The souvenir half dollar marked the 150th anniversary of the founding of Hudson, New York which was named after the explorer Henry Hudson. The designs, by, Chester Beach, shows Hudson’s flagship, the half moon in the obverse and the seal of the City of Hudson on the reverse. Details of the seal include representations of Neptune with trident on a spouting whale and a mermaid blowing a conch shell.
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This issue was struck by commemorate the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Hawaiian Island of Captain James Cook in 1778. The design was sketch by Juliette May Fraser of Honolulu and executed by Chester Beach. Captain Cook is shown on the obverse and native chief on the reverse. The coin was distributed in 1928 and sold for $2 each, the highest initial sale price up to that time.
This coin was struck during 1922 as a centenary souvenir of Ulysses S. Grant’s birth. A star that appeared on the first issues was later removed, creating a second variety. The star has no particular significance. The reverse shows the frame house in Point Pleasant, Ohio, where Grant was born on April 27, 1822. Laura Gardin Fraser designed both the Grant half dollar and gold dollar. Like the half dollar […]
John McLoughlin, shown on the obverse of this coin, built Fort Vancouver ( Washington ) on the Columbia River in 1825. The sale of the coins at $1 each helped to finance the pageant staged for the celebration. Laura Gardin Fraser prepared the models for this coin, which was minted in San Francisco. The S mintmark was omitted. The reverse has a pioneer settler in buckskin suit with a musket […]
The 100th anniversary of the founding of Elgin was marked by a special issue of half dollars in 1936. The proceeds were devoted to financing a Pioneer Memorial statue, which is depicted on the reverse of the coin. The year 1673 bears no relation to the event but refers to the year in which Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette entered Illinois Territory. The designs were prepared by Trygve Rovelstad, who […]
The 300th of the landing of the Swedes in Delaware was the occasion for a souvenir issue of half dollars. The colonists landed on the spot that is now Wilmington and established a church, which is the oldest Protestant church in the United States until used for worship. Their ship Kalmar Nyckel , is shown on the reverse of the coin, and the old Swedes Church is on the observe. […]
This coin type, which was minted for five years, was first struck in 1934 to commemorate the 200th year anniversary of the famous frontiersman’s birth. The change of date to 1935 for the second year’s coinage brought about the addition of the commemorative date 1934 above the words pioneer years. Coinage covered several years, similar to the schedule of Texas issues. The models for this coin were prepared by Augustus […]
The first United States commemorative coin was the Columbian half dollar designed by Olin Lewis Warner. Charles E. Barber engraved the observe, showing the bust of Columbus and George T. Morgan engraved the reverse, representation of Columbus’s flagship the Santa Maria above two hemispheres. The coins were sold for $1 each at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago during 1893.
Souvenirs half dollars were authorized to help finance the extensive celebration marking the sesquicentennial of the founding of Columbia in 1786. A. Wolf Davidson designed the coin which was struck at all three mints and sold in sets. The obverse bears the figure of Justice with sword and scales. At the left is the capitol of 1786, and at the right, the capitol of 1936. A palmetto tree, the state […]
A special coinage of fifty-cent pieces was authorized in commemoration of the centennial of the celebration of Cleveland, Ohio, on the occasion of the Great Lake Exposition held there in 1936. The designs were prepared by Brenda Putnam. Although half the coinage were struck on 1937, all were dated 1936. The obverse has a bust of Moses Cleveland, and the reverse displays a map of the Great Lake region with […]