Long Island Tercentenary 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 Assay Commission; 18,227 melted |
Mint marks | None, all pieces struck at Philadelphia Mint without mint mark. |
Obverse | |
Design | Native American and Dutch settler |
Designer | Howard Kenneth Weinman |
Design date | 1936 |
Reverse | |
Design | Dutch sailing vessel |
Designer | Howard Kenneth Weinman |
Design date | 1936 |
The Long Island Tercentenary half dollar was a commemorative half dollar struck by the
The Long Island Tercentenary Committee wanted a coin to mark the 300th anniversary of the first European settlement there, at modern Flatlands, Brooklyn, New York City. The authorizing bill passed through Congress without opposition. Still, it was amended in the Senate to add protections against past commemorative coin abuses, such as low mintages or an assortment of varieties. On April 13, 1936, the bill became law with the signature of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The coins were not struck until August of that year, too late for the anniversary celebrations, which had been held in May. The coins were placed on sale to the public, and four-fifths of the 100,000 coins sent to the Tercentenary Committee were sold, a result deemed to be successful given the significant issue and a lack of advertising. The remainder was sent back to the Philadelphia Mint for redemption and melting. The half dollar catalogs up to the low hundreds of dollars.
Background and inception
The first European known to have sighted
In 1936, 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 tend them to the public at a premium.[3] In the case of the Long Island half dollar, the responsible group was the Long Island Tercentenary Committee, acting through either its president or its secretary.[4] That committee was formed to organize the anniversary celebrations to take place on Long Island.[5]
Legislation
The political influence of the members of the Tercentenary Committee was sufficient to get a bill into Congress.
In the Senate, the bill was referred to the Committee on Banking and Currency; it was one of several commemorative coin bills to be considered on March 11, 1936, by a subcommittee led by Colorado's Alva B. Adams.[12] Senator Adams had heard of the commemorative coin abuses of the mid-1930s, with issuers increasing the number of coins needed for a complete set by having them issued at different mints with different mint marks; authorizing legislation placed no prohibition on this.[13] Lyman W. Hoffecker, a Texas coin dealer and official of the American Numismatic Association, testified and told the subcommittee that some issues, like the Oregon Trail Memorial half dollar, first struck in 1926, had been issued over the course of years with different dates and mint marks. Other issues had been entirely bought up by single dealers, and some low-mintage varieties of commemorative coins were selling at high prices. The many varieties and inflated prices for some issues that resulted from these practices angered coin collectors trying to keep their collections current.[14]
On March 26, the committee, through Senator Adams, issued a report recommending the bill pass once amended. That amendment required that the coins be struck at only one mint, that they only be issued for a year and bear the date of authorization (1936) regardless of when coined. A minimum of 5,000 and a maximum of 100,000 were to be issued. Adams recommended that these provisions appear in future commemorative coin bills.[15] The Senate considered the bill on March 27, the last in a series of six commemorative coin bills being considered by that body, and like the others, the Long Island bill was amended and passed without debate or dissent.[16]
As the two houses had passed different versions, the bill returned to the House of Representatives, where, on March 30, Cochran asked that the House agree to the Senate amendment.
Preparation
At the recommendation of the federal
On April 19, Howard Weinman wrote to Caemmerer, stating that due to the Tercentenary Committee having gotten off to a late start, only preliminary sketches had been made, and asking at what stage the designs needed to be submitted for approval. Caemmerer replied on the 21st, stating that for purposes of CFA approval, it would be best to send copies of the photographs of the completed plaster model to himself, and to Lee Lawrie, sculptor-member of the CFA. Caemmerer also suggested that Howard Weinman consult his father as to the procedure for submission to the Mint, as Adolph Weinman had done it many times.[24] By May, Howard Weinman had completed his models. Lawrie had a few minor suggestions, but was greatly pleased with the work. The CFA concurred on the 26th, having some additional suggestions, such as placing HALF DOLLAR under the ship on the reverse (something not adopted).[25]
After the CFA granted preliminary approval, Adolph Weinman met with the
Design
The
The reverse depicts a Dutch three-masted ship sailing to the right.[18] The design resembles the depiction of Henry Hudson's ship Halve Maen on the 1935 Hudson Sesquicentennial half dollar but is more stylized.[27] In the waves the ship rides over is the text, IN GOD WE TRUST, with the name of the country and the denomination of the coin surrounding the scene, together with the legend, LONG ISLAND TERCENTENARY.[31]
David Bullowa, in his 1938 volume on commemorative coins, noted that the designs had generally been criticized as a number of previous commemoratives had borne busts in a similar matter to the Long Island piece, and others had depicted ships.
Distribution
A total of 100,053 Long Island Tercentenary half dollars were struck at the Philadelphia Mint during August 1936, with 53 pieces to be retained at the mint to be available for inspection and testing at the 1937 meeting of the annual
In August 1936, examples of the new half dollar were presented by the Tercentenary Commission to President Roosevelt.
Collecting
As the coins sold well, the Long Island Tercentenary half dollar is often considered one of the more common
The Long Island Tercentenary half dollar sold at retail for about $1.25 in uncirculated condition in 1940. It thereafter increased in value, selling for about $4 by 1955, and $140 by 1985.
References
- ^ a b Slabaugh, p. 118.
- ^ Mosterman, Andrea C. (May 22, 2018). "Bringing New Netherland back to Breuckelen: Exploring Brooklyn's Dutch roots". The Gotham Center for New York City History. Archived from the original on April 29, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
- ^ Slabaugh, pp. 3–5.
- ^ Flynn, p. 353.
- ^ "1936 Long Island 50c". Numismatic Guaranty Corporation. Archived from the original on April 11, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- ^ a b Swiatek & Breen, p. 139.
- ^ "H.R. 11323". United States House of Representatives. February 20, 1936. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2019.(subscription required)
- ^ "To authorize the coinage of 50-cent pieces in commemoration of the three-hundredth anniversary of the founding of the first settlement on Long Island, N.Y." United States House of Representatives. February 28, 1936. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2019.(subscription required)
- ^ "SOMERS, Andrew Lawrence, (1895–1949)". United States Congress. Archived from the original on September 21, 2018. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-16-073176-1. Archivedfrom the original on 2014-06-28. Retrieved 2019-08-07.
- ^ 1936 Congressional Record, Vol. 80, Page 3391 (March 6, 1936 Archived May 23, 2019, at the Wayback Machine)
- ^ Senate hearings, pp. title page, 1–2.
- ^ Senate hearings, pp. 11–12.
- ^ Senate hearings, pp. 18–23.
- ^ "To authorize the coinage of 50-cent pieces in commemoration of the three-hundredth anniversary of the founding of the first settlement on Long Island, New York". United States House of Representatives. February 28, 1936. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2019.(subscription required)
- ^ 1936 Congressional Record, Vol. 80, Page 4489–90 (March 27, 1936 Archived May 23, 2019, at the Wayback Machine)
- ^ 1936 Congressional Record, Vol. 80, Page 4601 (March 30, 1936 Archived May 23, 2019, at the Wayback Machine)
- ^ a b c d Slabaugh, p. 117.
- ^ Flynn, p. 116.
- ^ Flynn, p. 293.
- ^ Taxay, pp. v–vi.
- ^ Taxay, p. 185.
- ^ Taxay, pp. 185–86.
- ^ Flynn, pp. 291–92.
- ^ Taxay, pp. 187–88.
- ^ Taxay, pp. 186–89.
- ^ a b c d e "1936 Long Island Tercentenary Commemorative Half Dollar". Coin Update. Archived from the original on December 12, 2018. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
- ^ Flynn, p. 291.
- ^ a b c d Bowers, p. 370.
- ^ a b c Chuck Slater (September 1, 2002). "In 1936, the Island Had Own Half Dollar". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 13, 2017. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ a b c Swiatek, p. 345.
- ^ Bullowa, p. 138.
- ^ Vermeule, p. 195.
- ^ a b c "1936 Long Island Tercentenary Half Dollar Commemorative Coin". My Coin Guides. 23 July 2011. Archived from the original on August 3, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- ^ ProQuest 101805626.(subscription required)
- ^ Swiatek & Breen, p. 140.
- ^ Bowers, p. 373.
- ^ Bowers, p. 374.
- ^ Yeoman, p. 1084.
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: JSTOR 43607181.(subscription required)
- Flynn, Kevin (2008). The Authoritative Reference on Commemorative Coins 1892–1954. Roswell, GA: Kyle Vick. OCLC 711779330.
- 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 Senate Committee on Banking and Currency (March 11, 1936). Coinage of commemorative 50-cent pieces. United States Government Printing Office.
- ISBN 978-0-674-62840-3.
- Yeoman, R. S. (2018). A Guide Book of United States Coins 2014 (Mega Red 4th ed.). Atlanta, GA: Whitman Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-0-7948-4580-3.
External links
- Media related to Long Island Tercentenary half dollar at Wikimedia Commons