Connecticut Tercentenary half dollar

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Connecticut Tercentenary half dollar
United States
Value50 cents (0.50 US dollars)
Mass12.5 g
Diameter30.61 mm (1.20 in)
Thickness2.15 mm (0.08 in)
EdgeReeded
Composition
Silver0.36169 troy oz
Years of minting1935
Mintage25,018 including 18 pieces for the Assay Commission
Mint marksNone, all pieces struck at the Philadelphia Mint without mint mark
Obverse
DesignCharter Oak
DesignerHenry Kreis
Design date1935
Reverse
DesignEagle
DesignerHenry Kreis
Design date1935

The Connecticut Tercentenary half dollar, sometimes called the Connecticut half dollar, is a

United States Bureau of the Mint in 1935. The coin was designed by Henry Kreis and commemorates the 300th anniversary of the founding of Connecticut. Its obverse depicts the Charter Oak, where according to legend Connecticut's charter was hidden to save it from being confiscated by the English
governor-general. An eagle appears on the coin's reverse side.

The Connecticut Tercentenary Commission wanted a half dollar issued, with proceeds from its sale to further its projects. A bill passed through

Commission of Fine Arts, and then by the Treasury Department
.

The

numismatic
writers. The coins sold for $1, but have gained in value over the years and sell in the hundreds of dollars, depending on condition.

Background

Although settlers had been drifting into what soon became the

Restoration of Charles II, Winthrop went to England where he was able to secure a charter for Connecticut, signed by the king, dated May 10, 1662.[1]

50 State Quarters
series also displays the Charter Oak.

Following Charles' death in 1685,

white oak as much as 1,000 years old, growing on the property of the Wyllys family.[3] After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which overthrew James, the charter was brought forth again. The Charter Oak was uprooted in a storm on the night of August 21, 1856.[2]

In 1935, it was not the practice of the government to sell commemorative coins. Congress, during the early years of commemorative coinage, usually designated a specific organization allowed to buy them at face value and to sell them to the public at a premium.[4][5] In the case of the Connecticut Tercentenary half dollar, the enabling legislation specified that the authorized organization was to be the Connecticut Tercentenary Commission, and that the proceeds were to go towards financing the commission's projects.[6]

Legislation

Legislation for a Connecticut Tercentenary half dollar was introduced in the

Andrew Somers with a one-page report recommending that the bill pass after being amended. The most significant changes were an increase in the authorized mintage from 10,000 to 25,000 and a requirement that the federal government not be put to any expense in the creation of the models from which dies to strike the coins could be prepared. Thus, the Tercentenary Commission was supposed to pay for a sculptor to design the coin.[8]

The bill was considered by the House of Representatives on May 21, 1934. There was no debate; the only questions were by

Frederic Walcott reported the bill back to the Senate with a recommendation that it pass,[10] and on June 13 it did so, without any recorded debate or questions.[11] President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the bill into law on June 21.[12]

Preparation

The design of the Connecticut Tercentenary half dollar was a

Mary M. O'Reilly.[14]

Lawrie had a number of criticisms, feeling the eagle's head and feet were more like those of a hawk and that the stars between the eagle and the name of the country were so small as to be indistinguishable. Swartwout wrote to Moore on the 15th, telling him that the coin was strongly supported by art history professor Theodore Sizer of Yale University, a member of the Tercentenary Commission. The Fine Arts Commission viewed the models on December 6 and approved them subject to Lawrie's criticisms being addressed, which they were, for the most part. Lawrie had disliked the broken branch on the right side of the Charter Oak and wanted it changed, but this was not done. The final models were approved by the Fine Arts Commission in early February, and the Treasury Department added its endorsement on February 6.[15] The models were reduced to coin-sized hubs by the Medallic Art Company of New York; these were shipped to the Philadelphia Mint and used to make dies with which to strike the coins.[16]

Design

Painting of an oak tree
Charles Brownell's 1857 painting of the Charter Oak

The obverse of the coin depicts the Charter Oak and is based on a painting by

E PLURIBUS UNUM to the left of the bird's legs.[17] Thirteen stars, representing the original American colonies, lie between the eagle and the lettering, but are so faint as to be invisible on some strikings.[16]

Stuart Mosher, in his 1940 book on commemoratives, described the Connecticut piece as "among the most handsome of the entire series. The very simplicity with which the artist has portrayed the massive oak is pleasing to the most critical."

Bridgeport half dollar.[12]

Augustus Saint-Gaudens' Indian Head eagle (1907)
Augustus Saint-Gaudens' Indian Head eagle (1907)

Art historian

Cornelius Vermeule, in his volume on the artistry of U.S. coins and medals, stated that Kreis "used the great oak ... as a most effective composition on the obverse, and a massive eagle, thrusting like a rocket, on the reverse".[20] He noted, "all elements of the Connecticut Tercentenary coin blend superbly, the mottos and aphorisms disappearing amid the leafy clusters on the obverse and the balance of the opposite side as successful as for the Eagle of 1907 (by Augustus Saint-Gaudens)".[20]

Production, distribution, and collecting

Initially only 15,000 of the authorized quantity of 25,000 were struck at the Philadelphia Mint, as this was the quantity the Tercentenary Commission at first ordered. These were struck not later than April 10, 1935, and were sent at the commission's request to the Hartford National Bank and Trust Company, distributing agent for the coin. Placed on sale on April 21, they were rapidly exhausted, and on April 25, Fisher ordered the remaining 10,000. The commission had enquired as to the possibility of having the coins struck at different mints and in

Assay Commission.[23] The United States Post Office Department issued a three-cent stamp for the anniversary on April 26, 1935, also depicting the Charter Oak.[16]

Postage stamp depicting a tree
The three-cent stamp issued for the Connecticut Tercentenary, displaying the Charter Oak

Six banks in Connecticut distributed the coin through their branches, placing them in small boxes bearing the selling bank's name.[24] Mail orders were taken through the Hartford National Bank's Main Street branch. The coins sold mostly to residents of Connecticut; the coin collecting community took only a few thousand. By July 1935, they were sold out but for a few the Tercentenary Commission was reserving for presentation to dignitaries; even those few were apparently gone by September. According to Q. David Bowers, "there was never any problem concerning profiteering, exploitation, or anything else connected with this issue".[25] Swiatek, in his later book on commemoratives, noted, "the Connecticut Tercentenary Commission did a fantastic job in distributing a large percentage of this issue to Connecticut residents."[26]

The coins quickly commanded a premium after their 1935 issue, rising to $6 during the commemorative coin boom of 1936. They had subsided back to the $2.50 level by 1940, but thereafter increased steadily in value, rising to $730 during the second commemorative coin boom in 1980.

highest grade known sold at auction in 2002 for $9,487.[3][27]

References

  1. ^ Slabaugh, pp. 97–98.
  2. ^ a b Slabaugh, p. 98.
  3. ^ a b Flynn, p. 85.
  4. ^ Taxay, pp. v–vii.
  5. ^ Slabaugh, pp. 3–5.
  6. Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 73–446
  7. ^ "73 Bill Profile H.R. 8833 (1933–1934)". Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2017 – via ProQuest.
  8. ^ "Coinage of 50-cent pieces in commemoration of 300th anniversary of founding of Colony of Connecticut" (pdf). United States House of Representatives. Archived from the original on 2022-04-12. Retrieved 2017-04-14.
  9. ^ 1934 Congressional Record, Vol. 78, Page 9181 (May 21, 1934) (subscription required)
  10. ^ 1934 Congressional Record, Vol. 78, Page 10174 (June 1, 1934) (subscription required)
  11. ^ 1934 Congressional Record, Vol. 78, Page 11276 (June 13, 1934) (subscription required)
  12. ^ a b c Bowers, p. 289.
  13. ^ a b Bowers, p. 290.
  14. ^ Taxay, pp. v–vi, 156–157.
  15. ^ Taxay, pp. 157–160.
  16. ^ a b c d Swiatek & Breen, p. 77.
  17. ^ Flynn, p. 84.
  18. ^ Taxay, p. 157.
  19. ^ Swiatek & Breen, p. 75.
  20. ^ a b Vermeule, p. 187.
  21. ^ Flynn, pp. 271–272.
  22. ^ a b Bowers, p. 292.
  23. ^ Swiatek, p. 243.
  24. ^ Swiatek, pp. 245–248.
  25. ^ Bowers, p. 291.
  26. ^ Swiatek, p. 244.
  27. ^ a b Yeoman, p. 1143.

Sources

External links
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