Maine Centennial half dollar
United States | |
Value | 50 cents or 0.50 Reeded |
---|---|
Composition |
|
Silver | 0.36169 Assay Commission |
Mint marks | None, all pieces struck at the Philadelphia Mint without mint mark |
Obverse | |
Design | Arms of Maine |
Designer | Anthony de Francisci, based on sketches by Harry Cochrane |
Design date | 1920 |
Reverse | |
Design | Pine wreath |
Designer | Anthony de Francisci, based on sketches by Harry Cochrane |
Design date | 1920 |
The Maine Centennial half dollar is a
Officials in Maine wanted a commemorative
Fifty thousand pieces, half the authorized mintage, were struck for release to the public. They were issued too late to be sold at the centennial celebrations in Portland, but eventually the coins were all sold, though relatively few went to coin collectors. Today they list for hundreds to thousands of dollars, depending on condition.
Inception and legislation
Governor Carl Milliken and the council of Maine wanted a half dollar issued to commemorate the centennial of the state's 1820 admission to the Union. Initially, the idea was to have a circulating commemorative that could advertise the centennial celebrations in Maine. Later, after federal authorizing legislation for the coin was approved by Congress, the centennial commission decided to sell the coins for $1 each, rather than letting them pass from hand to hand in circulation.[1]
That legislation for a Maine Centennial half dollar had been introduced in the House of Representatives by the state's
Three coinage bills—Maine Centennial, Alabama Centennial, and Pilgrim Tercentenary—were considered in that order by the House of Representatives on April 21, 1920. After Peters addressed the House in favor of the Maine bill, Connecticut's
The following day, April 22, 1920, the House reported its passage of the Maine bill to the Senate.
Preparation
Sketches for a design were prepared by artist Harry Cochrane of
Moore in his letter urged a change of design, stating that the sketch, if translated into a coin, "would bring humiliation to the people of Maine".[1] However, Maine officials refused and insisted on the submitted sketches.[14] After discussions among Peters, Moore, and various officials, an agreement was reached whereby the sketches would be converted into plaster models, and Fraser engaged his onetime student, Anthony de Francisci, to do the work. The younger sculptor completed the work by early July, and the models were approved by the Commission on July 9.[15] The Engraving Department at the Philadelphia Mint created the coin dies utilizing de Francisci's models.[14] Either Chief Engraver George T. Morgan, or his assistant, future chief engraver John R. Sinnock, changed the moose and pine tree on the coin from being in relief (as in de Francisci's models), to be sunken into the coin. This was probably in an attempt to improve the striking quality of the coins, and if so, had limited success, as the full detail would not appear on many coins.[16]
Design
The
Numismatist Don Taxay, in his volume on the history of commemorative coins, speculated that "De [sic] Francisci did not altogether favor them".[19] According to Taxay, the two human figures on the obverse "were too small to retain their beauty after reduction [from the plaster models to coin size] and seem trivial. The reverse, with its wreath of pine cones, is eminently uninspired."[19] Arlie Slabaugh, in his volume on commemoratives, noted that the half dollar "does not resemble the work by the same sculptor for the Peace dollar the following year [1921]."[20]
Art historian
Production, distribution, and collecting
Celebrations for the state's centennial were held in Maine's largest city,
In the late summer of 1920, a total of 50,028 Maine Centennial half dollars were produced at the Philadelphia Mint, including 28 pieces reserved for inspection and testing at the 1921 meeting of the annual
Relatively few were sold to the coin collecting community, and the majority of surviving specimens display the effects of careless handling. The 2015 deluxe edition of Richard S. Yeoman's A Guide Book of United States Coins lists the coin at $140 to $685, depending on condition—an exceptional piece sold for $7,050 in 2014.[28]
References
Citations
- ^ a b Bowers, pp. 135–36.
- ^ a b "Maine Statehood 100th Anniversary 50-Cent Piece". Retrieved July 30, 2016 – via ProQuest.
- ^ House hearings, pp. 3–5.
- ^ House hearings, pp. 2–4, 8–9.
- OL 18296332M.
- ^ 1920 Congressional Record, Vol. 66, Page 5947 (April 21, 1920) (subscription required)
- ^ 1920 Congressional Record, Vol. 66, Page 5947–5950 (April 21, 1920) (subscription required)
- ^ 1920 Congressional Record, Vol. 66, Page 5966 (April 22, 1920) (subscription required)
- ^ 1920 Congressional Record, Vol. 66, Page 6202 (April 28, 1920) (subscription required)
- ^ 1920 Congressional Record, Vol. 66, Page 6443 (May 3, 1920) (subscription required)
- ^ 1920 Congressional Record, Vol. 66, Page 6454 (May 3, 1920) (subscription required)
- ^ "The home of Harry Cochrane". The Gardiner Journal. Vol. 3, no. 40. Gardiner, Maine. December 9, 1920. p. 1 – via Community History Archive of the Gardiner Public Library.
- ^ Taxay, pp. 39–40.
- ^ a b Bowers, p. 136.
- ^ Taxay, pp. 40–42.
- ^ Swiatek & Breen, pp. 147, 150.
- ^ Swiatek, pp. 110–11.
- ^ Swiatek & Breen, p. 147.
- ^ a b Taxay, p. 42.
- ^ Slabaugh, p. 41.
- ^ a b Vermeule, p. 159.
- ^ Vermeule, p. 160.
- ^ a b Flynn, pp. 296–97.
- ^ a b Swiatek, p. 111.
- ^ a b Flynn, p. 120.
- ^ Bowers, p. 137.
- ^ Bowers, p. 138.
- ^ Yeoman, p. 1125.
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-943161-35-8.
- 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: 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 Maine Centennial half dollar at Wikimedia Commons