Grant Memorial coinage
The Grant Memorial coinage are a gold dollar and silver half dollar struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1922 in honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ulysses S. Grant, a leading Union general during the American Civil War and later the 18th president of the United States. The two coins, identical in design and sculpted by Laura Gardin Fraser, portrayed Grant on the obverse and his birthplace in Ohio on the reverse.
The Ulysses S. Grant Centenary Memorial Association, also called the Grant Commission, wanted to sell 200,000 gold dollars to be able to finance multiple projects in the areas of Grant's birthplace and boyhood home. Congress authorized only 10,000 gold coins, but also authorized 250,000 half dollars. Hoping to boost sales, the Grant Commission asked for 5,000 of the gold dollars to bear a special mark, an incuse star; the Mint did the same for the half dollars as well, unasked for.
All the gold dollars and most of the half dollars were sold, although some half dollars were returned to the Mint for melting. The half dollar with star has long been priced higher than most commemoratives; its rarity has also caused it to be counterfeited. Money from the coins was used to help preserve Grant's birthplace, but other planned projects were not completed.
Background
Hiram Ulysses Grant was born at
The Ulysses S. Grant Centenary Memorial Association was incorporated in 1921 to conduct the celebrations in Clermont County, Ohio, where Point Pleasant is. They sought to have a commemorative coin issued to help defray the costs.[3] In 1922, commemorative coins were not sold by the government—Congress, in authorizing legislation, usually designated an organization that had the exclusive right to purchase them at face value and vend them to the public at a premium.[4] In the case of the Grant Memorial coins, the responsible group was the Association, sometimes called the Grant Commission, of which Hugh L. Nichols was the chairman.[5]
Legislation
A bill for a Grant Memorial gold dollar to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth was introduced into the House of Representatives by
The bill was called up on the House's unanimous consent calendar on October 17, 1921. After the committee amendments were agreed to, Richard W. Parker of New Jersey had a number of questions, querying whether the bill's language meant that the Grant Commission would get the coins for free. He was told by Kearns that the government would be paid for the face value of the coins, and Thomas L. Blanton of Texas added that the U.S. government would charge no premium, but the Grant Commission could. Otis Wingo of Arkansas asked several questions in a colloquy with Kearns, resulting in the House being informed that since the gold coins would be struck from bullion already on hand, and as the bill obliged the Commission to pay for the coinage dies used, there would be no expense to the government. After this exchange, the bill passed without opposition.[8]
Upon reaching the Senate, the House-passed bill was referred to the
As the two chambers had passed different versions, the bill returned to the House of Representatives, where on January 26, Vestal brought the bill up for consideration. With no objection, the House agreed to the Senate amendments, passing the bill.[11] It became law with the signature of President Warren G. Harding on February 2, 1922.[12]
Preparation
The
On February 12, 1922, Laura Fraser wrote to the
Design
The designs for the two coins are identical except for the denomination. Laura Fraser worked from a photograph of Grant, by the studio of Mathew Brady, for the obverse; Taxay described Fraser's version as "remarkable for its strength and character".[17] On the coin, Grant wears a military coat, as he did during the Civil War, but the closely cropped beard suggests he is meant to look as he did in the years after the conflict.[18] Beneath the bust of Grant, facing right, is Fraser's initial G, for her birth last name, Gardin. Arlie L. Slabaugh, in his volume on commemorative coins, noted that Fraser had signed the Alabama coin LGF, and suggested that the single initial was to make less obvious the designer, lest there be charges of nepotism due to her husband's status as a CFA member.[19] Elsewhere on the obverse may be found Grant's name, the centennial dates, the denomination of the coin, and the issuing nation.[19]
The reverse depicts
Art historian
Distribution and collecting
Both the Alabama and the Missouri Centennial half dollar (both 1921) had included a special mark on some of the issued coins, so that collectors would have to buy two coins for a complete set. The Grant Commission sought to do the same for its issues, and instructed the Mint to include a star on half (5,000) of the gold dollars.[26] The star was intended only for the dollar, and the inclusion of the star on some half dollars was "a bonus that greatly surprised the committee".[17] A letter from Philadelphia Mint Superintendent Freas Styer to the Director of the Mint dated March 14, 1922, confirms their telephone conversation that there were to be 5,000 of each denomination coined with a star.[27] As late as May 1922, The Numismatist printed that there was only one variety of half dollar.[18] The star had no relevance to the subject matter of the coin; its sole purpose was to sell more coins.[28] David Bullowa, in his 1938 work on commemoratives, suggested that had they used four stars, it would have denoted Grant's Civil War rank, but the single star was without apparent meaning.[29] In July 1922, Duffield wrote that there were two varieties of the half dollar, stating: "it is said that 5,000 of this variety were received unexpectedly by the committee, and that they are being sold at a higher price than the variety without the star."[30]
The Philadelphia Mint struck 5,006 half dollars with the star and 95,055 without. It also struck 5,016 gold dollars with the star and 5,000 without. All strikings took place in March 1922 with the excess coins over the even thousands reserved for inspection and testing at the 1923 meeting of the annual
In the December 1922 issue of The Numismatist, Nichols placed an advertisement warning that sales would close on January 1, 1923, and offering the no-star half dollar at $.75 each in lots of ten. The half dollar with star could be acquired for $1.50 and the gold dollar with star for $3.50. By then, there was no longer a requirement that silver pieces be purchased to obtain the gold.[33] The Grant Commission sold the entire issue of gold pieces, but returned 750 of the half dollars with stars and 27,650 of those without to the Mint for redemption and melting.[29] Few of the coins went to non-collectors; many of the half dollars and most of the gold pieces went to dealers and coin collectors.[34]
The Grant Commission also sought 150 of each denomination to be struck in
Some of the Grant half dollars without stars were spent, and are worn from the effects of circulation. As the coins entered the secondary market, the half dollar with star especially appreciated in value; by 1935 it sold for $65, the highest value of any U.S. silver commemorative coin. In that year, a dentist from the Bronx, New York purchased several hundred of the half dollars without stars and proceeded to punch stars into them. Other counterfeiting has been done as well.[36]
By 1940, the half dollar without star sold for $1.50 and with star for $37; by 1950 $2.50 and $55, by 1970 $25 and $135.
Money from the coins was used to renovate Grant's birthplace, and to acquire land around it. President Harding spoke at the ceremony there.[40] In 1989, numismatist Ric Leichtung visited the municipalities where the money was to be used. He found Grant's birthplace in Point Pleasant and Grant's old schoolhouse in Georgetown. "There is no highway, no memorial buildings—just the two original structures moldering in Ohio's harsh winters and fierce summers."[41] The Red Book noted, "the buildings and highway never came to fruition".[42]
References
- ^ Slabaugh, p. 52.
- ^ Flynn, pp. 93–94.
- ^ Bullowa, p. 50.
- ^ Slabaugh, pp. 3–5.
- ^ Flynn, p. 94.
- ^ a b "H.R. 6119". May 11, 1921 – via ProQuest.(subscription required)
- ^ House report, pp. 1–2.
- ^ 1921 Congressional Record, Vol. 67, Page 6405 (October 17, 1921)
- ^ Senate report, p. 1.
- ^ 1922 Congressional Record, Vol. 68, Page 1557–1558 (January 23, 1922)
- ^ 1922 Congressional Record, Vol. 68, Page 1773 (January 26, 1922)
- ^ Swiatek & Breen, p. 88.
- ^ Taxay, pp. v–vi.
- ^ Taxay, pp. 59, 61.
- ^ Bowers, pp. 639–640.
- ^ a b Flynn, p. 275.
- ^ a b c d Taxay, p. 61.
- ^ a b Duffield May 1922, p. 228.
- ^ a b c Slabaugh, p. 50.
- ^ Swiatek & Breen, p. 87.
- ^ a b Duffield May 1922, p. 229.
- ^ a b Swiatek, pp. 134–135.
- ^ Vermeule, p. 165.
- ^ Vermeule, pp. 164–165.
- ^ Vermeule, p. 164.
- ^ Bowers, p. 160.
- ^ Flynn, pp. 94, 275.
- ^ Slabaugh, p. 51.
- ^ a b Bullowa, p. 53.
- ^ Duffield July 1922, p. 314.
- ^ Swiatek, p. 135.
- ^ a b Flynn, p. 276.
- ^ "Final sale of Grant Memorial coins (advertisement)". The Numismatist: 524. December 1922.
- ^ Bowers, p. 161.
- ^ Swiatek, p. 134.
- ^ Swiatek & Breen, p. 89.
- ^ Bowers, pp. 164–165.
- ^ a b Yeoman, p. 1061.
- ^ Bowers, pp. 641–642.
- ^ "Hugh L. Nichols (AKA Nicholas)". Supreme Court of Ohio. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
- ^ Leichtung, pp. 1630–1632.
- ^ Yeoman, p. 1060.
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-943161-35-8.
- Bullowa, David M. (1938). "The Commemorative Coinage of the United States 1892–1938". Numismatic Notes and Monographs (83). New York, NY: JSTOR 43607181. (subscription required)
- Duffield, Frank (uncredited) (May 1922). "Grant memorial coins being distributed". The Numismatist. American Numismatic Association: 228–229.
- Duffield, Frank (uncredited) (July 1922). "Two varieties of the Grant half dollar". The Numismatist. American Numismatic Association: 314.
- Flynn, Kevin (2008). The Authoritative Reference on Commemorative Coins 1892–1954. Roswell, GA: Kyle Vick. OCLC 711779330.
- Leichtung, Ric (October 1989). "Forgotten intentions". The Numismatist. American Numismatic Association: 1630–1632. (subscription required)
- 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, IL: KWS Publishers. ISBN 978-0-9817736-7-4.
- Swiatek, Anthony; ISBN 978-0-668-04765-4.
- ISBN 978-0-668-01536-3.
- United States Government Printing Office.
- United States Government Printing Office.
- ISBN 978-0-674-62840-3.
- ISBN 978-0-7948-4580-3.