelty of these common coins soon wore off and was almost forgotten by the time that Franklins went out of circulation a decade later. Today they are only rarely mentioned, or even remembered, and have little or no premium value above a normal coin.
Courtesy of The American Historic Society Coin Collector's Newsletter
