Alabama Centennial half dollar
United States | |
Value | 50 cents (0.50 Reeded |
---|---|
Composition |
|
Silver | 0.36169 Assay Commission With "2X2": 6,006 including 6 assay pieces |
Mint marks | None, all pieces struck at the William Bibb |
Designer | Laura Gardin Fraser |
Design date | 1921 |
Reverse | |
Design | Adaptation of the State Seal of Alabama. |
Designer | Laura Gardin Fraser |
Design date | 1921 |
The Alabama Centennial half dollar, or Alabama half dollar, was a commemorative fifty-cent coin struck by the
Alabama Congressman
The half dollars were not issued until October 1921, apparently because the initial decision to depict President Wilson, a Democrat, on the coin might be reversed depending on the results of the
Inception
Alabama was admitted to the Union in 1819, and celebrated its centennial in 1919. The Alabama Centennial Commission sponsored local celebrations in the state in 1919 and 1920, but was beginning to wind down its operations before it began the push for a centennial coin. Numismatists Anthony Swiatek and
In 1920, commemorative coins were not sold by the government—Congress, in authorizing legislation, usually designated an organization which had the exclusive right to purchase them at face value and vend them to the public at a premium.[3] Although not mentioned in the legislation, in the case of the Alabama Centennial half-dollar, the centennial commission was the authorized group.[1]
Legislation
Rainey introduced legislation for an Alabama Centennial half-dollar in the House of Representatives on February 28, 1920, with the bill designated as H.R. 12824.
The three coinage bills—Maine Centennial, Alabama Centennial, and Pilgrim Tercentenary—were considered in that order by the House of Representatives on April 21, 1920. As the Maine piece was considered, Ohio's Warren Gard asked questions about the bill's provisions, though he did not object to its passage. When the Alabama bill came to the floor, Vestal yielded time for a statement in favor from Rainey, which began with a brief explanation of the bill followed by a much longer paean to the glorious history of his home state, and his conclusion drew applause.[8] Gard then questioned Vestal, and learned that another coin, the Pilgrim one, was next on the House's agenda. Gard expressed his concerns about commemorative coins, "but for the life of me I can not see what advantage there is for a State celebration to gather up a lot of coins with a particular stamp on them. It seems to me rather to cheapen the national coin. because it looks like an old-fashioned medal at a county fair rather than the half-dollar of the daddies, to use the old expression.[b] I think that these propositions are open to serious objection, which, of course, should be voiced to the Secretary of the Treasury."[9] Vestal agreed to pass on Gard's concerns to Secretary Houston, and the Alabama bill passed without dissent, to be followed by the Pilgrim one, again after questioning from Gard.[9]
The following day, April 22, 1920, the House notified the Senate of its passage of the Alabama bill.
On May 3, McLean asked that the three coin bills (Maine, Alabama and Pilgrim) be considered by the Senate immediately, rather than waiting their turns, but Utah Senator Reed Smoot objected: Smoot's attempt to bring up an anti-dumping trade bill had just been objected to by Charles S. Thomas of Colorado. Smoot, however, stated if the bills had not been reached by about 2:00 pm, there would probably not be any objection.[12] When McLean tried again to advance the coin bills, Kansas' Charles Curtis asked if there was any urgency. McLean replied that as the three coin bills were to mark ongoing anniversaries, there was a need to have them authorized and get the production process started. All three bills passed the Senate without opposition[13] and the Alabama bill was enacted with the signature of President Woodrow Wilson on May 10, 1920.[4]
Preparation
Alabama Governor
Swiatek and Breen described the Alabama half-dollar as caught up in the
Design
The obverse of the coin features jugate busts of Bibb, Alabama's first governor as a state, and the incumbent in 1919, Kilby. In so appearing, Kilby became the first living person depicted on a U.S. coin.[18][19] Anthony Swiatek, in his volume on commemoratives, averred that the issuance was not controversial at the time, as the Act of May 16, 1866, that forbids the depiction of living people on currency was deemed to refer to paper money only,[20] but Q. David Bowers wrote that the portrayal caused contemporary comment, for the position of the federal government (excepting some paper money issues of the 19th century) was that living people should not appear on U.S. money.[21] A total of 22 stars flank the busts, symbolic of Alabama being the 22nd state; a message reinforced on those pieces bearing the inscription 2X2 in the obverse field. The X in that inscription alludes to the St. Andrew's cross on the flag of Alabama. The date, the names of the governors, and various other wordings appear towards the rim of the obverse.[18]
The reverse features an eagle, possessing arrows and a shield, but no olive branch to symbolically counter the instruments of war; matched branches and arrows are often present in
Bowers complained that the centennial dates on the reverse, plus the 1921 for the year of striking, lead to "a bewildering confusion of dates to the casual observer".[21] Numismatic historian Don Taxay deemed the half-dollar "one of the most successful portrait coins in the commemorative series. The heads of Bibb and Kilby are true, and yet contain more than a touch of the ideal. They are beautifully related to each other. The eagle is equally fine".[16]
Art historian
Production, distribution, and collecting
James Fraser had suggested to Fine Arts Commission chairman Moore that the Alabama committee be told that the
Alabama half dollars were first placed on sale on October 26, 1921, the day of President Harding's visit to Birmingham, Alabama, where he as a Mason laid the cornerstone for the city's new Masonic temple, and as president addressed a segregated crowd, urging improvement of race relations. Coins were sold from specially-built booths constructed just off the city's sidewalks. It is uncertain whether these coins bore the 2X2 or not. Official records show that all the coins struck in October were of the 2X2 variety, and this was long accepted by numismatic historians. However, one coin collector recalled buying two of the half dollars that day, and over fifty later, all of the plain variety, and averred that none of the 2X2 could have been sold in Birmingham on the first day. As Owen wrote that the first 5,000 received bore the mark, Swiatek concluded that 1,000 of the October mintage was of the plain variety, all that was for sale in Birmingham. In December, 64,038 more were minted, with 38 set aside for assay. These were recorded to be of the plain variety. Both 2X2 and plain coins were struck from the same die; the mark was ground off to allow coinage of plain pieces.[23][24]
Both varieties were sold by the centennial commission for $1, and primarily went to citizens of Alabama;[2] banks throughout the state vended them.[25] When they could not be sold, 5,000 of the plain variety were returned to the Mint and melted.[26]
Although the 2X2 coins are only a tenth of the total mintage, they are considerably more common than that, as people were aware of their scarcity, with more saved and fewer spent in hard times.
See also
- Early United States commemorative coins
- Half dollar (United States coin)
Notes
- Joseph Taylor Robinson on the Arkansas-Robinson half dollar and Carter Glass on the Lynchburg Sesquicentennial half dollar.
- ^ The "dollar of the daddies" was one way that advocates of free silver called the U.S. dollar of old, which from 1792 had been equivalent to a set amount of either gold or silver, until the passage of the Coinage Act of 1873. For further background, see Cross of Gold speech.
- ^ Vermeule, following the original sketches for the half-dollar that would have put the date of issue on the side with the eagle, considered the side with the busts the reverse, in opposition to present-day numismatic practice, which considers it the obverse.
References
- ^ a b c d Swiatek & Breen, p. 2.
- ^ a b c Flynn, p. 40.
- ^ Slabaugh, pp. 3–5.
- ^ a b "66 Bill Profile H.R. 12824 (1919–1921)". Retrieved May 29, 2016 – via ProQuest.
- ^ House hearings, pp. 3–5.
- ^ Burdette, Roger (August 3, 2009). "Lifting the veils from the 1933 double eagle". Coin World. pp. 1, 104.
- ^ House Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures (March 27, 1920). "Coinage of 25-Cent Piece in Commemoration of Admission of State of Alabama into the Union" (PDF).
- ^ 1920 Congressional Record, Vol. 66, Page 5947–5950 (April 21, 1920)
- ^ a b 1920 Congressional Record, Vol. 66, Page 5950 (April 21, 1920)
- ^ 1920 Congressional Record, Vol. 66, Page 5966 (April 22, 1920)
- ^ 1920 Congressional Record, Vol. 66, Page 6202 (April 28, 1920)
- ^ 1920 Congressional Record, Vol. 66, Page 6443 (May 3, 1920)
- ^ 1920 Congressional Record, Vol. 66, Page 6454 (May 3, 1920)
- ^ Taxay, pp. 45–46.
- ^ Swiatek & Breen, pp. 2–3.
- ^ a b Taxay, p. 47.
- ^ Stang, Carl (July 2013). "Canine and Equine: The Art of Laura Gardin Fraser". The Numismatist: 35.
- ^ a b c Swiatek & Breen, pp. 1–2.
- ^ "Living Men on the Nation's Coins". United States Mint. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
- ^ Swiatek, p. 122.
- ^ a b Bowers, p. 148.
- ^ a b Vermeule, p. 164.
- ^ a b Swiatek, pp. 121–125.
- ^ a b Sinclair, pp. 230–234.
- ^ Swiatek & Breen, p. 3.
- ^ Flynn, pp. 40–41.
- ^ Bowers, p. 151.
- ^ Yeoman, p. 1126.
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-943161-35-8.
- Flynn, Kevin (2008). The Authoritative Reference on Commemorative Coins 1892–1954. Roswell, GA: Kyle Vick. OCLC 711779330.
- Sinclair, Andrew (1969) [1965]. The Available Man: The Life behind the Masks of Warren Gamaliel Harding (1st Quadrangle Paperback ed.). Chicago, IL: Quadrangle Books. OCLC 422550801.[permanent dead link]
- Slabaugh, Arlie R. (1975). United States Commemorative Coinage (second ed.). Racine, WI: Whitman Publishing. ISBN 978-0-307-09377-6.
- Swiatek, Anthony (2012). Encyclopedia of the Commemorative Coins of the United States. Chicago: KWS Publishers. ISBN 978-0-9817736-7-4.
- Swiatek, Anthony; ISBN 978-0-668-04765-4.
- ISBN 978-0-668-01536-3.
- United States House of Representatives Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures (March 26, 1920). Authorizing Coinage of Memorial 50-Cent Piece for the State of Alabama. United States Government Printing Office.
- ISBN 978-0-674-62840-3.
- ISBN 978-0-7948-4307-6.
External links
- Media related to Alabama Centennial half dollar at Wikimedia Commons