WYNTK: Classic Commemoratives

[leeg]

Classic Commems are a super series to collect but require some pocket!

Depends on the grade level you want. MS63/65 are very reasonable IMO.

 

 

The year is 1921 and several Commems were minted with this date. The Pilgrim was the first and we'll talk about the 1921 Alabama today.

 

[PUBLIC—NO. 200—66TH CONGRESS.]

 

[H. R. 12824.]

 

An Act To authorize the coinage of 50-cent pieces in commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the admission of the State of Alabama into the Union.

 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That as soon as practicable, and in commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the admission of the State of Alabama into the Union as a State, there shall be coined at the mints of the United States silver 50-cent pieces to the number of one hundred thousand, such 50-cent pieces to be of the standard troy weight, composition, diameter, device, and design as shall be fixed by the Director of the Mint, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, and said 50-cent pieces shall be legal tender in any payment to the amount of their face value.

 

SEC. 2. That all laws now in force relating to the subsidiary silver coins of the United States and the coining or striking of the same, regulating and guarding the process of coinage, providing for the purchase of material, and for the transportation, distribution, and redemption of the coins, for the prevention of debasement or counterfeiting, for security of the coin, or for any other purpose, whether said laws are penal or otherwise, shall so far as applicable, apply to the coinage hereby authorized: Provided, That the Government shall not be subject to the expense of making the necessary dies and other preparations for this coinage.

 

Approved, May 10, 1920.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited to add this info from 50cents (Appreciate it):

 

Took this pick in Anniston, Alabama. Gov Kilby ran a local facory; Kilby Steel, in Anniston. He was also the town mayor before being the Gov of Alabama.

 

 

 

In 1919, when Alabama held its centennial celebrations, the state was a vastly different place. The frontier, along with slavery, had long passed into history, both swept away by the bloody tide of the Civil War. Yet, the casual mannerisms of the South still persisted and permeated most aspects of life. And so it was with the centennial celebrations of the 22nd state. Parades and festivities were held throughout 1919, but it was not until the following year (after Alabamians learned of the profits of commemorative coinage) that the Alabama Centennial Commission promoted legislation that would authorize the striking of a commemorative quarter dollar. Amended in April to change the proposed quarter to a half dollar, the bill was passed on May 10, 1920. A maximum of 100,000 coins was authorized.

 

The Alabama Commission, headed by Mrs. Marie Bankhead Owen, suggested several design motifs. Foremost among these was an obverse with a likeness of the state capitol and a reverse with dual images of Presidents Monroe and Wilson, respectively the Chief Executives in 1819 and 1919. The Commission of Fine Arts rejected Mrs. Owen's ideas on the grounds that they were artistically inappropriate, pointing out that buildings seldom make good subjects for coinage. Almost a year passed before any more action was taken. In June of 1921, Mrs. Owen submitted her new proposal: an obverse with the Alabama State Seal and a reverse with portraits of the Governor at the time of statehood in 1819, William Bibb, and his counterpart in 1919, Thomas Kilby. Ultimately this design was adopted, but the Alabama Commission's designated reverse became the official obverse of the issued coin. Thus, the Alabama half dollar became the first commemorative coin to depict a living individual.

 

James Earle Fraser, the sculptor member of the Fine Arts Commission, selected his wife, Laura Gardin Fraser, also a renowned artist, to prepare models for the coin. James Fraser also suggested a "special mark" be placed on some of the coins. He knew of the success that the Missouri Centennial Committee had experienced with the addition of the "2*4" mark on 5,000 of its coins, and he suggested that the Alabama Commission might have similar luck were they to do the same. The commission readily agreed, spurning no opportunity to raise additional funds.

 

Mrs. Fraser placed overlapping profiles of the two governors on the coin's obverse, flanked by 22 stars representing Alabama's admission as the 22nd state. The legends UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and HALF DOLLAR encircle the periphery, with the motto IN GOD WE TRUST placed above the governors' heads. Below the portraits appears the date 1921, flanked by the two governors' names. On coins with the "special mark" suggested by Fraser, a "2X2" appears in the right obverse field. Over the years, collectors have mistakenly read this as "2 by 2" or "2 times 2"; in fact, the central character is not an X but instead represents the red, X-shaped cross of Saint Andrew, patron saint of Scotland, as seen on the Alabama state flag.

 

The reverse features a rendering of the eagle from the state seal, perched upon a horizontal shield, grasping arrows in its talons and a ribbon in its beak. The ribbon is inscribed with the state motto: HERE WE REST. Above the eagle is the inscription STATE OF ALABAMA with the dual dates 1819 and 1919 flanking CENTENNIAL below. Laura Gardin Fraser's initials, LGF, are in the right reverse field near the rim.

 

The coins were first distributed on the morning of October 26, 1921, as President Warren Harding passed through Birmingham to help dedicate the new Masonic temple. There is some dispute whether the "2X2" coins were the first struck, as eyewitnesses were not able to purchase any coins other than the "plain" pieces. There is also some disagreement about just how many pieces were struck, melted, and the net number distributed. Various reputable accountings place the number of "2X2" pieces minted at anywhere from 5,000 to 15,014 pieces, and they all make a reasonable case for their position. Currently accepted catalogs, however, maintain that 6,006 pieces of the "2X2" variety were struck with the six odd coins reserved for assay purposes. Of the "plain" halves, 64,038 were minted, with 38 assay pieces and 5,000 unsold examples melted, resulting in a net mintage of 59,000 coins.

 

The Alabama Centennial half dollar is a challenging coin to locate in problem-free condition, but every commemorative collector needs at least one example. As a general rule, type collectors include a "plain" Alabama in their set, while complete-set collectors are interested in both varieties. This is not a hard and fast rule, however. Unlike the Grant issues where there is a large difference in price between the "plain" and specially marked issues, with Alabama halves, in spite of the widely disparate mintages of the two varieties, there is little difference in actual rarity or price.

 

Alabama halves were sold by banks throughout the state, and most were purchased by the non-collecting public. As a result, most pieces survive in grades MS 60 or lower. Unlike many other commemoratives which never entered circulation, Alabama halves saw widespread use during the Depression, and many were carried as pocket pieces. The typical coin encountered today is likely to grade XF or AU. Mint state pieces are quite scarce, and high grade (MS 64 or better) examples are very elusive.

 

Much of this issue was weakly struck, and grading can be somewhat tricky. Luster ranges from a subdued satin finish to bright and frosted, while weak areas are often confused with wear. Uncirculated examples, however, will still posses luster on the higher points of the design, namely on Kilby's upper ear and on the eagle's breast, leg and talons. Wear first appears on Kilby's forehead and cheek and on the eagle's neck, wingtip and upper edge of its wing. Some specimens are known with die-clash marks in the obverse fields, especially behind Kilby's head. Mint caused, these do not detract from the coin's value. There are unconfirmed rumors of a matte proof striking of the "2X2" variety, but no other specially struck coins are believed to exist.

 

Alabama halves were the first of the artificially created commemorative issues that were to reach full bloom in the mid-1930s. Proposed as an afterthought, and inspired primarily by the commercial success of other issues, the Alabama commemorative succeeds in one area where many other issues fail: design. This is undoubtedly due to the skill and artistry of Laura Gardin Fraser, who went on to create other commemorative coins, including the universally acclaimed Oregon Trail half dollar.

 

SPECIFICATIONS:

Diameter: 30.6 millimeters

Weight: 12.5 grams

Composition: .900 silver, .100 copper

Edge: Reeded

Net Weight: .36169 ounce pure silver

[leeg]

Last week I talked about the 1921 Alabama. We're sticking with the 1921 year and go to the Missouri Centennial Half Dollar. This issue gets very expensive as you go up in grade, more so than most.

 

Not My Coin

 

Not My Coin

 

 

 

Missouri Centennial

The twenty-first Missouri State Fair marked the centennial anniversary of Missouri's statehood, and fittingly, the Fair's coming of age. The 1921 Missouri Centennial Exposition and State Fair was a two-week extravaganza. Fair organizers surveyed the state for suggestions for old time songs and games. Special editions of the monthly publication 'Fair Facts' were produced, offering suggestions for celebrating the centennial throughout the year and advertising the special features of the Fair. A commemorative silver half-dollar was authorized by Congress and 250,000 were struck. Former Governors and their descendants were honored. An invitation was issued for former Missourians to return home for the Fair. Prizes were offered for those who traveled farthest. For the Fair's climax, a 5,000 member-cast pageant was produced to commemorate the event. Floyd C. Shoemaker, Secretary of the State Historical Society of Missouri and a member of the Centennial Commission Historical Advisory Board, authored “A Description and Historical Explanation” for the souvenir program.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although the legendary folk-hero and “Wilderness Trail” blazer Daniel Boone is often connected with Kentucky, it was present-day Missouri that he called home for the last quarter-century of his life. By the time he died at the age of 86 in 1820, Missouri had come a long way from the untamed part of Spanish America that Boone had settled in at the end of the 18th century. This fertile and well-watered area now contained enough people to warrant consideration as a state. But Missouri was a slaveholding territory, and admission to the Union threatened to upset the delicate balance of power in Congress between slave and free states. After extended, rancorous debate and legislative horse-trading, the “Missouri Compromise” was reached. It pleased no one, but it did allow Missouri to enter the Union in 1821 and retain its “peculiar institution,” but only after Maine was granted admission as a free state.

 

A century later, on March 4, 1921, Congress authorized the minting of 250,000 half dollars commemorating Missouri's admission to the Union. Appropriately, initial distribution of the coins was to take place at the Centennial Exposition and State Fair scheduled for that August in Missouri's first capital, Sedalia. James Montgomery, chairman of the Missouri Centennial Exposition Committee, suggested that the estimated $1,750 production cost for design and die preparation be borne by striking 5,000 special coins with a 2X4 designation, signifying Missouri's admission to the Union as the 24th state. After these specially struck coins were produced, the 2X4 designation would be effaced from the dies, and all subsequent coins would lack this feature, thus creating an instant rarity.

 

Robert Aitken, designer of the Panama-Pacific fifty-dollar gold pieces, was chosen to create the Missouri commemorative half dollar. Following the Committee's proposals, Aitken at first included the state seal in his sketches for the reverse. He soon dropped it from consideration as unsatisfactory for a coin design. The Committee, however, was evidently unaware of the extensive changes Aitken had made, as the coins continued to be advertised throughout the summer of 1921 as having the state seal on the reverse. Although Chairman Montgomery suggested that the obverse feature a depiction of Daniel Boone with an Indian sitting at his feet, signifying “that the white man had supplanted the Indian in the Missouri Territory,” Aitken's final design implied no such sentiment. His obverse showed a profile view of Boone reportedly modeled after a bust of the frontiersman in the New York University Hall of Fame. Boone wears a coonskin cap and buckskin shirt and is flanked by the dates 1821 and 1921. Encircling the periphery are the inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and HALF DOLLAR.

 

Aitken's reverse design was a modified version of Montgomery's original concept for the obverse but with both figures standing. A frontiersman points westward with a Native American at his side; both are flanked by twenty-four stars, reinforcing Missouri's admission as the twenty-fourth state. The legend MISSOURI CENTENNIAL is above and the city name SEDALIA below. Conspicuously absent are the usual inscriptions LIBERTY, E PLURIBUS UNUM and IN GOD WE TRUST, no doubt omitted for lack of sufficient space. Both obverse and reverse designs are in deep relief, imparting a medallic quality to the coin. Aitken's initials, RA, are neatly placed in the lower right reverse field near the butt of the frontiersman's rifle.

 

Ruth Law's Flying Circus, 1921

 

Lester, Bill, and Griffith, "Bump-and-Fall Comedy Act," 1921

 

Jimmy Costa in his Fiat, 1921

 

 

The Philadelphia Mint struck a total of 50,028 Missouri half dollars in July, 1921: 5,000 pieces with the 2H4 designation and 45,028 more of the “plain” variety (the additional 28 pieces were for assay). All of the 5,000 coins with the special 2X4 designation were sold, but the plain variety didn't fare as well; 29,600 pieces were later melted. One matte proof 2X4 has been reported, allegedly struck for Mint Engraver John Sinnock, a coin collector whose estate contained numerous special strikings of coins from the 1920s, '30s, and '40s.

 

As a marketing tool, Montgomery's 2X4 idea was a success; his goal of selling 5,000 of these special coins was easily realized. The coins were offered to collectors who, it was believed, would buy them so that their collections would be complete. As a result, Missouri 2X4 halves have been better preserved over the decades than those of the plain variety, because collectors tend to take better care of coins than the general, non-collecting public. It was the wider audience of non-collectors who purchased the bulk of the plain Missouri halves. They were not so kind to these pieces, and a large percentage of this issue has suffered surface abuse from cleaning, light circulation and use as pocket pieces. Today, the two varieties are virtually the same in rarity in most grades, but the allure of the incused 2X4 symbol persists, and these specially struck coins frequently command higher prices. Although all commemorative collectors desire at least one Missouri half, due to its lower cost in most uncirculated grades, the plain coin is usually the choice for the type collector. The 2H4 is more often sought for a complete set.

 

Because so many Missouri halves were sold to non-collectors, light friction and contact marks are often a problem with this issue. On the obverse, friction first shows on Boone's cheek and on the hair behind his ear and shoulder. On the reverse, rub is first evident on the arm of the frontiersman. Luster ranges from bright and frosted to a dull, satin-like finish, with most examples exhibiting satiny surfaces.

 

Striking details on most Missouri halves are surprisingly soft for a coin with such a limited mintage. The sharpest strikes are usually found on the 2H4 coins because they were the first pieces struck. Completeness of strike can best be gauged by how distinct the leather strap is from the powder horn to the frontiersman's shoulder. Only the sharpest 2X4 coins and the first coins struck from plain dies exhibit complete definition in this area. Counterfeits are not generally a problem with this issue. Yet, like the Grant with-star variety, it is always possible that a plain coin could be altered by punching a 2X4 into the obverse field.

 

Although the 2X4 halves were a commercial success, the “plain” variety failed to sell anywhere near the 250,000 coins authorized by Congress. This was due in part to a nationwide recession in 1921 and the natural reluctance of collectors and non-collectors alike to spend one dollar on a fifty-cent piece. No doubt the poor publicity provided for the coins by the Centennial Committee also contributed to weak sales. Combined, these factors ensured the future status of both Missouri varieties as key commemorative issues.

 

SPECIFICATIONS:

 

Diameter: 30.6 millimeters

Weight: 12.5 grams

Composition: .900 silver, .100 copper

Edge: Reeded

Net Weight: .36169 ounce. pure silver

 

PCGS # Description Desig EF AU 60 62 63 64 65 66 67 68

9330 Missouri 330 400 700 725 925 1600 5000 11000 - -

 

9331 2X4

Missouri 400 600 790 825 1150 1975 5000 15000 - -

 

Not much interest I guess

[WoodenJefferson]

Not much interest I guess

 

 

On the contrary...I have been diligently reading and absorbing this information (including factoids) all afternoon...well, not all afternoon, but a good part of it anyway. Neat stuff here LeeG...keep it comming.

[rrantique]

Always appreciated Thanks Lee

[rbrown4]

Very interesting and informative as always.

 

Rey

[CTcollector1]

Classic Commems are a super series to collect but require some pocket!

 

Not necessarily. Classic Commens offer some good value these days, including gem grades in some cases. Another aspect I like about classic commens is that for whatever reason they have not been doctored as much as some other series. There is alot to like about them right now.

 

Great post by the way

[leeg]

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys!!

 

 

His eyes tell the story of the Battles fought, and men/women/children lost, during a very difficult time in American history.

 

Ulysses Simpson Grant

Original name: Hiram Ulysses Grant

Birth: Apr. 27, 1822, Point Pleasant, Clermont County Ohio, USA

Death: Jul. 23, 1885, Mount McGregor, New York

 

18th United States President, Civil War Union Lieutenant General. He was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio. His birth name was Hiram Ulysses Grant. At seventeen, he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point. After graduation, his first assignment was service in a border war with Mexico. After eleven years he resigned his commission and persued a number of failed civilian endeavors. He answered the call for service during the Civil War, quickly rising to rank of Brigadier General. Victories at Fort Henry, Fort Doneson and Vicksburg earned him a second star. After raising the siege of Chattanooga, Grant was promoted to Lieutenant General and placed in command of all Union armies. The Army of the Potomac under General Grant finally forced Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia to withdraw from Richmond the following spring and finally surrender on April 9, 1865. The following year Congress awarded a fourth star, making him the first full General of the Armies in American history. With his popularity at an all time high, he accepted the *spoon* nomination for President of the United States in 1868. After serving two terms in the White House, Grant entered business on Wall Street in New York City. He lost all his money. To help support himself, he wrote magazine articles about his military life. He was ill. He displayed the first symptoms of Throat Cancer in the summer of 1884. The General always displayed an excessive use of tobacco. A cigar in his mouth was his trademark.

 

On June 16, 1884, suffering from extreme discomfort from his cancer, it was decided to accept an offer from a wealthy friend to go to Mount McGregor, New York, a mineral springs resort and stay in a small cottage which he owned. Here he awaited death while writing a book about his life. He died here in the front room of the little cottage where he had been bedridden. An embalmer was summoned to prepare the remains. While deciding a burial place, his body was placed in a casket and left in the middle of the room where it was viewed by an estimated three hundred people over a period of weeks until a park on Riverside Drive was selected and a temporary vault was constructed. General Grants body was placed on a train and taken to New York City. On August 8th, his funeral procession stretched for seven miles through the streets of New York City to Riverside Park located on the Hudson River. President Grover Cleveland led some 60,000 marchers while a million people lined the route. Both union and Confederate generals acted as his pall bearers. Grants wife, Julia so devastated by his death was unable to attend the funeral. Contribution from around the nation raised enough money to construct the present day tomb. Finally on April 27, 1897, with Mrs. Grant present, it was dedicated after a parade witnessed by over a million people. Upon Mrs. Grants Death in 1902, she was interred beside her husband. (bio by: Anonymous)

 

Burial: General Grant National Memorial, Manhattan New York County, New York

 

 

 

 

Last week we finished up the 1921 year commem's discussing the Missouri. We'll move on to 1922 and discuss the Grant Memorial Half Dollar. The Grant Memorial is the only Commem issued in 1922.

 

 

Fate, they say, is fickle. Anyone who doubts this should study the career of Ulysses S. Grant, who rose from utter obscurity to win a prominent place in U.S. history—and also on U.S. coinage. Two U.S. coins, a gold dollar and a silver half dollar, were issued in 1922 to mark the centennial of his birth. Nothing in his early years, however, indicated that Grant might be headed for a rendezvous with fame. Even “U.S. Grant”—the shorthand form of his name that later seemed so apt—came about more by accident than design. His given name was actually Hiram Ulysses Grant, and his background and upbringing were unremarkable. Born in 1822 near Cincinnati, Ohio, he developed an aversion to his father’s tannery business and instead performed chores on the family farm, attaining great skill at handling horses. In 1839, his father secured an appointment for him to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.

 

Not My Coin

 

 

Grant decided to reverse his given name upon entering West Point, registering as Ulysses Hiram Grant. However, this was entered by mistake as Ulysses S. Grant, and eventually he chose to accept that version. He finished only 21st in a class of 39, but did distinguish himself in horsemanship and mathematics. For the next 11 years, he pursued his career in the Army with mixed success, winning two citations for gallantry in battle during the Mexican War. Tiring of postwar tedium and loneliness, he resigned from the Army in 1854. His civilian endeavors proved even less successful: Over the next half-decade he failed at both farming and real estate. He then went to work in a leather-goods business run by his brothers, and that might have been his last stop on a road leading nowhere. But the year was 1860, and events would soon alter that path profoundly.

 

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Grant offered his services to the Union and was appointed a brigadier general with command of the District of Southeast Missouri. He justified this confidence, scoring the first major Union victory of the war when his troops captured Fort Donelson, Tennessee, on February 16, 1862. He demanded and received “unconditional surrender,” giving new meaning in many admirers’ minds to the “U.S.” in his name. Another triumph followed seven weeks later at Shiloh, but heavy Union casualties led some to question Grant’s tactics in that encounter. He lifted this cloud of doubt by orchestrating the capture of Vicksburg, the last big Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River. In March 1864, President Lincoln promoted Grant to lieutenant general and gave him command of all the Union armies. He handled this assignment skillfully, pressing the Union’s numerical advantage to wear down the forces of General Robert E. Lee, his Confederate counterpart. He accepted Lee’s surrender (unconditional, of course) at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, 1865.

 

Six days later, Lincoln lay dead, and the presidency passed to Andrew Johnson, a *spoon* who feuded incessantly with the *spoon* running Congress. Grant’s relations with Congress, by contrast, were cordial: In 1866, that body named him general of the armies of the United States. Soon, the *spoon* saw him as a potential asset politically, and in 1868 they made him their candidate for president. He defeated the *spoon*’ nominee and entered the White House on March 4, 1869, at the age of 46. Grant himself was honest, hard-working and well-meaning, but the same couldn’t always be said for those around him: His eight years as president were tainted by scandals and corruption, and he wrote his own political epitaph near the end of his second term when he told Congress: “Failures have been errors of judgment, not of intent.”

 

Fate frowned on Grant in retirement: He sank his capital into an investment firm in which his son was a partner, and in 1884 the firm collapsed, victim of a swindle by another partner. That same year, he began writing his memoirs, and these did much to restore both his finances and his reputation. Just two months after completing them, he died on July 23, 1885, at age 63.

 

In 1921, a group called the Ulysses S. Grant Centenary Memorial Association was incorporated, ostensibly to coordinate special observances and monuments in Grant’s boyhood stomping grounds in Ohio. These were to include the of “community buildings” in Georgetown and Bethel, Ohio, two towns where he had lived at various times, plus the laying of a five-mile highway from Point Pleasant to New Richmond, Ohio. To finance these ventures, the association sought congressional approval for up to 200,000 examples of a gold dollar. The bill was amended to call for just 10,000 gold dollars but also up to 250,000 half dollars. In this form, it won passage on February 2, 1922.

 

Not My Coin

 

Not My Coin

 

 

The preparation of designs was entrusted to Laura Gardin Fraser, wife of James Earle Fraser, the artist who had fashioned the Buffalo nickel. Mrs. Fraser was an accomplished medallist in her own right, having won acclaim already for her work on the Alabama Centennial half dollar of 1921. Her design was used on both the gold and silver Grant coins. The obverse features a right-facing portrait of the general, with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around the upper rim, HALF DOLLAR at the bottom, ULYSSES S. GRANT to the left and right of the portrait and the double dates 1822-1922 below it. The reverse shows the fenced-in clapboard house where Grant lived as a boy, shaded by a canopy of trees. IN GOD WE TRUST appears above and E PLURIBUS UNUM is broken into four lines to the left. The designer's initial G (for her maiden name, Gardin) appears below Grant’s bust, between the double dates.

 

In 1921, the sponsors of the Missouri and Alabama half dollars increased their sales and profits by placing special markings on small numbers of those coins and promoting these as scarce and desirable “varieties.” The Grant Association decided to follow suit, arranging for the placement of an incused star on half the 10,000 gold dollars. Apparently by mistake, workmen at the Philadelphia Mint also produced 5,000 half dollars with the star above GRANT on the obverse. The half dollars went on sale in April 1922 for $1 each, with no extra premium being charged for the starred variety. By year’s end, when the sale period closed, the distributor was asking just 75 cents apiece for the plain kind, if ordered in lots of 10 or more, but half dollars with the star had risen in price to $1.50. Sales were respectable, but fell far short of a sellout, even though actual production was barely 100,000—less than half the 250,000 authorized. The Mint struck 5,000 Grant half dollars with the star (plus 6 for assay) and melted 750, for a bottom line of 4,250. It produced 95,055 pieces without the star (the odd 55 for assay) and melted 27,650 of these, for a net mintage of 67,350.

 

 

Not My Coin

 

Not My Coin

 

 

Many collectors complained about the extra variety, arguing that the star had no significance except as a marketing device. I agree with this assessment!! Nonetheless, it came to be accepted (and desired) as a scarce and legitimate collectible. Indeed, it has long since established itself as one of the major keys among U.S. commemorative half dollars. Like other pre-Depression commemoratives, many Grant half dollars ended up being spent when money got tight. Partly for that reason, they’re scarce in pristine mint condition. Very few have been certified in grades above Mint State-66, though they’re relatively available in levels up to MS-65. At least four matte or sandblast proofs of the starred variety are known to exist, while four similar proofs without the star are reported but unconfirmed. The Grant halves are notoriously difficult to grade, partly because raised die lines on the obverse look at first glance like hairlines or scratches. Points to check for wear include Grant’s cheek and the hair above his ear. The reverse’s dense design tends to mask imperfections and wear, but light friction often can be detected in the treetops. Die-struck and added-star counterfeits are known to exist.

 

SPECIFICATIONS:

 

Diameter: 30.6 millimeters

Weight: 12.5 grams

Composition: .900 silver, .100 copper

Edge: Reeded

Net Weight: .36169 ounce pure silver

 

 

Ulysses S. Grant Memorial

 

It was not much noted, or indeed noted at all, that the Million Man March in Washington last November took place in front of what was described in the 1937 Works Progress Administration (WPA) guide to Washington as the "the largest and most costly piece of statuary in Washington." This is the Grant Memorial, the major monument in Washington to the Civil War. It is 252 feet long.

 

 

 

The Ulysses S. Grant Memorial is a United States Presidential Memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring American Civil War General and President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant. It is located at the base of Capitol Hill (Union Square, the Mall, 1st Street, between Pennsylvania Avenue and Maryland Avenue), and like the United States Capitol above it (at the top of the hill), the monument's statue faces west, looking towards the Washington Monument and overlooking the National Mall. It is the largest equestrian statue in the United States and the second largest in the world, after the monument to Italy's King Victor Emanuel in Rome.

 

The monument was created by sculptor Henry Merwin Shrady, who spent 20 years of his life working on it. The platform for the monument, made of Vermont marble, is 252 feet long and 71 feet wide. It is divided into three sections. The tall, middle section depicts Grant aboard his war horse Cincinnati on a 22-foot high pedestal, and he is flanked, on either side, by fighting Union Artillery and Cavalry groups. Surrounding the main pedestal are four shorter pedestals, each one supporting a bronze figure of a lion in repose.

 

The most striking feature of the central statue is Grant's calm (almost disaffected) attitude amidst the raging fighting going on around him. This is not surprising because Grant was known for his calmness and coolheadedness during battle.

 

Construction began in 1909; the Artillery Group (above) was completed in 1912, the Cavalry Group was completed in 1916, and the bronze figure of Grant was completed in 1920. The memorial was dedicated on the 100th anniversary of Grant's birth, April 27, 1922. Today it stands as the center of a three-part sculptural group including the James A. Garfield Monument and the Peace Monument.

 

 

Grants Tomb, circa 1909.

 

Overlooking the Hudson River from the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan, General Grant National Memorial is the largest tomb in North America. Grant's Tomb (as it is commonly called) is not only the final resting place of the General, but a memorial to his life and acomplishments.

 

 

Grants Tomb circa 2004

 

General Grant National Memorial is a mausoleum containing the bodies of Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), an American Civil War General and the 18th President of the United States, and his wife, Julia Dent Grant (1826–1902). The tomb complex is a United States Presidential Memorial in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The structure is also known as Grant's Tomb and is situated in a prominent location in Riverside Park overlooking the Hudson River. The nearest intersection is Riverside Drive and 122nd Street. New York City was chosen as the site so that Mrs. Grant could visit frequently, and because Grant was grateful to New Yorkers for their outpouring of affection during his later years.

 

Designed by architect John Duncan, the granite and marble structure was completed in 1897. The National Park Service maintains that it is the largest mausoleum in North America. Duncan took as his general model the original mausoleum, the tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus, one of the seven wonders of the world; or rather one of the various modern reconstructions of it, since it is not known what it looked like. A huge public subscription paid for it. Over a million people had attended Grant's funeral parade, held in 1885 and which was seven miles (11 km) long and featured Confederate and Union generals riding together in open victorias, U.S. President Grover Cleveland, his cabinet, all the Justices of the Supreme Court, and virtually the entire Congress. The parade for the dedication ceremony of the tomb, held April 27, 1897, the 75th anniversary of Grant's birth, was almost as large and was headed by President William McKinley.

 

Duncan's over-ambitious original design, chosen by the Grant Monument Association, included monumental staircases leading down through terraced gardens to a dock on the river, bridging the Hudson Line railroad tracks and providing public access to the shoreline. This plan was scaled back and the monument itself was reduced in size. The domed space, with commemorative mosaic murals and sculpture, including "Victory" and "Peace" by J. Massey Rhind, and a large central oculus revealing on the lower level the twin granite sarcophagi of the President and Mrs. Grant, are quite spectacular examples design for the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte at Les Invalides in Paris. Over the entrance are carved words from Grant's 1885 memoirs: "Let us have peace" ..... the ironic but knowing aspiration of a man of war. Grant had originally included that phrase in an 1868 letter to the *spoon* National Convention in which he accepted the nomination by that party for the presidency.

 

National Park Service administration of the national memorial was authorized on August 14, 1958. (President Grant signed the act establishing the first national park, Yellowstone.) As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, the memorial was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.

 

In the late 20th century and despite being legally protected by the National Park Service, the tomb was allowed through neglect to gradually decline to a state of severe disrepair, at the same time that New York City's subway trains were being vandalized with spray-painted graffiti, as was the tomb. The defaced tomb was considered by many to be an eyesore, but it was low on the priority list for restoration. Attitudes changed, however, when interest in the American Civil War and its generals increased significantly in 1989 with the release of a hit U.S. motion picture, Glory, which was based on a true event in the Civil War. In 1990, the Ken Burns PBS television documentary, The Civil War, was broadcast to a large audience and received critical acclaim. It contributed to the spark of national interest in this period of American history. Suddenly, reenactments of Civil War battles nationwide became highly popular and battlefield sites again became major tourist destinations.

 

As more persons began to seek out and visit Grant's Tomb, it was natural that more people would notice its defaced condition. In the early 1990's, a paper concerning the deteriorating condition of Grant's Tomb by a Columbia University student, Frank Scaturro, was released to the news media and attracted nationwide interest. He had previously urged restoration of the tomb by writing to supervisors of the National Park Service, but had been repeatedly rebuffed and ignored, so he went over their heads to get attention. At this period in the mid-1990's New York was making a successful comeback, with Times Square, Central Park, and the city's subway trains already cleaned up. New Yorkers were surprised to learn that one of their city's historic tourist destinations, Grant's Tomb, had been largely forgotten while other improvements had been made across the city.

 

View from the crypt level of Grant's Tomb, showing the ceiling, rotunda, and mural of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee following restoration.

 

 

As a result of Mr. Scaturro's revelations, Grant's descendants and the Illinois state legislature threatened to remove the remains of the former President and First Lady and have them buried in Illinois. The National Park Service was embarrassed into spending $1.8 million to restore the memorial and to provide for upkeep and increased security monitoring. When the work was complete, a re-dedication was held on the dedication's centennial, April 27, 1997.

The Grant Monument Association is currently making plans to add a new visitor center behind the tomb, complete with public restrooms which are prohibited in the tomb itself under the express stipulation of Mrs. Grant. The existing adjacent Overlook Pavilion, which affords a view of the Hudson River, is slated for restoration.

 

A riddle relating to Grant's Tomb, popularized by Groucho Marx on his game show You Bet Your Life, is "Who is buried in Grant's Tomb?" Though the proper answer is "nobody"—Grant and his wife are entombed, not buried—Groucho would usually accept "Grant". Groucho would ask this question to contestants to ensure that they won something on his show; a similar question was, "How many bullets are there in a six-shooter?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alot of info here so I may need to edit it in the future to correct any errors I may find;)

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this history lesson cause I sure did!!!

[rrantique]

Thanks again Lee for a most informative historical post

[WoodenJefferson]

~laughing~ The whole time I was reading this, your excerpt at the very end was stuck in my mind.

 

<<A riddle relating to Grant's Tomb, popularized by Groucho Marx on his game show You Bet Your Life, is "Who is buried in Grant's Tomb?" Though the proper answer is "nobody"—Grant and his wife are entombed, not buried—Groucho would usually accept "Grant". Groucho would ask this question to contestants to ensure that they won something on his show; a similar question was, "How many bullets are there in a six-shooter?">>

 

As a matter of fact, in one episode, there was this particular statuesque blond lady who drew a complete blank when asked this question about Grant's Tomb...Groucho was beside himself, but he was such a ladies man the couple won the "boobie" prize anyway...and I do mean bOObie.

 

Thanks for this tremendous informative post...you are to be commended.

[leeg]

Thanks for this tremendous informative post...you are to be commended.

Thank you kind sir!!

 

 

This ones a true marketing gimmick by our friends in Hollywood. Other commemorative coins bore the banner of more nationally-important events, but frequently suffered from the avarice or neglect of their promoters. Few, however, were birthed by such convoluted reasoning as the Monroe Doctrine Centennial commemorative half dollar.

 

 

Not My Coin

 

 

Certainly, the Monroe Doctrine itself is deserving of national recognition. This foreign policy statement issued by President James Monroe in 1823 expressed in no uncertain terms that the U.S. would not tolerate European interference, control or influence in North and South America. It was a brave but empty diplomatic strategy, as America was not militarily strong enough at the time to successfully thwart the ambitions of a major European power. In fact, France and England successfully colonized the Guianas in the 1830s with no interference from America, and France even went so far as to establish a monarchy under Maximilian in Mexico in the 1860s. It was not until the turn of the century and the conclusion of the Spanish-American War that the Monroe Doctrine achieved the viability and respect necessary to be considered an effective instrument of national policy.

 

James Monroe

 

 

The second thread in the story of the Monroe half occurred in Hollywood in the early 1920s. Scandals were beginning to severely tarnish the reputation of the studios' stars and directors. Within only a few months director William Desmond Taylor was murdered under mysterious circumstances, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was indicted for the murder of a minor actress, and actor Wallace Reid died from a drug overdose. The studios responded by launching a public relations campaign that they hoped would help restore public confidence in the movie industry. Two committees were formed. One, the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, developed over the next decade into a self-regulating censorship board. The other, the American Historical Revue and Motion Picture Historical Exposition, was a civic-minded organization whose public relations staff found it had little to promote.

 

Searching for a way to raise funds, the Historical Exposition decided that a commemorative coin would do the trick, and in the process would generate much-needed goodwill for the film industry. The only problem was there were no convenient centennial or jubilee celebrations that California could legitimately claim in 1923. The most obvious historic event correlating with 1923 was the 150th anniversary of the 1773 Boston Tea Party. But in 1773, California was a largely unpopulated province in the Spanish Empire with no connection to New England. This dilemma was finally resolved by Congressman Walter Lineberger. Introducing a bill to authorize the Monroe Doctrine Centennial half dollar, Lineberger reasoned that Monroe Doctrine prevented England, Spain, and Russia from claiming and occupying California. While this was nothing more than historical fiction, apparently Lineberger and his fellow representatives had little concern for such details. On January 24, 1923, legislation was passed authorizing the minting of no more than 300,000 Monroe Doctrine Centennial halves: the coins were to be struck at the San Francisco Mint and distributed by the studio's Historical Exposition committee.

 

1920's postcard featuring a view of the Coliseum advertising the Motion Picture Exposition held there in 1923.

 

 

Having particular design plans in mind, the Exposition committee sought the advice of the Commission of Fine Arts as to whom might best be suited to turn their ideas into coin form. The sculptor-member of the Commission, James Earl Fraser, recommended another sculptor for the task, Chester Beach. The committee's ideas for the coin were simple enough: conjoined busts of Monroe and his Secretary of State in 1823, John Quincy Adams on the obverse, and a relief map of the North and South American continents on the reverse. Beach executed the obverse portraits as requested. The only alteration the artist made to that side was the addition of two links of chain between the words MONROE and ADAMS. Surrounding the busts at the periphery are the inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and HALF DOLLAR. The motto IN GOD WE TRUST is to the left and the date and S-mintmark are placed at the lower right.

 

The reverse was modified considerably, and in its final form is unquestionably one of the most unusual and daring design motifs ever placed on a U.S. coin. In place of the relief maps of the continents, Beach substituted two female figures which were contorted into a rough approximation of the shape of each land mass. The North American figure holds a branch in her left hand in the area of northern Canada while extending a twig to South America through Central America with her right hand. The South American figure holds a cornucopia with her right arm. The major ocean currents of the Atlantic and Pacific are also included, and apparently represent the flow of goods between the two continents, unimpeded by the European powers. In the lower left reverse field the centennial dates 1823-1923 flank both sides of a scroll and quill, symbols clearly intended to suggest the Monroe Doctrine. Chester Beach's initials are found near the reverse rim at the four o'clock position and the inscriptions MONROE DOCTRINE CENTENNIAL and LOS ANGELES encircle the border. Struck in low relief, the design overall is uninspiring. The reverse motifs are novel and would indicate a certain creativity on the part of Beach were it not for the fact that the draped female figures shaped as two continents were actually copyrighted in 1899 by artist Ralph Beck and used by Beach for the seal of the Pan-American Exposition of 1901.

 

The Monroe halves were struck in May and June of 1923. While 300,000 coins were authorized by Congress, curiously only 274,077 pieces were struck (the 77 odd pieces were made for assay). A celebration commemorating the centennial was held in June in a Los Angeles football stadium. Little is known about this exposition, but it is likely that the coins, priced at $1 each, were first offered for sale there. The halves were also distributed by banks and through the mail. Although thousands of pieces were sold by the exposition committee, within a short time sales fell dramatically and rather than return the unsold remainder to the Mint for melting, local banks began releasing the coins into circulation at face value. As a result, many thousands of Monroe halves exist today in lightly circulated XF-AU condition.

 

Mint-state Monroe halves are also readily available in grades up to MS-63. Coins in MS-64 condition are quite scarce, and full gem Monroe halves are one of the great condition rarities in the entire commemorative series. (In early 1990 a superb Monroe realized an amazing $30,800 in a major public auction). On lightly circulated specimens friction will first appear on the cheeks of the two statesmen on the obverse. The reverse will display signs of handling on the figures that represent the two continents. The luster on Monroe halves is frosted, but because the coins were struck in low relief their aesthetic appeal is limited. No counterfeits are known of this issue. Two matte proofs are reported to exist, but neither has been confirmed to date.

 

The Monroe Doctrine itself took decades to evolve into one of the cornerstones of American diplomacy. Similarly, the centennial coin struck to celebrate the doctrine was for many years an unwanted stepchild in the commemorative series. However, since 1980, and the increasing popularity of forming commemorative collections in gem condition, the conditionally challenging Monroe half dollar has earned new respect from advanced collectors of this long and interesting series.

 

SPECIFICATIONS:

Diameter: 30.6 millimeters

Weight: 12.5 grams

Composition: .900 silver, .100 copper

Edge: Reeded

Net Weight: .36169 ounce pure silver

[leeg]

When it debuted in 1924, the Huguenot-Walloon half dollar set off a flurry of controversy. Aggravating on a number of counts, it was criticized by civil libertarians as religious propaganda, by constitutionalists as a violation of the First Amendment separating church and state, and by numismatists and other aesthetically-attuned individuals as mediocre artwork. Attacked primarily for its theme, it really isn’t that much different from the Pilgrim half of 1920-21 in that it partly honors religious refugees. Yet the Huguenot-Walloon issue erred most in depicting on its obverse two individuals who were entirely unrelated to the principle event being commemorated—the founding of New Netherland in 1624.

 

 

Not My Coin

 

 

Huguenots and Walloons were really one and the same; Walloon was the name given to Huguenots (French Calvinists) living in southern Belgium. Periodically persecuted in Catholic France and in Holland (then partly ruled by Spain), they sought refuge outside of Europe in the New World. Toward this end, 30 families of Walloons were persuaded by the newly-formed Dutch West India Company to colonize New Netherland. This region was broadly defined as the lands between New France (Canada) and Virginia. They landed in 1624 and created the settlements of New Amsterdam (now New York City) and Fort Orange (now Albany, New York). Forty years later, these lands passed into British rule, remaining under this authority until Americans declared their independence in 1776.

 

 

 

Seeking to honor the 300th anniversary of the arrival of the Walloons, an organization calling itself the Huguenot-Walloon New Netherland Commission approached Congress with a plan to coin commemorative half dollars marking the event. Revenue from the sale of these coins would be used to offset the expense of public celebrations planned for 1924. Objections were raised immediately over this legislation, as the Commission’s Chairman, the Reverend Dr. John Bear Stoudt, was associated with the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, a group which co-sponsored this coin issue. Despite the apparent violation of the doctrine of separation between church and state, Congress was persuaded to pass the Huguenot-Walloon bill on February 26, 1923. It authorized the coining of 300,000 half dollars to commemorate “the settling of New Netherland, the Middle States, in 1624, by Walloons, French and Belgian Huguenots, under the Dutch West India Company.”

 

 

 

Advised by Congressman Vestal, Chairman of the House Coinage Committee, that outside artists were unable to prepare models which would satisfy the requirements of modern coining, the Tercentenary Commission entrusted their coin’s creation to the Mint’s Chief Engraver, George T. Morgan. Morgan, then in his seventies, dutifully executed models based on ideas submitted by the Rev. Dr. Stoudt. The obverse featured conjoined portraits of Admiral Gaspard de Coligny and William the Silent, two Huguenot martyrs assassinated decades before the founding of New Netherland in 1624. The inappropriateness of these figures in the overall theme of the coin only added to the objections already raised in response to its religious associations. In contrast, the reverse design was innocuous—a depiction of the settlers’ ship Nieuw Nederlandt crossing the Atlantic.

 

 

 

Problems arose, however, when Morgan’s models were submitted to the federal Commission of Fine Arts on October 26, 1923. As was the custom, these models were forwarded for review to the sculptor member, James Earle Fraser of Buffalo nickel fame. The result of his examination is summed up in a letter from the Fine Arts Commission Chairman Charles Moore to Mint Director Robert J. Grant: “While the ideas intended to be expressed are excellent, the execution is bad. The lettering is poor, the heads are not well modeled and the ship is ill designed. The workmanship is below the standard of excellence attained in previous coins. The models are therefore not approved.”

 

 

 

Political pressure was brought to bear, and a compromise was reached in which Morgan would revise his models under the supervision of Fraser. Past experience suggested that such an arrangement was likely to produce sparks, but to both men’s credit the job was ultimately completed. Fraser, who evidently was a better sculptor than writer, nevertheless registered his protest with Chairman Moore in a letter of January 3, 1924: “It seems that Congressman or Senator Vestal advised them [the Tercentenary Commission] to have the coin done at the Mint because he informed the Walloon Commission that the artists who had made designs did not understand reductions of coins and made the models too high so that the coins had to be struck several blows before they were perfect, therefore the models should be made at the Mint. (Mr. Morgan has gotten in his good word against the artists again).”

 

 

 

Within days of Fraser’s letter, the Commission of Fine Arts reluctantly approved the final models. In February and April of 1924, 142,080 Huguenot-Walloon halves were coined at the Philadelphia Mint (the odd 80 pieces were reserved for assay). Of this total, 87,000 were sold to the public at $1 apiece through the Fifth National Bank of New York and through other groups which obtained quantities of these coins to market in conjunction with their local celebrations. The official Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary celebration was the one held in New York City May 17-22, 1924. It’s possible that the coins may have been delivered in time to be offered during that event, but this fact is not documented. Coins of this type were still being offered by mail as late as 1929, the price then pegged at $1.50 plus two cents for postage.

 

 

 

Curiously, the remaining 55,000 pieces coined were returned to the Philadelphia Mint for destruction but were reportedly released into circulation! The small number of truly worn Huguenot-Walloon halves does not support this proposition, but it’s possible that most were immediately set aside by the public as curios. The balance of the 300,000 pieces authorized were never coined, leaving a net mintage for this issue of 142,000.

 

 

 

The typical Huguenot-Walloon half seen today grades MS-60 through MS-64. Examples grading MS-65 are not especially rare, while those in grades MS-66 and higher are quite elusive. The luster on mint state coins is frosty, ranging all the way from dull to quite brilliant. Some specimens will exhibit a V-shaped die-clash mark on Admiral Coligny’s cheek. Another feature sometimes seen is a brilliant patch of die polishing visible at the upper left part of the reverse. A number of lightly worn examples are known grading EF-40 through AU-58, but these are more likely the product of mishandling than of actual circulation. Places to check for wear include Admiral Coligny’s cheekbone and the lower foresail and stern of the ship.

 

 

 

One proof striking of this coin was reported by the late Walter Breen, who named former Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock as the likely source of its manufacture. This piece is presently untraced. No custom packaging associated with this issue is known, although a descriptive brochure was produced with an illustration of a memorial stone and a photo of the first piece coined being presented to President Calvin Coolidge.

 

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS:

 

 

 

Diameter: 30.6 millimeters

 

Weight: 12.5 grams

 

Composition: .900 silver, .100 copper

 

Edge: Reeded

 

Net Weight: .36169 ounce pure silver

[WoodenJefferson]

Humina humina...that is one good looking commem there LeeG

 

I have briefly read the story about the striking of this commemorative but never in detail like you have proposed here today. Great information about our history and the never ending struggle to survive and prosper.

[Keleum]

This thread is HOT!

 

Thanks for these posts, this is great reading.

[leeg]

"Happy Father's Day"!!!!

 

We move on from 1924 to 1925. This was a banner year for the Classic Commem series. Let's discuss the 1925-S California Diamond Jubilee Half Dollar. As Commem's go, this one is expensive. Especially with color. That's why I don't own one.

 

 

Not My Coin

 

 

 

 

 

From: "A Basic Guide to U.S. Commemorative Coins" by Michael J. Hodder & QDB

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of California's admission to the Union, the San Francisco Citizens' Committee was formed to promote the issue of a commemorative half dollar marking the event. Legislation was passed in 1925, and the coins were struck in the San Francisco Mint. The issue has been praised by art historians as one of the most attractive of all U.S. commemoratives. The obverse shows a California Gold Rush era miner panning for the precious metal. The reverse portrays a grizzly bear walking left, the emblem of California.

 

Quantity Authorized: 300,000

Quantity Distributed: 86,594

Designer: Obverse and reverse by Joseph Mora

Interesting Fact: The grizzly bear on this coin is very realistic, in contrast to the stylized bear on the 1936-S Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge half dollar.

 

 

 

California's Diamond Jubilee. Sept. 9th to 13th inc. 1925. N.W. cor. Grant Ave. & O'Farrell St.

 

 

 

Diamond Jubilee display picture, 1953

 

 

I thought this was a nice, in-person, account of the Jubilee:

 

 

Editor's Note: Twenty-first Street resident Florence Holub, now 86, wrote this remembrance in 1989, 50 years after she worked as a sketch artist at the Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco's third major world's fair.

 

The coming of May's Carnaval in the Mission District has prompted some recollections of past parades and celebrations in San Francisco. I have seen a few parades in my 70 years, but I recall my first with special clarity.

 

It took place one evening in 1925 in San Francisco, shortly after my family came to California from the farm lands of Idaho. This parade was an extravaganza called the Diamond Jubilee, a celebration to mark the 75th anniversary of California's admission to the union.

Crowds of citizens from every neighborhood lined Market Street, watching with awe and amazement as shimmering floats slid by in the semi-darkness--floats decorated with thousands of tiny, diamond-like lights and graced with beautiful fairy princesses wearing sparkling tiaras.

As my young brothers and I sat on orange crates in front of our parents, behind the ropes that marked the parade boundaries, I thought to myself, Never again would I see anything so wondrous!

 

In the decade that followed, my prophecy proved accurate. In comparison to the Diamond Jubilee, the parades of the late '20s and early '30s seemed like collections of weary, out-of-step marchers accompanied by clamorous marching bands playing off-key. But in 1939, following the completion of the San Francisco¬Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco hosted the Golden Gate International Exposition, a world's fair situated on the newly manmade landfill called Treasure Island.

 

That year, I was a 19-year-old art student at the California School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute), and during summer vacation I did quick sketches of fair visitors. I also was one of about 20 girls who worked for a sand sculptor on the "gayway," where there were many concessions, rides, and shooting galleries, as well as the surprisingly popular Sally Rand's Nude Ranch, where an assortment of unlikely girls played volleyball half-heartedly, wearing only cowboy hats and holsters. (Sally Rand was a graceful fan dancer of the time, who manipulated her large, plumed fans so that her nude body was never really visible.)

 

There were many fascinating carnival folk, or "carnies," who followed the fairs across the nation, and one of them, a man who worked close to our operation, would guess a person's weight for 25 cents. If he erred, the customer won a walking cane.

 

One slow day, I noted that he gave away a lot of canes, and I wondered how he could make a living that way. Upon mentioning this to a more worldly coworker, I was informed that this was a come-on, done deliberately to stimulate business. When the man guessed wrongly, he still made money because the canes cost only 10 cents, so he was still 15 cents ahead. When he guessed correctly, he kept the cane and the customer's quarter as well, which was worth a great deal back then. (In 1939, streetcar fares were 10 cents; an Italian dinner with red wine cost $1 at the Iron Pot Restaurant on Montgomery Street, and the finest full-course steak dinner at Alfred's could be had for a mere $1.25.)

 

All through the summer, we sketch-artists worked two-hour shifts, then were relieved by fresh girls. This gave us a break in which to explore the exposition. Treasure Island was an enchanting place: there were about 40 large buildings and many smaller pavilions and courts and promenades covering the island.

The majestic Tower of the Sun presided over a long square pool and fountain, and covering its lawns were expanses of brilliant, multicolored flowers that formed intricate patterns like those on a Persian carpet.

 

The enormous sculpture "Pacifica"--a female figure meant to embody the cultural gifts of the Pacific Rim, which was the exposition's theme--was designed by Ralph Stackpole, head of the sculpture department at the art school. Pacifica, as well as most of the abundant statuary, was not constructed to last, and would soon be lost to history.

 

However, one piece of monumental sculpture, designed for the fair's San Francisco Building and cast in black synthetic stone, has endured. This delightful rendering of playful whales later found an appropriate home in the central courtyard at the Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.

At the fair, many of my breaks were spent watching the progress of the famous Mexican artist Diego Rivera and his assistant, San Francisco's Emmy Lou Packard, as they sat high upon a scaffold, painting the huge mural that now occupies one wall of the theater at City College of San Francisco.

I also roamed through villages and courts and buildings filled with displays. Live music from every culture was being played everywhere. There were classical as well as big band performances, and, of course, parades and dancers.

 

Most visitors went to and from the fair on the ferries that ran across the bay and gave riders a dazzling view of the brightly lit island, including a fine look at the tall, spotlit Ferry Building before it became dwarfed by highrises.

 

When after two exciting years the fair ended and the bright lights were turned off, I wondered poignantly if we would ever be so happily engaged again. We were, in time, but on a smaller, more intimate scale.

 

In the late 1970s, newcomers from Latin America, bringing their culture with them, began a yearly parade and celebration called Carnaval next door to Noe Valley in the Mission. With each passing year, this grassroots festival has grown in size and quality.

 

The Carnaval parade is always a lively, happy event, with salsa music and skillfully choreographed samba dancing performed by scantily clad dancers topped with plumed headdresses and looking like so many pre-Columbian lords and ladies letting their hair down. The dancing is sometimes erotic but done with good-natured humor, with taste, and always before a large and appreciative audience.

 

Last year [1988], the Noe Valley Samba group, directed by Jorge Duarte, designed a parade float based upon the theme of peace. The float was decorated with white doves and symbols representing the earth and other planets. This year, Duarte and his group focused on the endangered rain forest, and created a float resplendent with palm trees and colorful tropical birds.

 

The Diamond Jubilee can never happen again, nor can that memorable Exposition of 1939, but Carnaval can and will come alive, again and again, because those who perform in it do so just for the joy of it!

 

San Francisco's 2005 Carnaval takes place on Memorial Day weekend, May 28 to 29. The two-day festival on Harrison Street will feature crafts and food booths, dance lessons and demonstrations, and live entertainment on three stages. Carnaval's Grand Paradeon Sunday, May 29, kicks off at 9:30 a.m. at 24th and Bryant streets and dances north on Mission Street to 17th Street.

 

 

Commemorative Types (50 piece set) - Regular Strikes

 

PCGS # Description Desig EF AU 60 62 63 64 65 66 67 68

 

9281 California 150 170 200 215 295 500 1200 1850 3600 17500

[WoodenJefferson]

I enjoyed Florence Holub's account from that era. When I was younger, I used to sit and listen to one of my Aunts who was in her early 20's during the height of the "Roaring Twenties" She spoke of flapper dancing, smoking, drinking...just about everything "taboo" that young women did back then, especially in public!

 

She said that each girl carried a dime in their little snap purse to pay for the first drink of the evening. She said they would have to nurse that one drink until a "beau" would come along and offer to buy them a drink...not much has changed there, although I do hear that liberated women now days often times offer to pay.

 

To them, it was innocent fun on the weekends and then have to return to other tasks during the week in order to survive, till the next time they could go out.

 

I can imagine that lone bright Mercury dime nestled in the bottom her snap purse...thanks Lee for stirring memories with this segment of Commemoratives.

 

Excellent reading and visualizations.

[rrantique]

Thanks for a great post Lee

[leeg]

Some True "Classics" were minted in 1925. The Fort Vancouver may just be on top of that list. A very tough, rare, and expensive coin to own. Most folks feel this is one coin that a true Classic Commem Collector will own. I don't own one mainly due to the price issue. The obverse show's Dr. McLoughlin facing right, while the reverse pictures an armed trapper standing with Fort Vancouver in the background. The issue was struck at the Sanfrancisco Mint, but due to an oversight does not bear the "S" mintmark.

 

300,000 Authorized, 14,994 distributed, designed by Laura Gardin Fraser; original conception of overall design by Sidney Bell.

 

 

circa 1930: Sculptress Laura Gardin Fraser at work in her New York City studio on a design for a coin.

 

 

[L=Complete History of FT Vancouver]http://www.nps.gov/archive/fova/adhi/adhit.htm[/L]

 

 

Fort Vancouver, 1845

 

Fort Vancouver, 1854

 

Main Street, Vancouver, 1890

 

 

 

 

Not My Coin

 

 

[PUBLIC—NO. 452—68TH CONGRESS]

[s. 3895]

 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

 

SEC. 3. That in commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of Fort Vancouver by the Hudson Bay Company, State of Washington, there shall be coined at the mints of the United States silver 50-cent pieces to the number of not more than three hundred thousand, such 50-cent pieces to be of the standard troy weight, composition, diameter, device, and design as shall be fixed by the Director of the Mint, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, which said 50-cent pieces shall be legal tender in any payment to the amount of their face value.

 

That the coin herein authorized shall be issued only upon the request of the executive committee of the Fort Vancouver Centennial Corporation, of Vancouver, Washington, and upon payment by such executive committee for and on behalf of the Fort Vancouver Centennial Corporation of the par value of such coins, and it shall be permissible for the said Fort Vancouver Centennial Corporation to obtain said coins upon said payment, all at one time or at separate times, and in separate amounts, as it may determine.

 

SEC. 4. All laws now in force relating to the subsidiary gold and silver coins of the United States and the coining or striking of the same, regulating and guarding the process of coinage, providing for the purchase of material and for the transportation, distribution, and redemption of coins, for the prevention of debasement or counterfeiting, for security of the coin, or for any other purposes, whether said laws are penal or otherwise, shall, so far as applicable, apply to the coinage herein authorized: Provided, That the United States shall not be subject to the expense of making the necessary dies and other preparations for this coinage.

 

Approved, February 24, 1925.

 

 

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site

 

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site has special problems as well as special advantages. Located off of Interstate 5 in Vancouver, Washington, on the north shore of the Columbia River across from Portland, Oregon, Fort Vancouver is an open 208-acre park in the midst of an otherwise urban setting. Though Mt. Hood, to the east, and the nearby Columbia River are reminiscent of the area's older natural setting, two major highways border the site on the west and south. Light industry, a small airport that extends onto Park Service property, and Portland International Airport across the river also remind visitors that the slow pace of the 19th century has been left far behind.

 

Ironically, this busy urban environment can be attributed directly to the influence of the Hudson's Bay Company's trading post. Between 1825 and 1845, Fort Vancouver served as an important center for the Northwest fur trade. But the site's significance goes beyond the fur trade; Fort Vancouver was also at the western terminus for American settlers traveling the Oregon Trail, thus a symbol for the expansion of national boundaries to the far western frontier of the Pacific Ocean. Many historians have called Fort Vancouver the "cradle of civilization" in the Northwest, both because the Hudson's Bay Company constructed one of the earliest schools in the area and because the fort was a way station or point of departure for missionaries proselytizing among native peoples already settled in what later became the Oregon Territory. Perhaps more importantly, Fort Vancouver's Chief Factor John McLoughlin facilitated agricultural development in the Northwest; European seed stock and fruit trees given to the American settlers helped new gardens and orchards blossom throughout the region.

 

Though Fort Vancouver was eventually abandoned by the Hudson's Bay Company, the significance of its activities and enterprise lingered in the collective memories of the local people, many of whom were descendants of retired Hudson's Bay Company employees. For years local and state groups fought for legislation to authorize a national monument which would recognize the site as an economic, cultural, and military center of early Pacific Northwest development.

 

Though everyone could agree that Fort Vancouver should be cherished as a national symbol, not everybody agreed on what form that symbol should take. Indeed, the Park Service could not always agree on appropriate goals for development at Fort Vancouver. When the monument was authorized in 1948, the enabling legislation referenced the 1916 act which established the National Park Service. These acts contained two basic, and seemingly contradictory, directives for Park Service policy: first, the park site must be preserved and second, the public must have use and enjoyment of the site. [2] At Fort Vancouver these policies raised several questions: What was there to preserve? And how could the monument be developed to provide for public use and enjoyment? The answers were never easy or obvious. Without any remaining historic structures or features above ground, the Park Service faced an interpretive puzzle. They had to decide if preserving an empty open space or an on-going archaeological excavation would provide the best use of public space. At Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, the Park Service often found the best management strategy to be compromise.

 

Today, the prominent attraction at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is the reconstructed Hudson's Bay Company stockade, including many of the buildings inside the fort: the bakehouse, blacksmith shop, Indian Trade Shop, and the Chief Factor's House where Dr. John McLoughlin once governed the fort. All of these reconstructed buildings are on the List of Classified Structures and the entire site is on the National Register. On a gentle rise overlooking the reconstructed fort is a MISSION 66-style Visitor Center which houses Fort Vancouver NHS' museum and visitor services. The old Vancouver Barracks parade ground provides open space on the northern half of the park for visitors, who also enjoy an uninterrupted view of the fort stockade from the Visitor Center. The Park Service property also includes the site of the historic Kanaka Village, west of the stockade, where most of the Hudson's Bay Company employees at Fort Vancouver once lived. Though nothing of the village, pond, and salmon house, remains above ground, Park Service plans have always included the restoration of a portion of this landscape for interpretation, based on historic and archaeological evidence. Other features of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site include the western half of Pearson Airpark and approximately three-quarters of a mile of Columbia River waterfront, which is separated from the stockade area by SR 14, a frontage road, and the airfield runway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remains of the post molds of Fort Vancouver's west stockade wall of 1828-29, found by Louis Caywood in excavation of 1947. (Louis Caywood)

 

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, located in Vancouver, Washington, memorializes Fort Vancouver, the first European outpost in the Pacific Northwest. The park and its adjacent area includes Vancouver Barracks, a National Guard post; Vancouver National Historic Reserve, owned by the City of Vancouver; West Barracks, until recently a US Army post, but now in the process of becoming a part of the Vancouver National Historic Reserve; Pearson Field, a pre-World War II airport in the process of restoration; and Officers' Row, a street of restored army buildings renovated as townhouses and commercial offices; as well as Fort Vancouver itself.

 

Pearson Field is the oldest airfield in the US which is still operating. In 1905, during the centennial celebrations of the Lewis and Clark expedition, Lincoln Beachey landed his dirigible, Gelatine, here after making the first aerial crossing of the Columbia River. Aviators who have landed at Pearson Field include Charles Lindbergh, Jimmy Doolittle, Eddie Rickenbacker, and others.

 

Pearson Field remains mostly as a pre-World War II airport, with grass runways and historic buildings. The parts which are more modern are gradually being restored to their 1930s condition. However, Pearson Field is a working airport, not a relic; small planes take off and land all day long.

 

The monument at the right honors Valarie Chkalov [ch-COW-lof], a Russian aviator who was the first to fly from Russia to the US over the North Pole, in 1937. He was headed for San Francisco, but had to make an emergency landing at Pearson Field instead.

 

 

Many famous people were stationed at Vancouver Barracks. Ulysses S. Grant, the Civil War general and later president of the US, was stationed here in the 1850s, although he did not live in what is now Grant House, which was then the commanding officer's home; he did work there though. Grant House now houses a folk art exhibit and a restaurant.

 

 

Marshall House, named after General George C. Marshall, was the home of the general when he was stationed here in 1936-1938, prior to heading for Washington, DC, to become Chief of Staff during World War II. He actually did live in this house, which was built in 1889. It now houses a museum and is host to many parties and weddings, as well as the annual George C. Marshall lecture, which features prominent speakers.

 

 

Soldiers considered Vancouver one of the best places to be stationed, clear from the beginning. The setting is unsurpassed: Mt. Hood is clearly visible from the fort; Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams are also visible from nearby. The river plus the excellent farm land made food plentiful. The people of Vancouver welcomed the soldiers and provided hospitality and a good social life.

 

A few years ago the city of Vancouver took over a series of buildings which date back as far as Civil War times and remodeled them into offices and townhouses; the street is now called Officers Row.

 

Vancouver Barracks was the main US Army base in the northwest during the Indian wars, Spanish American War, the Philippine Insurrection, and World War I. During World War II its functions were gradually moved to Fort Lewis, about a hundred miles north.

 

 

The parade grounds has survived intact, and is used for many events, such as Civil War reenactments, Fourth of July celebrations, Queen Victoria's Birthday celebration, Halloween spookouts, concerts, and so forth. It is also an excellent place to exercise, with a periphery of about an hour's brisk walk.

 

 

The fort itself is a replica of the original Fort Vancouver, which was established as a trading post by Dr. John McLoughlin of the Hudson's Bay Company. The fort served fur traders, Indians, and immigrants; the immigrants, mostly from the US, depended heavily on the British fort. Today the fort features exhibits and reenactments of life during its early years.

[leeg]

Been a while since I've added any content here. Here is my newest lesson:

 

1935 Old Spanish Trail

 

Another key to the series that is very expensive and seldom can be found with any color. A coin that shows what influence, and who you know, can achieve. Does that it make it right? Not in my opinion.

 

 

Sold for $3,450 on 08/08/07, Not My Coin

 

 

[PUBLIC—NO. 97—74TH CONGRESS]

 

[H. R. 6372]

 

AN ACT

 

To authorize the coinage of 50-cent pieces in connection with the Cabeza de Vaca Expedition and the opening of the Old Spanish Trail.

 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That to indicate the interest of the Government of the United States in commemorating the four hundredth anniversary of the Expedition of Cabeza de Vaca and the opening of the Old Spanish Trail, there shall be coined by the Director of the Mint silver 50-cent pieces to the number of not more than ten thousand, of standard weight and fineness and of a special appropriate design to be fixed by the Director of the Mint, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, but the United States shall not be subject to the expense of making the models for master dies or other preparations for this coinage.

 

SEC. 2. That the coins herein authorized shall be issued at par and only upon the request of the chairman of the El Paso Museum Committee.

 

SEC. 3. Such coins may be disposed of at par or at a premium by said committee and all proceeds shall be used in furtherance of the El Paso Museum.

 

SEC. 4. That all laws now in force relating to the subsidiary silver coins of the United States and the coining or striking of the same; regulating and guarding the process of coinage; providing for the purchase of material, and for the transportation, distribution, and redemption of the coins; for the prevention of debasement or counterfeiting; for security of the coin; or for any other purposes, whether said laws are penal or otherwise, shall, so far as applicable, apply to the coinage herein directed.

 

Approved, June 5, 1935.

 

 

 

 

The Old Spanish Trail became the fifteenth national historic trail when Congress adopted S. 1946 in November and President George W. Bush signed the bill early in December 2002. The Old Spanish Trail linked two provinces of Mexico separated by such difficult topography and climatic extremes that, despite attempts beginning as early as 1776, a route was successfully opened only in 1829. In that year Antonio Armijo, a merchant from Santa Fe, led 60 men and 100 mules on the known trails blazed northward by trappers and traders with the Utes, and backtracked along the route Spanish padres Dominguez and Escalante recorded as they returned to Santa Fe from southern Utah more than fifty years earlier.

 

Armijo’s group then blazed a new path using parts of Jedediah Smith’s routes of 1826 and 1827, and Rafael Rivera’s route of 1828. Armijo avoided the worst of the Mojave Desert, traveling south of Death Valley following intermittent streams and locating springs to support the party. He arrived at San Gabriel Mission in California with his group intact, although the men were forced to rely on mule meat during their final days on the trail. In California, they traded the blankets and other goods carried by packsaddle from Santa Fe for horses and mules, available in great numbers and little valued by the Californios. Several thousand of these horses were driven back to Santa Fe, where they became important in trade with both Chihuahua and St. Louis.

 

The return journey marked the first time a caravan made a round trip between Santa Fe and Los Angeles, and the governor of New Mexico trumpeted this fact immediately to his superiors in Mexico City. There was finally a land link between these two regions; no longer was Santa Fe so land locked, because California provided access to foreign markets via her seaports. The international trade between the United States and Mexico via Santa Fe would be enhanced by the commercial traffic between Santa Fe and Los Angeles made possible by Armijo’s success. For his efforts, New Mexico’s governor appointed Armijo “Commander for the Discovery of the Route to California.”

 

 

 

By the mid-1930s, U.S. commemorative coins were nothing new: in fact, the proliferation of issues was beginning to be viewed with disdain by many collectors. In light of the blatant and unbridled commercialism and controversy associated with many of the earlier issues, even Congress started to look negatively upon the commemorative coinage program. Unfortunately, the situation would get even worse as the decade wore on.

 

One man who was often in the center of this maelstrom but still managed to emerge unscathed by any allegations of impropriety was L.W. Hofer, a Texas coin dealer who would later serve as president of the American Numismatic Association (1939-41). Hofer was well aware of the growing resentment among collectors who, in the pursuit of complete collections of Mint issues, were being taken advantage of by the various commemorative committees. A large number of coins had been issued celebrating insignificant events and often in multiple varieties, solely to generate more money from the numismatic community. More a part of the problem than the solution, Hofer himself secured Congressional approval in 1929 for a half dollar celebrating the Gadsden Purchase, but he saw his plans aborted when President Hoover vetoed the bill. Determined to succeed in his quest for a coin, Hofer went searching for another event to commemorate and began a program of Congressional lobbying to assure passage of his proposal.

 

Old Spanish Trail Monument Marker at Grand Junction, CO.

 

In his capacity as Chairman of the El Paso (Texas) Museum Committee, Hofer found his event. Re-writing history to suit his own ends, Hofer claimed that El Paso was the end of the Old Spanish Trail traveled by early explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and the remnants of an 1527 Spanish expedition. It apparently made little difference that the actual Old Spanish Trail followed an entirely different route than that taken by Cabeza de Vaca, and furthermore, the year (1935) picked to celebrate its 400th anniversary had little historical relevance to the dates (1528-1536) of the early explorer’s travels. Obviously, Hofer’s public relations campaign with Congress swept right past these “minor” details, as legislation was passed on June 5, 1935 authorizing a maximum of 10,000 half dollars commemorating just such an occasion.

 

 

In the early decades of exploration in the New World, Spain sent out fleet after fleet of galleons across the Atlantic in search of treasure. In the winter of 1527-28, an expedition of 700 men and five ships led by Panfilo de Narvaez searched unsuccessfully for gold in what is present-day Florida. Within a year, almost 300 men had succumbed to the ravages of disease, hostile Indians and violent storms. After the bulk of the crew was blown out to sea in a storm, about 80 survivors, including the expedition’s treasurer, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, regrouped on Galveston Island in November of 1528.

 

Grand Junction Union Train Depot, dedicated in 1906, is on the National Register of Historic Places

 

Over the next eight years, Cabeza de Vaca and his ever-dwindling band of surviving crewmembers wandered throughout the Southwest. They lived among friendly Indians at times, and at other times were held as slaves. Finally, in April 1536, Cabeza de Vaca and his Moorish companion, Estabanico, wandered into a Spanish military patrol in northern Mexico. An account of the group’s adventures was recorded in a book that saw wide circulation at the time, Los Naufragios, and this in turn popularized the Old Spanish Trail.

 

Weaving Exhibit at the Ghost Ranch Piedra Lumbre Education and Visitor Center near Abiquiu, NM

 

 

Hofer had a specific design in mind for the Old Spanish Trail half dollar, and after some searching recruited local El Paso sculptor, Edmund J. Senn, to execute his plans. Because Senn only carried out Hofer’s design concept, his initials were not placed on the coin. Instead, Hofer’s initials (LWH) are seen on the lower reverse at the border, to the right of the date 1935.

 

No other commemorative design has been so widely criticized. Some critics, including Cornelius Vermeule, have all but called the coin’s design banal. Much of this stems from the use of a head of a cow as the central device, serving as a metaphor for Cabeza de Vaca (Spanish for “head of a cow”). Allegedly, this unusual name was inherited from an ancestor who used a cow’s skull to mark a mountain trail, enabling the Spanish army to defeat the occupying Islamic forces. As a reward, the Spanish king re-Christened the shepherd and all his descendants Cabeza de Vaca.

 

Overlook near Paria River

 

Directly above the cow’s head on the coin’s obverse is the legend LIBERTY and above that, the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM. Below is the explorer's name ALVAR NUNEZ CABEZA DE VACA. Encircling the rim are the inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and HALF DOLLAR. The reverse displays a map of the southern United States from Florida through Texas with the Spanish Trail marked off across five states, ending at EL PASO. Continuing his disregard for historical accuracy, Hofer designated stops along the trail at cities that did not exist in the early 16th century. Superimposed on the map is a blooming yucca tree, a common plant in the desert regions of the southwestern United States. At the bottom of the reverse are the two dates 1535 and 1935. The legend OLD•SPANISH•TRAIL appears at the top border and the motto IN GOD WE TRUST is to the right of the yucca tree.

 

 

 

The full authorization of 10,000 coins (plus 8 pieces reserved for assay) were struck in Philadelphia in September of 1935. They were distributed through the El Paso Museum Committee for $2 apiece. Until recently, it was commonly assumed that Hofer was even-handed in the sale and distribution of the Spanish Trail halves. When the coin dealer’s correspondence was sold and later published, it became known that favoritism played a role in the sale of these coins just as it had with other, previous commemorative issues. In 1954, Hofer stated that he only had twelve coins remaining from the original mintage, and he intended to save these for his grandchildren. This was clearly false, as 49 coins were sold out of his estate in a Pullen and Hanks sale in 1982, and another 63 pieces were auctioned by Superior Galleries in 1987. Other than these coins, however, no other hoards have surfaced.

 

Trail marker in Nevada.

 

Regardless of any distribution shenanigans that may have occurred, the coins were widely distributed, with the vast majority sold to collectors. As a result, most Spanish Trail halves encountered today are MS-60 or better, but this issue can be quite challenging in the higher Mint State grades. Because of the large, open fields, they are especially susceptible to nicks and abrasions that might otherwise go unnoticed on a coin with a busier design. Abrasions and friction are first noticed on the top of the cow’s head and in the center of its face.

 

The popularity of this coin with collectors has also resulted in at least two types of counterfeits: One is cast and shows porosity over the surfaces; the other displays field irregularities and bright, semi-prooflike surfaces. Genuine Spanish Trail halves do not have reflective surfaces, and any coin that displays such characteristics should be immediately suspect. Two fine-grain matte proofs are known, but these have not been seen since 1956: They have extraordinarily strong details on the yucca tree and cow’s head, and the surfaces have an almost chalky appearance.

 

Potholes near Green river.

 

Like many of its contemporaries, the Spanish Trail half dollar was essentially a private venture struck in the U.S. Mint. But with its relatively low mintage of only 10,000 coins, it has proven to be one of the more popular commemorative issues. As it was only struck in one mint and during one year, it is a necessary coin for anyone attempting to complete either a type set or complete series of the commemorative issues. And with its distinctive Southwestern design, the Spanish Trail is one of the few halves sought by collectors other than commemorative specialists.

 

SPECIFICATIONS:

 

Diameter: 30.6 millimeters

Weight: 12.5 grams

Composition: .900 silver, .100 copper

Edge: Reeded

Net Weight: .36169 ounce pure silver

 

 

PCGS # Description Desig EF AU 60 62 63 64 65 66 67 68

9376 Spanish T 1150 1200 1250 1350 1450 1650 2200 2650 3900 26000

 

Link to Previous Lessons

[Architecht]

Since this seems like a thread that gets added to over time rather than having its run and being continued in a new thread, I am not moving this to the archive. I can, if that's what the author wants - but it didn't seem in line with how he's using it.

[leeg]

I apprecaite you asking the question Arch. I am going to add to this on occasion to cover the entire series of Classic Commems.

[rbrown4]

Lee and others, an excellent thread and so informative.

 

Rey

[leeg]

1936 Cleveland Great Lakes

 

This half dollar celebrates the one-hundredth anniversary of Cleveland, Ohio’s incorporation as a city, as well as the Great Lakes Exposition staged during 1936-37 in honor of Cleveland’s centennial. In that respect, it’s a perfectly legitimate commemorative coin issue; some may argue, however, that the event was not really worthy of recognition on a United States coin.

 

PCGS MS65

 

The GREAT LAKES EXPOSITION of 1936 and 1937 provided Clevelanders with relief from the dreariness of the Depression and helped them celebrate the centennial of Cleveland's incorporation as a city. The exposition was the idea of Frank J. Ryan and Lincoln G. Dickey, the city's first public hall commissioner.

 

Dudley S. Blossom became chairman of a civic committee that contributed $1.5 million to transform the idea into reality. Built on land extending along the lakefront from W. 3rd St. to about E. 20th St., the 135-acre exposition also incorporated the Mall area, Public Hall, and Municipal Stadium. Work began in Apr. 1936, and in just 80 days the exposition opened to the public on 27 June 1936 for a 100-day run. Among the attractions which drew 4 million visitors to the lakefront that year were a "Streets of the World" district that featured 200 cafes and bazaars reminiscent of the countries they represented, a midway with rides and sideshows, a Court of the Presidents, a Hall of Progress, an Automotive Bldg., an art gallery, a Marine Theater, and horticultural gardens. The 1937 season opened on 29 May with a new attraction which became its most popular feature: an Aquacade that featured water ballet shows and starred Eleanor Holm and Johnny Weismuller. By the time the second season came to an end on 15 Sept., nearly $70 million had been spent by approximately 7 million exposition visitors over the 2 years. The only vestiges of the festival remaining in 1995 were the Donald Gray Gardens directly north of the stadium.

 

 

[PUBLIC—NO. 552—74TH CONGRESS]

 

[s. 4335]

 

AN ACT

 

To authorize the coinage of 50-cent pieces in commemoration of the centennial celebration of Cleveland, Ohio, to be known as the Great Lakes Exposition.

 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in commemoration of the centennial anniversary in 1936 of the city of Cleveland, Ohio, to be known as the Great Lakes Exposition, and to commemorate Cleveland’s contribution to the industrial progress of the United States for the past one hundred years, there shall be coined at a mint of the United States to be designated by the Director of the Mint not less than twenty-five thousand and not to exceed fifty thousand silver 50-cent pieces of standard size, weight, and composition and of a special appropriate single design to be fixed by the Director of the Mint, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, but the United States shall not be subject to the expense of making the necessary dies and other preparations for this coinage.

 

SEC. 2. The coins herein authorized shall bear the date 1936, irrespective of the year in which they are minted or issued, shall be legal tender in any payment to the amount of their face value, and shall be issued only upon the request of the treasurer of the Cleveland Centennial Commemorative Coin Association upon payment by him of the par value of such coins, but not less than twenty-five thousand such coins shall be issued to him at any one time and no such coins shall be issued after the expiration of one year after the date of enactment of this Act. Such coins may be disposed of at par or at a premium by such Cleveland Centennial Commemorative Coin Association, and the net proceeds shall be used by it in defraying the expenses incidental and appropriate to the commemoration of such event.

 

SEC. 3. All laws now in force relating to the subsidiary silver coins of the United States and the coining or striking of the same, regulating and guarding the process of coinage, providing for the purchase of material, and for the transportation, distribution, and redemption of the coins, for the prevention of debasement or counterfeiting, for the security of the coins, or for any other purposes, whether such laws are penal or otherwise, shall, so far as applicable, apply to the coinage herein authorized.

 

Approved, May 5, 1936.

 

 

 

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Remarks at the Great Lakes Exposition, Cleveland, Ohio.

August 14th, 1936

 

 

President Crawford, Senator Bulkley, ladies and gentlemen:

I am on a real holiday and having an exceedingly good time. I was very glad in fact when the radio announcer said that this was not going to be a political speech. I took occasion to wiggle my finger with joy at my old college friend, Chester Bolton.

 

I said I had learned a lot after that drive this morning. After we had gone about three, quarters of the way, the Mayor of Cleveland called attention to the large number of people and I said, "How many people do you think I have seen?" He said, "Oh, about three million." I congratulate Cleveland on its growth.

There was only one thing I was worried about. We have been trying to put people to work, but I am afraid that the number of work-hours accomplished today in this charming city will be away below what they ought to be.

 

This is the third exposition that I have gone to in 1936. The fact of three great expositions in the country—and there is a fourth way out on the Coast—all running simultaneously in one year, means something. It means that things are a lot better in the country than they have been for some years past. I learned something else. I had always supposed that an exposition took anywhere from three to five years of planning before it was held. Now we know that we can stage one in six months if the community is behind it.

 

I think you have rendered a real service, not merely to the city and the State, not merely to all of those States which border on the Great Lakes, but also to the whole of the country. I wish I could have spent a good many days, not only looking at the more serious exhibits, but also playing on the Midway.

 

As you know, at this time of the year I am trying to see at first hand, some of the work which is being carried on by government of all kinds. I have been especially desirous of seeing the work that was caused, not by a depression, not by man, but by what we used to call in the old days "an act of God." That is why I have been visiting some of the flood areas in the East and shall visit more. That is why I am going out to the great drought area of the West. I believe that by seeing things at first hand, I can get a better picture and I can have a more useful impression in Washington than if I merely sat at my desk there and read a great many pages of reports and looked at photographs.

 

What I have seen leads me to believe more and more that the country as a whole recognizes some of these great national problems, such as the prevention of floods and the curtailment of the consequences of drought, not merely from a local point of view but from a national point of view. The destruction of property, the loss of lives in a place like Johnstown, or on the Connecticut River in New England, the serious impairment of health, the destruction of crops and livestock in the Far West—all of these catastrophes affect those of us who are fortunate to live in places that have not been afflicted by flood or drought. It is a very encouraging thing, I think, to all of us, to realize that the Nation as a whole is looking at the Nation as a whole from a national point of view more and more with every passing year.

 

These expositions further strengthen that purpose of national understanding and national solidarity. I should like to see some exposition started somewhere that would have as its principal objective the drawing of a record number of people from the farthest points of the country as well as from points nearer home. The facts that people all over the East are visiting this exposition in Cleveland, that they are coming here from the South, that the State of Florida has put up a fine building here and that people from the Coast are stopping off on their way to and from the East, mean that Cleveland is rendering a national service.

Incidentally, it is not just a question of education and instruction; it is also a question of having a good time. A good many people in this country today are entitled to a good time after the things they have been through and especially after the courage with which they have faced difficult conditions during these past few years.

 

I am proud of the American people. I was proud, for instance, yesterday, to see the expressions on the faces of the people of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, who, working together as a unit, came through a very serious disaster to their town. That spirit has not failed us in the past, and it is not going to fail us in the future.

 

That is why I think I am entitled to say to you, on behalf of the Nation, that you are doing a fine job here in Cleveland a fine job for the Nation.

I only wish I could stay for a whole week and see it all.

 

 

What really raised eyebrows at the time, however, was the involvement of one Thomas G. Melish of Cincinnati. A tireless promoter of new commemorative coins, it was Melish who previously contrived to have the Cincinnati half dollar coined, an issue which had no legitimate foundation whatsoever. Celebrating a fictitious anniversary which commemorated nothing of substance, and it featured a portrait of composer Stephen Foster, whose connection with the city of Cincinnati had been peripheral, at best. Branded by many observers as simply a profit-making racket for Melish, it was this same individual who now served as treasurer for the Cleveland Centennial Commemorative Coin Association, an organization of which he may have been the sole member. “It seems strange that Mr. Melish, living in Cincinnati, should be the distributor of the Cleveland issue” remarked Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine Editor Lee F. Hewitt in the May 1936 issue.

 

 

The Cleveland half dollar celebrates that city’s centennial of incorporation, although it was actually founded in 1796. Settled on land along the southern shore of Lake Erie at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, Cleveland was a part of the so-called “Western Reserve.” This title referred to land in northeast Ohio that was still claimed by the state of Connecticut! The old colonial charters had given each colony the lands “to the west,” without any specific terminus, and Connecticut was the last of the states to surrender its claims in 1800. By then the area in and around what is now Cleveland had been settled by many Connecticut farmers whose lands were burned by the British during the War of Independence. This land was given to them by the state of Connecticut in compensation for their sacrifice.

 

 

That portion of the Western Reserve which remained was purchased by the Connecticut Land Company in 1795. Among its surveyors was one Moses Cleaveland, who laid out the settlement which bears his name (the first ‘a’ was dropped by the city around 1830). Ironically, the group of 50 immigrants who followed Cleveland to Ohio was not from Connecticut but from Schenectady, New York.

 

 

Born in Canterbury, Connecticut in 1754, Cleaveland participated in the War of Independence and was eventually named a brigadier general in the United States Army. In addition to his adventures as a surveyor, he studied law at Yale and pursued this field as a career. He later served in the Connecticut state legislature, dying in 1806 at the age of just 52.

 

 

The Cleveland Centennial and Great Lakes Exposition was held June 27 to October 4, 1936, reopening for a second season in 1937. Honoring the city of Cleveland and the industrial achievements of the Great Lakes region, it apparently had no official connection with the Cleveland/Great Lakes half dollar, although specimens of the coin were sold there.

 

 

The act which authorized the coining of not less than 25,000 nor more than 50,000 Cleveland halves was modificd several times before its passage on May 5, 1936. Introduced several weeks earlier at the prompting of Thomas G. Melish, it originally called for the striking of multiple designs honoring Cleveland and the Great Lakes Exposition. When this was not achieved, Melish sought to have part of the issue coined in 1937 with that additional date as an inducement for collectors to buy both varieties. Congress, wary of such tactics, refused to comply, and the final bill called for a single design coined at a single mint.

 

 

Selected to prepare models for this coin was Brenda Putnam, whose sketches were submitted to the Federal Commission of Fine Arts on May 1, 1936 by Mint Director Nellie Tayloe Ross. These sketches are very similar to the coin as made. The few revisions reflect the advice of the commission’s sculptor member, Lee Lawrie, who suggested that stars representing the Great Lakes cities be substituted in place of actual city skylines. Aside from this comment, Lawrie and the commission as a whole were pleased with Putnam’s design, and they gave their approval on June 2, 1936. In a letter to Lawrie, commission President Charles Moore couldn’t resist poking some fun at the whole commemorative mania, which was then at its peak: “I am convinced that the whole movement is a coin-collector’s racket that is going on all over the country . . .”

 

 

The obverse of the Cleveland half features a portrait bust of Moses Cleaveland facing left. Surrounding this are his name and the motto LIBERTY, the two inscriptions arranged in arc form and separated by three stars. Arranged in peripheral arcs are UNITED STATES OF AMERICA above and HALF DOLLAR below, these separated by more ornamental dots. The sculptor’s initials BP are found below the bust. On the reverse of the Cleveland half is an aerial view of the five Great Lakes. Nine stars representing the major lakeport cities appear in their respective positions. A compass is placed above them, with its axis pointing toward the largest star, Cleveland. The statutory mottoes IN GOD WE TRUST and E PLURIBUS UNUM appear in the field. Around the periphery are GREAT LAKES EXPOSITION and CLEVELAND CENTENNIAL, separated by the tiny dates 1836 and 1936.

 

 

The first 25,000 Cleveland half dollars were minted in July of 1936, with an additional 15 pieces reserved for the Assay Commission. Offered on the exposition grounds at $1.50 per coin or sold through the mail at $1.65 postpaid, these halves proved popular enough to justify coining the balance of the pieces authorized. This request for additional pieces came in February 1937, yet the authorizing bill precluded changing the coins’ date; both strikings are identical. The 25,015 coined in 1937 included another 15 piece reserved for assay and later destroyed, leaving a net mintage of 50,000 for this type.

 

 

Although Melish boasted of great sales and warned collectors to hurry with their orders lest they be disappointed, many coins remained unsold at the end of the centennial celebrations. These were purchased in quantity by dealers at prices just slightly above face value. No large hoards survive today, but the re-emergence of an occasional roll is not unknown. This coin is plentiful in mint state, with most coins grading MS-60 through MS-64. Gem examples graded MS-65 and MS-66 are not especially rare, but higher-grade specimens are very elusive. Cleveland halves were sold to the general public, as well as collectors, and many are found with signs of abuse. These will grade EF-40 through AU-58 and may have been cleaned or otherwise mishandled. Points to check for wear include Cleaveland’s cheekbone and the hair behind his ear, as well as the top of the compass.

 

 

The first 201 coins struck were placed in numbered and notarized holders, signed by Melish and certifying their special status. These typically are better struck and have fewer contact marks than those that received no special handling. In 1941, 100 ordinary Cleveland halves were counterstamped on both sides by the Western Reserve Numismatic Club to mark its 20th anniversary. 30 years later, the club again counterstamped Cleveland halves in honor of its golden anniversary. This time, however, no more than 15 pieces were made. Although not an official Mint product, these counterstamped halves are eagerly sought by commemorative collectors.

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS:

 

Diameter: 30.6 millimeters

Weight: 12.5 grams

Composition: .900 silver, .100 copper

Edge: Reeded

Net Weight: .36169 ounce pure silver

 

PCGS # Description Desig EF AU 60 62 63 64 65 66 67 68

9288 Cleveland 130 135 138 140 145 155 265 550 2800 20000

 

Links to Previous Lessons

[leeg]

Alot of updates since my last post.

 

Link To Additional Classic Commem History Lessons