Fort Vancouver Centennial half dollar
United States | |
Value | 50 cents (0.50 US dollars) |
---|---|
Mass | 12.5 g |
Diameter | 30.61 mm (1.20 in) |
Thickness | 2.15 mm (0.08 in) |
Edge | Reeded |
Composition |
|
Silver | 0.36169 Frontiersman with Mount Hood in background |
Designer | Laura Gardin Fraser |
Design date | 1925 |
The Fort Vancouver Centennial half dollar, sometimes called the Fort Vancouver half dollar, is a
Washington Representative Albert Johnson wanted a coin for Fort Vancouver's centennial celebrations, but was persuaded to accept a medal instead. But when another congressman was successful in amending a coinage bill to add a commemorative, Johnson tacked on language authorizing a coin for Fort Vancouver. The Senate agreed to the changes, and President Calvin Coolidge signed the authorizing act on February 24, 1925.
Fraser was engaged to design the coin on the recommendation of the United States Commission of Fine Arts. The coins were flown from the San Francisco Mint, where they were struck, to Washington state by airplane as a publicity stunt. They sold badly; much of the issue was returned for redemption and melting, and the failure may have been a factor in one official's suicide. Due to the low number of surviving pieces, the coins are valuable today.
Background
Fort Vancouver, on the north bank of the Columbia River in what is today Vancouver, Washington, lay across the river from what would become Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1825 by the Hudson's Bay Company chief factor for the area, Dr. John McLoughlin. The company sought furs and other trade goods, and was in competition with John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company, which had an outpost at what is now Astoria, Oregon. Fort Vancouver was named for the British sea captain George Vancouver,[1] who also gave his name to Vancouver in Canada.[2][3]
Until the
Legislation
The Fort Vancouver Centennial Corporation hoped to sell commemorative half dollars at the planned celebration, and persuaded Representative
Legislation for a Vermont Sesquicentennial half dollar had been introduced by that state's senior senator, Frank Greene, and had passed the Senate.[10] When that bill came to the floor of the House of Representatives on February 16, California Representative John E. Raker moved to amend it to provide for a California Diamond Jubilee half dollar.[11] Vestal asked to be heard in opposition to the amendment, stating that his committee, after recommending the Vermont bill, had decided to promote no further coin bills. He added that because of this, Johnson had agreed to withdraw his bill. The Minority Leader, Democratic Congressman Finis J. Garrett of Tennessee, asked why the committee had not set the rule before considering the Vermont bill, and Vestal admitted it was hard to answer. The House voted, and the amendment was added. Johnson—to applause from his colleagues—moved a further amendment, to add "and Vancouver, Wash."[8] The amendment passed, as did the bill.[8]
Johnson realized that such a simple amendment might not result in a coin being issued. He therefore returned to the House floor soon thereafter, asking that the bill be reconsidered, so he could couch his amendment in the same phrasing as for the other two coins. Once the bill was again being considered, Johnson added his amendment, but Vestal moved that the bill be returned to his committee. Vestal's motion failed, 24 ayes to 67 noes. Lengthy procedural wrangling followed over whether that vote could be objected to because there was no
Preparation
Once the coin had been approved by Congress, the Centennial Corporation submitted plaster models by an unknown artist, whose initials (SB) appeared on the obverse. They were sent to the
Since the Centennial Corporation had decided what design elements it wanted to see on the half dollar, Fraser had to do her own interpretation of the designs SB had essayed. Hired on June 15, she completed her models by July 1, when Louis Ayres, a member of the commission, came to view them. He was enthusiastic, and sent a letter to commission chairman Charles Moore to that effect, writing "the whole coin looks very interesting to me, and I think is mighty good."[18] The models were approved by the commission, and then by Mellon.[18] Dies were prepared at the Philadelphia Mint, then shipped to San Francisco, where the coins were to be struck.[19]
Design
The obverse features a portrait of McLoughlin, facing left. The name of his adopted country overarches him, and his name and 'HALF DOLLAR' are below him, with the centennial dates and 'IN GOD WE TRUST' flanking his bust.[4] Fraser had no likenesses of McLoughlin to work with, and what she based her portrait of him on is unclear.[18] It shows him as an older man than the 41 years he was at the time of Fort Vancouver's founding.[19] The reverse shows an armed frontiersman, dressed in buckskins, with the stockade of Fort Vancouver behind him, and Mt. Hood in the distance. The inscription is somewhat broken up, but is intended to be read as 'FORT VANCOUVER CENTENNIAL VANCOUVER WASHINGTON FOUNDED 1825 BY HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY'. Numismatists have debated whether the absence of a mint mark was intentional; it is the only commemorative coin issue struck at Denver or San Francisco that lacks one.[19] The artist's initials, 'LGF', are at lower right on the reverse, on the other side of the circle from the date '1825'.[4]
Anthony Swiatek and
Production, distribution, and collecting
Only 50,000 of the authorized mintage of 300,000 were coined, plus 28 pieces intended to be sent to Philadelphia to be available for inspection and testing at the 1926 meeting of the annual
The half dollars were intended to help pay for the centennial festivities in Vancouver.[19] These were held from August 17 to 23, with a highlight being a pageant, "The Coming of the White Man", which was "based on historical fact".[23] The coins were sold at $1 each; several hundred were gilded, diminishing their future value as numismatic specimens; others were kept as pocket pieces, or were spent.[19]
The poor sales caused financial problems and may have caused a suicide, for on August 22, Charles A. Watts, secretary of the Centennial Corporation and described by Campbell as the real force behind the coin, killed himself. The day before he died, he told a meeting of the corporation there were funds enough to pay all debts, and that Fraser was not owed any money. Neither proved to be the case, and unpaid bills totaled $6,000, with no money to pay them. In fact, Fraser's fee of $1,200 was outstanding, and she tried to get paid even with the half dollars, but her bill was unsatisfied until a year later, when she was paid by check. The half dollars were not owned by the corporation, as the Vancouver National Bank had advanced money for them. Sales came to a virtual halt by the end of October. Texas coin dealer B. Max Mehl offered to buy the remainder of the issue at face value, but this was rejected as many people had paid $1 for their coins. A total of 35,034 pieces were sent back to the mint for redemption and melting, leaving 14,966 pieces outstanding.[24] According to Swiatek and Breen, "given the remoteness and exclusively local nature of the celebration, it is surprising that as many as fourteen thousand coins were sold."[19]
A sale of 1,000 coins was made to an executive of the
The coins quickly commanded a premium after their 1925 issue due to their scarcity, rising to $10 by 1928 before falling back to $7 by 1930, in
References
- ^ Slabaugh, p. 71.
- ^ a b Bowers, p. 182.
- ^ "Fort Vancouver National Historic Site". National Park Service. Archived from the original on June 11, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- ^ a b c Swiatek & Breen, p. 239.
- ^ Flynn, p. 183.
- ^ Swiatek & Breen, pp. 239–240.
- ^ "68 Bill Profile H.R. 9241 (1923–1925)". Retrieved March 30, 2017 – via ProQuest.; "68 Bill Profile S. 3317 (1923–1925)". Retrieved March 30, 2017 – via ProQuest.
- ^ a b c 1925 Congressional Record, Vol. 71, Page 3879 (February 16, 1925) (subscription required)
- ^ "68 Bill Profile H.R. 12259 (1923–1925)". Retrieved March 30, 2017 – via ProQuest.; "68 Bill Profile S. 4287 (1923–1925)". Retrieved March 30, 2017 – via ProQuest.
- ^ 1925 Congressional Record, Vol. 71, Page 2403 (January 24, 1925) (subscription required); "68 S, 3895 Introduced in Senate" (pdf). United States Senate. January 9, 1925.
- ^ 1925 Congressional Record, Vol. 71, Page 3878 (February 16, 1925) (subscription required)
- ^ 1925 Congressional Record, Vol. 71, Page 3882–3883 (February 16) (subscription required)
- ^ 1925 Congressional Record, Vol. 71, Page 3920 (February 17, 1925) (subscription required)
- ^ 1925 Congressional Record, Vol. 71, Page 3930 (February 17) (subscription required)
- ^ House Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures (June 5, 1947). "Issuance of Commemorative Coins". p. 6. (subscription required)
- ^ Swiatek, p. 207.
- ^ Bowers, p. 182; Taxay, pp. v–vi, 107, 110
- ^ a b c Taxay, p. 110.
- ^ a b c d e f g Swiatek & Breen, p. 240.
- ^ Vermeule, p. 172.
- ^ Vermeule, pp. 171–172.
- ^ Bowers, pp. 182–184.
- ^ "The Fort Vancouver Half Dollar". The Numismatist: 543. October 1925.
- ^ Swiatek, pp. 156–157.
- ^ Swiatek, pp. 157–158.
- ^ Bowers, p. 186.
- ^ Yeoman 2017, p. 300.
- ^ Yeoman 2015, p. 1134.
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-943161-35-8.
- Flynn, Kevin (2008). The Authoritative Reference on Commemorative Coins 1892–1954. Roswell, Georgia: Kyle Vick. OCLC 711779330.
- Slabaugh, Arlie R. (1975). United States Commemorative Coinage (second ed.). Racine, Wisconsin: 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.
- ISBN 978-0-674-62840-3.
- ISBN 978-0-7948-4307-6.
- ISBN 978-0-7948-4506-3.
External links
- Media related to Fort Vancouver Centennial half dollar at Wikimedia Commons