1918 S Walking Liberty Half Dollar

Mint records indicate that 10.2 million Half Dollars were produced at the San Francisco mint in 1918. Yet, the 1918-S is seldom offered in any Mint State grade, let alone at the MS65 level. Either the official mintage figure is incorrect (which is highly unlikely) or the '18-S was not preserved in significant numbers at the time of issue (which is most certainly the case). Strike is also a factor in explaining the high grade rarity of this early S-mint Walker.