Vermont Sesquicentennial 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 troy oz |
Years of minting | 1927 |
Mintage | 40,034 including 34 pieces for the Assay Commission (11,892 melted) |
Mint marks | None, all pieces struck at the Philadelphia Mint without mint mark |
Obverse | |
Design | Ira Allen |
Designer | Charles Keck |
Design date | 1927 |
Reverse | |
Design | Catamount |
Designer | Charles Keck |
Design date | 1927 |
The Vermont Sesquicentennial half dollar, sometimes called the Bennington–Vermont half dollar or the Battle of Bennington Sesquicentennial half dollar, is a
On January 9, 1925, Vermont Senator
There was a lengthy battle over the design between the
Background
In the days before the American Revolutionary War, the ownership of what is now the state of Vermont was uncertain. New Hampshire claimed it, deeming its own western boundary to be 20 miles (32 km) east of the Hudson River; the colony of New York believed it owned the territory north of Massachusetts east to the Connecticut River.[1] British authorities awarded the land to New York in 1764, but settlers felt more affinity with New Hampshire, from which they had secured land grants. When New York issued grants for the same real estate, there was conflict between the two groups of settlers, and those deriving title from New Hampshire organized the Green Mountain Boys, a local militia. At first, the Boys concentrated on fending off unwanted settlers from New York, but after the war began in 1775, they turned their attention to the British.[2]
Brothers
In 1777, the British general,
Legislation
Legislation for a silver fifty-cent piece and a gold one-dollar piece in commemoration of the 150th anniversaries of the Battle of Bennington and of the independence of Vermont was introduced in the Senate by that state's Frank Greene on January 9, 1925.[6] Greene had not always been a friend to commemorative coins: when the Monroe Doctrine Centennial half dollar was debated in 1922, he commented, "the question is whether the United States Government is going to go on from year to year submitting its coinage to this—well—harlotry."[7] His bill was referred to the Committee on Banking and Currency.[6] Greene, a member of that committee, reported the bill back to the Senate on January 20, with an amendment and a recommendation that it pass.[8] The amendment deleted the proposed one-dollar piece and increased the mintage of the half dollar from 20,000 to 40,000. On January 24, New Hampshire's George H. Moses, acting on Greene's behalf, moved that the Senate consider the bill, and it passed that body without opposition.[9]
After the House received the Senate-passed bill, it was referred to the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures,
Vermont Representative Frederick G. Fleetwood addressed the committee. O'Reilly had indicated that coins were being requested for local celebrations, and Fleetwood stressed the importance in American history of the events that were being commemorated.[12] Vestal and others supported a ban on the committee passing further commemorative coin bills, but wanted the Vermont bill to pass. For one thing, as Massachusetts' Robert M. Leach noted, President Calvin Coolidge was a Vermonter by birth. The Treasury officials were willing to support striking a medal rather than a coin, but as Illinois' Morton D. Hull pointed out, the sellers preferred a coin that could be spent if there was an unsold surplus, over a medal that could not. Leach's attitude toward approving more commemorative coins was typical: "I believe we have been going too fast, and I believe at some time we ought to quit it, but I dislike quitting on these gentlemen representing the State of Vermont this morning."[13] Vestal issued a report the same day, stating that the committee was against more commemorative coin issues, but that the Bennington issue should pass because of the national importance of the events of 1777, and because the issue of 40,000 was relatively small.[14]
The bill came to the floor of the House of Representatives on February 16. As soon as the bill was read, California Representative
Preparation
After the approval of the legislation, the Vermont Sesquicentennial Commission moved quickly to secure designs to be used for the half dollar. Members decided to have the coin show Ira Allen on the obverse, and the
Moore wrote to Spargo on September 18, stating that his commission had approved the head of Allen but was dissatisfied with the lettering. Spargo had mentioned that President Coolidge liked the Bennington Monument, and Moore stated that the Fine Arts Commission was anxious to get right a coin for the president's state of birth; Fry, he wrote, had the talent to design a handsome coin, but had not done so. The next day, Spargo replied, hopeful that they would soon resolve the dispute. He stated that the Sesquicentennial Commission felt that designs other than the monument would not do; for example, the use of a
It was not until March 24, 1926, that new models, by Keck, were sent to the Fine Arts Commission. Although the commission admired Keck's portrait of Allen, they disliked his choice of Fay's Tavern for the reverse, and also disliked his enclosing the building in a wreath. On April 2, Moore wrote to Keck, advising him to get rid of both, and to put in place of the building a catamount, which would make a coin one could admire.[27] The animal is a reference to Fay's Tavern, that was also known as the Catamount Tavern, and was a place where the Green Mountain Boys met.[28] A copy of the letter was sent by Keck to Spargo, who wrote to Moore on the 12th, suggesting the Fine Arts Commission was overstepping its bounds by trying to dictate the design, but to resolve the matter, he would agree to the catamount: "Life is too short to be spent in futile argument with the Commission of Fine Arts."[29]
By the end April 1926, Keck had prepared three models, two with the catamount and a third featuring Revolutionary War memorabilia. The commission on the 30th approved one showing a walking catamount for the reverse, and asked that the words FOUNDER OF VERMONT be removed and IRA ALLEN be substituted. The Vermont commission objected, and the matter was resolved by the name being added. E PLURIBUS UNUM and IN GOD WE TRUST also had to be added to the reverse; Keck promised completion within several days when he wrote to Grant on May 24, with photographs to be submitted to Secretary Mellon for final approval.[30][31] In July, Spargo wrote to Grant, advising him of how the coins would be distributed and making arrangements to secure the first coins struck, to be used for presentations.[32] The Medallic Art Company of New York reduced Keck's plaster models to coin-sized hubs from which dies could be made by the Philadelphia Mint.[33]
Design
Sometimes the Commission of Fine Arts was careless in approving models for commemorative coins, almost as if they were tired of the subject and wanted to get them off their hands. At other times they were tedious, or "up tight" as one might describe it nowadays, and were determined to make the design conform to their ideas regardless of what the commission sponsoring the coin wanted. The Vermont coin is one of the latter examples. But the Battle of Bennington? Yes, it says so and gives the date but did catamounts take part in the battle?
Arlie Slabaugh, United States Commemorative Coins (1975), p. 81[34]
The obverse features an idealized portrait of Ira Allen, one different from the one Fry had used in his statue and models.
The reverse features a catamount, facing and walking to the left. The animal is virtually penned in with lettering, with BATTLE OF BENNINGTON, IN GOD WE TRUST and the anniversary dates above him, E PLURIBUS UNUM and HALF DOLLAR below, AUG. 16 (representing the battle's date) below its head, and the designer's initials, CK, between its rearmost paw and the end of its tail.[34]
Keck's design has been widely criticized, often because of the catamount—Swiatek and Breen summed up the coin as "an almost unrecognizably idealized Ira Allen, mated with an equally unrecognizably idealized wildcat. We cannot be sure of the species: cougar? panther? puma?"
Production, distribution, and collecting
A total of 40,034 Vermont Sesquicentennial half dollars were struck at the Philadelphia Mint during January and February 1927, with the excess over the round number reserved for inspection and testing at the 1928 meeting of the annual
Sales were not as robust as hoped.[35] In November 1928, Spargo wrote to Mint Director Grant, requesting information on how to return several thousand coins,[39] and by 1934, a total of 11,892 pieces had been returned to the Mint for redemption and melting.[35] Profits from the coin went to the Vermont Historical Trust, and were used to benefit museums and historical societies in the state, including the Bennington Museum.[34] Swiatek and Breen, alluding to the scandals that embroiled other commemorative coins, noted that "it is a testimony to something or other in Vermont that there was never the faintest breath of suspicion at any time about anything connected with the distribution of the coins."[33]
By 1935, the coins, in
References
- ^ Bowers, pp. 229–230.
- ^ Slabaugh, pp. 82–83.
- ^ Gregory, pp. 49–50.
- ^ Gregory, p. 50.
- ^ Morgan, pp. 82–83.
- ^ a b "68 S, 3895 Introduced in Senate" (pdf). United States Senate. January 9, 1925.
- ^ 1922 Congressional Record, Vol. 68, Page 638 (December 18, 1922) (subscription required)
- ^ 1925 Congressional Record, Vol. 71, Page 2120 (January 20, 1925) (subscription required)
- ^ 1925 Congressional Record, Vol. 71, Page 2403 (January 24, 1925) (subscription required)
- ^ 1925 Congressional Record, Vol. 71, Page 2486 (January 26, 1925) (subscription required)
- ^ House hearings, pp. 2–4.
- ^ House hearings, pp. 3–5.
- ^ House hearings, pp. 4–9.
- ^ House report, p. 1.
- ^ 1925 Congressional Record, Vol. 71, Page 3878 (February 16, 1925) (subscription required)
- ^ a b 1925 Congressional Record, Vol. 71, Page 3879 (February 16, 1925) (subscription required)
- ^ 1925 Congressional Record, Vol. 71, Page 3882–3883 (February 16, 1925) (subscription required)
- ^ 1925 Congressional Record, Vol. 71, Page 3920 (February 17, 1925) (subscription required)
- ^ 1925 Congressional Record, Vol. 71, Page 3930 (February 17, 1925) (subscription required)
- ^ Swiatek, p. 207.
- ^ a b Swiatek & Breen, p. 245.
- ^ Taxay, pp. v–vi, 90.
- ^ Taxay, p. 90.
- ^ Flynn, p. 334.
- ^ Taxay, pp. 95–99.
- ^ Taxay, pp. 99–100.
- ^ Taxay, p. 100.
- ^ a b Bowers, p. 233.
- ^ Taxay, p. 101.
- ^ Flynn, pp. 338–339.
- ^ Taxay, p. 94.
- ^ Flynn, p. 339.
- ^ a b c Swiatek & Breen, p. 246.
- ^ a b c Slabaugh, p. 81.
- ^ a b c d e f Bowers, p. 231.
- ^ Swiatek & Breen, p. 243.
- ^ Flynn, p. 185.
- ^ Vermeule, p. 174.
- ^ a b Flynn, p. 187.
- ^ Yeoman, p. 302.
- ^ Yeoman deluxe, p. 1138.
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-943161-35-8.
- Flynn, Kevin (2008). The Authoritative Reference on Commemorative Coins 1892–1954. Roswell, GA: Kyle Vick. OCLC 711779330.
- Gregory, Barbara J. (June 2003). "The Vermont Saga". The Numismatist. Colorado Springs, CO: American Numismatic Association: 48–51.
- OCLC 264638977.
- 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 (1925). Coinage of 50 Cent Pieces in Commemoration of the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Battle of Bennington and the Independence of Vermont. United States Government Printing Office.
- United States House of Representatives Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures (January 30, 1925). Coinage of 50-cent Pieces for Anniversary of Battle of Bennington. United States Government Printing Office.
- ISBN 978-0-674-62840-3.
- ISBN 978-0-7948-4307-6.
- ISBN 978-0-7948-4506-3.
External links
- Media related to Vermont Sesquicentennial half dollar at Wikimedia Commons