In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of the city of Bridgeport, a special fifty-cent piece was authorized on May 15, 1936. Henry Kreis designed this coin. The head of P. T. Barnum Bridgeport’s best-known citizen, occupies the obverse. An art deco eagle dominates the reverse.
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On June 16, 1936, Congress authorized the coinage of fifty-cent pieces in commemoration of 1863 Battle of Gettysburg. The models were prepared by Frank Vittor, a Pittsburg sculptor. Portraits of a Union and a confederate veteran are shows on the obverse. On the reverse are two shields, representing the Union and Confederate armies, separated by a double-bladed fasces.
This souvenir issue marked the 100th anniversary of the admission of Arkansas into the Union. Edward Everett Burr design the piece, the models were prepared by Emily Bates or Arkansas. Although 1936 was the centennial year, the first of several issues as brought out in 1935 from all three mints. The 1936 through 1939 issue were the same as those of 1935 except for the dates. They were sold by […]
A new reverse design for the Arkansas Centennial coin was authorized by the act of June 26, 1936. Senator Joseph T. Robinson, still living at this time his portrait was used, was the subject for the new issue engraved by Henry Kreis. The obverse, designed by Everett Burr, was unchanged. The law specified a change in the reverse, because of the fact that the obverse side is that which bears […]
The 150th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence was the occasion of an international fair held in the Philadelphia in 1926. To help raise funds for financing the fair, special issues of half dollars and quarter eagles were authorized by Congress. For the first time, a portrait of a President appeared on a coin struck during his own lifetime. President Calvin Coolidge and George Washington are depicted […]
The 250th anniversary of the granting of a charter to the city of Albany was the occasion for this commemorative of half dollar. The reverse design shows Governor Thomas Dongan, Peter Schuyler, and Robert Livingston. The obverse depicts a beaver gnawing on a maple branch. Gertrude K. Lathrop of Albany was the designer.
The Alabama half dollars were authorized in 1920 for the statehood centennial, which was celebrated in 1919, but they were not struck until 1921. The coins, designed by Laura Gardin Fraser, were first offered during President Warren Harding’s visit to Birmingham, October 26, 1921. The St. Andrew’s cross, an emblem on the state flag, appears on a part of the issue between the numbers in “2×2” indicating it was the […]
The first commemorative coin was a silver half dollar issued in 1892 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ expedition to America and discovery of the New World. This marked the beginning of Early Commemorative coinage, which actually consists of coins minted from 1892 to 1954, when the Booker T. Washington coin was issued. Instead of raising taxes, the profits generated from the retail of commemorative coins were used […]