The coin commemorated the 400th anniversary of the overland trek of the Cabeza de Vaca Expedition through the Gulf states in 1535. The coin was designed by L. W. Hoffecker, and models were prepared by Edmund J. Sen. The explorer’s name literally translated means “head of a cow”; therefore, the device was chosen for the obverse. The reverse bears a yucca tree and a map showing the Old Spanish Trail.
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The opening of San Francisco Bay Bridge was the occasion of a special souvenir fifty-cent piece. The designs were the work of Jacques Schnier, a San Francisco artist. A California grizzly bear dominates the obverse. The famous landmark bridge is shown on the reverse. The coins were struck at the San Francisco Mint in November 1936. The bear depicted was a composite of animals in local zoos.
To provide funds for the celebration of Norfolk’s anniversary of its growth from a township in 1682to a royal borough in 1736, Congress first passed a law for the striking for medals. The proponents, however, being dissatisfied, finally succeeded in winning authority for half dollars commemorating the 300th anniversary of the original Norfolk land grant the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the borough. William Marks Simpson and his wife, […]
The California film industry promoted this issue in conjunction with a motion picture exposition held in June 1923. The obverse shows the heads of James Monroe and John Quincy Adams, who were identified with Monroe Doctrine. The Western hemisphere is portrayed on the reverse in forms that suggest two female figures. Chester Beach prepared the models for this coin.
The 100th anniversary of the admission of Missouri to the Union was celebrated at Sedalia during August 1921. To mark the occasion, Congress authorized the coinage of fifty-cent piece. Robert Aitken designed the coin, which shows the bust of a frontiersman on the obverse, and another frontiersman and Indian on the reverse. The first struck show 2 *star* 4 incused, indicating that Missouri was the 24th star in the flag. […]
The sale of the McKinley dollars aided in paying for a memorial building at Niles, Ohio, the martyred president’s birthplace. The obverse, showing a profile of McKinley, was designed by Charles E. Barber; the reverse, with the memorial building, was designed by George T. Morgan.
The 300th anniversary of the founding of the Maryland Colony by Cecil Calvert (known as Lord Baltimore) was the occasion for this special coin. The profits from the sale of this issue were used to finance the celebration in Baltimore during 1934. Hans Schuler designs the coin, which shows the facing head of Lord Baltimore on the obverse and the arms of Maryland on the reverse, reminiscent of the Maryland […]
Congress authorized the Maine Centennial half dollar on May 10, 1920, to be sold at the centennial celebration at Portland. They were received too late for this event and were sold by the state treasurer many years. Anthony de Francisci modeled this coin from a design by Harry H. Cochrane. The obverse device is the arms of the state Maine; the latin word DIRIGO means “I Direct”.
The issuance of a charter to the city of Lynchburg, in 1786, was commemorated in 1936 by a special coinage of half dollars. The models for the coins were prepared by Charles Keck. The obverse bears a portrait of Senator Charter Glass, a native of Lynchburg and former secretary of the Treasury, who objected to the idea of using portrait of living men or coins. Despite his mile protests, his […]
The first souvenir US gold coins were authorized for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition held in St. Louis in 1904. There are two varieties of the gold dollar – one with the head of Thomas Jefferson, who was president when the Louisiana Territory was purchased from France, and the other with President William McKinley, who sanctioned the exposition. The reverse is the same for each variety. The designs were by Charles […]