Coin News

1922 Grant Gold Dollar
NGC Research
Unlike many commemorative coins, which were the subject of seemingly endless debate and revision, the Grant Memorial gold dollar made it to the coin press with relatively little conflict. Of course, it helped that the sculptor member of the Fine Arts Commission, James Earle Fraser of Buffalo nickel fame, assigned the task to his wife, Laura Gardin Fraser. Mrs. Fraser was the creator of many commemorative coin designs, more so than any other artist save for the Mint’s own Charles Barber. She worked from sketches submitted by the Centenary Memorial Association depicting a bust of Grant for the obverse and his Point Pleasant birthplace for the reverse.
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1925 Lexington-Concord Half Dollar
NGC Research
As the 150th anniversary of these battles approached, commemorative coins were sought by each of two civic groups from the towns of Lexington and Concord. Ultimately joining forces as the United States Lexington-Concord Sesquicentennial Commission, they contracted with sculptor Chester Beach (creator of the 1923-S Monroe Doctrine Centennial half dollar and the 1928 Hawaii Sesquicentennial half dollar) to prepare models based on their sketches. These depicted Daniel Chester French’s statue of a Minute Man titled The Grand Concord Man, chosen for the obverse, and the Old Belfry in Lexington from which a single lantern had been lit to warn of the oncoming British, this for the reverse.
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1925 Stone Mountain Half Dollar
NGC Research
The idea of a commemorative coin was almost an afterthought. The success of other organizations in raising funds through the sale of these coins prompted the Stone Mountain Confederate Monumental Association to seek its own issue which would be designed and sculpted by Gutzon Borglum, who was then still in its good graces. With strong support from President of the United States Calvin Coolidge, a bill was passed March 17, 1924 which authorized the minting of up to five million half dollars honoring the soldiers of the South and the memory of the recently-deceased President Warren G. Harding. In fact, Harding’s portrait appeared in Gutzon Borglum’s first models for this coin but was removed on the instructions of President Coolidge.
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1927 Vermont-Bennington Half Dollar
NGC Research
As the 150th anniversary of this struggle approached, the Vermont Sesquicentennial Commission sought a commemorative coin to mark the event in 1927. Unlike many such groups that had waited until the last minute to apply for their coins or had even gotten them back-dated after a celebration was over, the folks from Vermont appealed to their representatives in Washington as early as 1924. After much wrangling and deal-cutting, the Vermont half dollar was approved February 24, 1925 in a bill that also authorized the Fort Vancouver Centennial half dollar and the California Diamond Jubilee half dollar. The fact that President of the United States Calvin Coolidge was from Vermont certainly must have weighed in its favor.
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1936 Gettysburg Half Dollar
NGC Research
As a souvenir of the occasion, and perhaps to assist in the funding of this event, the Pennsylvania State Commission sought to have a commemorative coin issued. Legislation passed on June 16, 1936 called for the minting of not more than 50,000 half dollars to be coined at a single mint and of a single design. Paul L. Roy, executive secretary of the Commission, hoped that this law could eventually be amended to provide for a three-mint set, but this scheme was steadfastly rejected by Congress, which by then was growing weary of commemorative coins.Hired to prepare the models for this coin was Philadelphia sculptor Frank Vittor. In a departure from most commemorative programs, Vittor’s models as submitted to the federal Commission of Fine Arts were favorably received from the outset, and only minor changes were requested by sculptor member Paul Manship.
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1937 Antietam Half Dollar
NGC Research
Unlike many of its contemporaries, the Antietam half dollar commemorates an event that was of truly national significance. Its coinage was prompted by the Washington County Historical Society of Hagerstown, Maryland, which designated an Antietam Celebration Commission to co-ordinate events marking the battle’s 75th anniversary in 1937. A bill authorizing the coinage of no more than 50,000 Antietam half dollars was passed on June 24 of that year. Recognizing the abuses perpetrated by other coin programs, this legislation specifically required that the coins be struck with a single design and at a single mint. Baltimore sculptor William Marks Simpson was selected to design and model the coin. Simpson was also the creator of commemorative halves for Roanoke and Norfolk.
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Tags: 2010, Classic, Coins, Memorial