A Stone Mountain Commemorative Half Dollar Thread

[Amanda]

 

I found this today at the Coin Shop when my dad and I went to discuss the questionable trade dollars. I love the design, and I have climbed Stone Mountain a couple times (and Lee had recently posted a really nice one ) so I fell in love with this one rather quickly.

 

I looked up some history of the coin in my books, and I found it really interesting. The coin was issued to raise money for the carving of Stone Mountain, and also in memory of Warren G. Harding! Now, when I think of Harding, I think of gambling and the Teapot Dome scandal, so I'm not really sure what connection he has with Stone Mountain. Breen writes that earlier versions of the design had Harding's name on the reverse, but this was (thankfully) scrapped.

 

The designer of the coin was Gutzon Borglum, and he also worked on the carving of Stone Mountain and he worked on the sculptures at Mount Rushmore. I think this connection is super cool!

 

The obverse shows General Robert E. Lee (in his usual hat) and General Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson. They are also on the carving, along with Confederate President Jefferson Davis, but in different poses.

 

(Picture lifted from Wikipedia)

 

From left to right we have Davis, Lee and Jackson. The carving on Stone Mountain (the largest piece of exposed granite in the state) is the largest bas-relief carving in the world!

 

I would grade mine a low AU, 50-53. The dealer thought it was an XF+. I think it has enough remaining lustre to be AU. I really like the originality of the coin, as it looks to have spent considerable time in an envelope or album somewhere.

 

Please post one, if you have one and if you have information or stories to add please feel free!

 

Thanks!

 

-Amanda

[MrSpud-migration]

[zrlevin]

Here's mine:

 

[John Martinez]

Thanks, Amanda. I will need to keep my eye open for one of those. Beautiful coin.

[LuvToCollect]

I picked up one last night.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...p;rd=1&rd=1

[MunkyMan95]

I'll have to get myself one of these some time soon... I like 'em!

 

Great coins everybody!

[Amanda]

Lovely halves, all.

 

Chad, your avatar is all Christmasy!

 

These are one of the more reasonabley available issues, I think so you should be able to find one on eBay or elsewhere that is nice/affordable. Many of these can be found in circulated grades. Good luck!

 

-Amanda

[MunkyMan95]

Lovely halves, all.

 

Chad, your avatar is all Christmasy!

 

These are one of the more reasonabley available issues, I think so you should be able to find one on eBay or elsewhere that is nice/affordable. Many of these can be found in circulated grades. Good luck!

 

-Amanda

 

I got the idea from you Amanda. Hope you don't mind. Nice Buffalo!

 

I checked eBay real quick and found some in the $30-$40 range that might be nice.

[leeg]

That's a nice example Amanda and thanks for some history of the issue also.

[truthteller]

Read up on the very interesting story of politics of Gutzon Borglum in Q. David Bowers Commemorative Encyclopedia. Gutzon Borglum was essentially dismissed from the Stone Mountain GA. project and went on to work on the Mt. Rushmore project..

 

 

 

TRUTH

[ldhair]

There were a lot of these held in hoards by patriotic Southerners. We can thank them in part for leaving some really nice coins at a great price.

Edit to add, Wow great image Amanda.

[TomB]

Gutzon Borglum was a fascinating character with tremendous artistic talent that was also evident on smaller scale works. An interesting thing to note is that Borglum was a baseball fanatic and he managed to form a baseball team from his Mt. Rushmore workforce that was very good.

[MAULEMALL]

I picked up one last night.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...p;rd=1&rd=1

Wow...That could be Amanda's twin..

[Amanda]

Thanks, Lee. Your recent purchase of a Stone Mountain reminded me how much I liked them.

 

Read up on the very interesting story of politics of Gutzon Borglum in Q. David Bowers Commemorative Encyclopedia. Gutzon Borglum was essentially dismissed from the Stone Mountain GA. project and went on to work on the Mt. Rushmore project..

 

TRUTH

 

Wikipedia says the original Borglum work was dynamited off Stone Mountain.

 

Thanks Larry.

 

Gutzon Borglum was a fascinating character with tremendous artistic talent that was also evident on smaller scale works. An interesting thing to note is that Borglum was a baseball fanatic and he managed to form a baseball team from his Mt. Rushmore workforce that was very good.

 

Cool! That is interesting.

 

Maulemall, I look nothing like that coin.

 

-Amanda

[MAULEMALL]

 

Maulemall, I look nothing like that coin.

 

-Amanda

[WoodenJefferson]

Purchased years ago for about $12...appears to have been someone's pocket piece for a few years then laid idle for years. I have always like these commemorative coins.

 

edit: Many thousands were spent for face value during the Depression, and the great majority encountered today are in circulated condition.

[Mirrored Morgan]

I really like this Commemorative Coin showing this historic meeting.

 

Do you know what General Stonewall Jackson is trying to suggest to General Robert E. Lee with his outward arm?

[WoodenJefferson]

I really like this Commemorative Coin showing this historic meeting.

 

Do you know what General Stonewall Jackson is trying to suggest to General Robert E. Lee with his outward arm?

 

Not quite sure but maybe Stonewall was telling Lee there's a Taco Bell up ahead.

[cameonut-migration]

Have any of you ever seen one of these first day covers? I found this last year and have been asking for info ever since. Here is a pic. Supposedly limited to 100 covers (as stated on the back of the envelope).

 

Cameonut

(still trying to figure out how these boards work)

[MAULEMALL]

Have any of you ever seen one of these first day covers? I found this last year and have been asking for info ever since. Here is a pic. Supposedly limited to 100 covers (as stated on the back of the envelope).

 

Cameonut

(still trying to figure out how these boards work)

Cameonut,,,That is awesome

[Amanda]

Cameonut, I have never seen one but that is super cool!

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

-Amanda

[JJSingleton]

Very nice pic of a very nice Stone Mountain, Amanda.

 

The Stone Mountain Commem is one of my pet coins. I own several, none spectacular, but all meaningful in their own way. Meaning derives from either how I obtained them or who I obtained them from. You see, Stone Mountain is near and dear to me because it is my neighbor. I live 10 minutes away and my dog and I hike the grounds regularly. Five times this week alone, and with the beautiful weather today I suspect you will find us on the mountain this afternoon.

 

There is quite a bit of history surrounding Stone Mountain and the Commemorative. Not just the history that the coin commemorates, but some very interesting history surrounding the Memorial and coin themselves. Someday I'll get around to posting a thread on the complete history, but that would take awhile so let me just give some background and answer some of the questions raised so far.

 

First is the issue of the legislation and Warren G. Harding. The Stone Mountain Memorial was somewhat understandably controversial at the time. The original idea was formed only 50 years after the Civil War in 1914. And shortly thereafter, the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial Association was created. At the time, Stone Mountain, Georgia (the town) was the national headquarters of the Klu Klux Klan. Due to proximity, and the project subject matter, it should come as no surprise that many prominent KKK members were supporters and no doubt a few anonymous KKK members were part of the association.

 

When the idea for a Commemorative Coin was introduced in Congress to help finance the project it was met with a great deal of resistance and criticism from many northerners. They believed a US Coin should not honor leaders of the South exclusive of any leaders of the North, and were suspect of the entire project. So the bill was amended with the phrase "and in memory of Warren G. Harding, President of the United States of America in whose administration the work was begun". Just enough of the Northern critics were appeased to get passage of the bill. A few different coin designs were presented over time including one with a bust of Harding on the obverse, but in reality the design has already been predetermined to be that of Borglum's original design which deceptively was presented as the "Federal Confederate Half Dollar". The whole Harding issue was nothing more than a ploy to get passage of the legislation. I guess you could say not much has changed, just politics as usual.

 

Now to Gutzon Borglum. He was hired by the association in 1916 and work was started on the carving. But the work was suspended in 1917 due to WWI. In 1923 work was resumed but it was moving entirely too slow for the Association. You see, the Association only had a 12 Year lease to complete the work. So, in 1925, the same year as the release of the coin, Gutzon Borglum was fired. Yes, FIRED! Of course he moved on to great fame in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

 

Wikipedia has it correct that Borglum's work was dynamited off the mountain. Augustus Lukeman was named as his replacement and he insisted that he start from scratch. Fact is, Borglum's work was extremely slow and very little had to be removed. With so little time remaining on the lease, the work could not be completed so in 1928 the lease expired and the work ceased. It was not until 1942 that the State of Georgia was able to acquire all the land and created an authority to continue the project, but just as occurred earlier war intervened, this time WWII.

 

To make the longer story short, the carving was not completed until 1970, which brings us to the post above with the first day cover. I have seen one other similar to yours. I do not believe these were sold by any official entity. At least I cannot find any support for that case. They appear to be a private creation. They are historically accurate in that a dedication day medal was issued, and the dedication event, officiated by Spiro T Agnew, did take place on that date. But the first day cover was not sold by any authority. But your first day cover rates real high on the FatMan Coolness Scale™

 

I am unaware of a specific meeting represented in the Borglum design. And I do not know what Stonewall is pointing at other than to assume it to be a symbolic gesture of moving forward.

 

One other interesting tidbit is that the obverse of the coin has 13 stars representing the 13 Confederate States. The reverse is supposed to 34 faded stars representing the all the states as a union at the time. However, in fact there are 35 stars on the reverse. Another clever snub at the northerners, or just a simple error.

 

Here is one of my gems.

[Amanda]

Wonderful information, coin and story, FatMan!

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

My dog climbed Stone Mountain with me once, but after half way he got tired and I had to carry him. He's just a little Jack Russell Terrier, though, so it was okay.

 

I wish the coin said "Valour" instead of "Valor" though, but that's my personal taste.

 

-Amanda

[LuvToCollect]

Thanks for the history lesson.

I just got mine because it was cool.

[Amanda]

I just got mine because it was cool.

 

That's why I got mine, too.

 

I have to decide which commemorative coin I should replace with this one in my Dansco, though. It's either going to be the George Washington or the Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty.

 

Or maybe I'll leave it the way I got it. The dealer had it in a do-it-yourself slab that's just a nice way to store it right now.

 

-Amanda

[TomB]

Way to go FatMan on the history lesson! That was a pretty darn cool read.

 

Amanda, it may be your personal taste, but valour is the preferred spelling of the British style, which is rightly not executed in that manner on the coin.

[mgoodm3]

nice Stone Mountain. I like bronze colored toning on silver.

[MAULEMALL]

Excellent Post FM,,,Thanks

[Amanda]

Amanda, it may be your personal taste, but valour is the preferred spelling of the British style, which is rightly not executed in that manner on the coin.

 

I know, I know.

 

-Amanda

[MAULEMALL]

 

Amanda, it may be your personal taste, but valour is the preferred spelling of the British style, which is rightly not executed in that manner on the coin.

I had a valour jacket once,