York County, Maine, Tercentenary half dollar
United States | |
Value | 50 cents (0.50 |
---|---|
Composition |
|
Silver | 0.36169 Assay Commission |
Mint marks | None, all pieces struck at Philadelphia Mint without mint mark[1][4] |
Obverse | |
Design | Brown's Garrison |
Designer | Walter H. Rich |
Design date | 1936 |
Reverse | |
Design | York County Seal |
Designer | Walter H. Rich |
Design date | 1936 |
The York County, Maine, Tercentenary half dollar is a
A commemorative coin craze in 1936 saw some coins authorized by the United States Congress that were of mainly local significance; the York County issue was one of these. Legislation permitting the half dollar passed Congress without opposition in the first half of 1936. Maine artist Walter H. Rich designed the issue; his work has garnered mixed praise and dislike from numismatic authors.
The committee in charge of selling the coins to the public asked that the maximum issue of 30,000 coins be struck, but for uncertain reasons, the Philadelphia Mint struck only 25,000 for public sale. Fewer than 19,000 had been sold by 1937, more than half to Mainers; the rest were sold in the 1950s. As of 2020, the York County half dollar catalogs for around $200, depending on condition.
Background and inception
The first European settlement in what is now Maine was at Saco in 1631, where the fortification known as Brown's Garrison was built. In 1636, York County was formed, the first and southernmost county in Maine and one of the oldest political units in the United States.[5]
Sparked by low-mintage issues which appreciated in value, the market for
The York County, Maine, Tercentenary half dollar was one of several
Legislation
A bill to authorize a York County half dollar was introduced into the
A parallel House bill had been introduced by
The Senate bill, with the recommended amendments, was passed without debate or dissent on June 1, 1936.
Preparation
Little information exists on the preparation of the coinage designs for the York County half dollar. The Committee for the Commemoration of the Founding of York County, in charge of making the arrangements for the half dollar, chose Portland artist Walter H. Rich to create the designs. He based the obverse, which depicts Brown's Garrison, on a sketch published in the book The Proprietors of Saco (1931) by Frank C. Deering, and the reverse on the seal of York County.[23]
Numismatic author
The sculpting for the coin's design was done by G. S. Pacetti Company of Boston, in brass rather than the usual plaster, while the dies were reduced from the models by New York City's Medallic Art Company. According to Nichols, this was the first time models had been made in brass for a U.S. coin, and provoked much favorable comment.[27][28]
Design
As Rich's designs were sculpted in metal rather than the usual plaster, the design has an unusually flat relief more reminiscent of later (late 20th century onward) designs.
On the reverse, the presence of a cross in the York County seal makes this half dollar one of only two U.S. coins (with the 1934
Taxay deemed the York County half dollar inferior to the other commemorative coin approved the same day by President Roosevelt, the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge half dollar. In part, he blamed the "amateurish rendering of Brown's Garrison" used for the obverse, "but the tedious background and oversized border inscriptions are less excusable, even granted that Rich was a wildlife painter and not a professional sculptor."[24]
Coin dealer B. Max Mehl, in his 1937 work on commemoratives, disliked the York County half dollar. "The design reminds me more of a medal than coin and in my humble opinion would hardly win a beauty prize".[33] David Bullowa in 1938 noted that the coin resembled the Fort Vancouver piece, and stated that the York County coin had been criticized as being too plain, though he thought this might have been due to the large inscriptions surrounding the designs.[34] Stuart Mosher, writing in 1940, thought the obverse design was "splendid".[35]
William F. Sheehan defended the York County half in an article in the January 1975 issue of The Numismatist. He suggested that the coin, with its broad rims, was meant to evoke the colonial coinage of Massachusetts, of which Maine was long a part, such as the pine tree shilling. "It is said that concerning taste there is no arguing. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then those who see in the York County half dollar a harmonious union of motifs from English colonial coinage will see a swan instead of an ugly duckling whenever a York County half crosses their path."[36]
Art historian
Release, distributing and collecting
By letter dated July 21, 1936, the chairman of the Tercentenary Committee, George Wentworth, informed O'Reilly that his committee planned to deposit $15,000 to pay for the authorized mintage of 30,000 half dollars, plus a sum to pay for the Mint's expenses in striking the coins.
The first 100 coins minted, along with a map that depicted "Olde York County Maine", were mounted in a glass case for presentation. Each was numbered corresponding to the order in which the coin was minted.[27] Distribution of coins to the public was supervised by Nichols on behalf of the York County Commemorative Coin Commission. Ten thousand were put aside for Maine residents. The initial burst of enthusiasm saw the allocation for Mainers oversubscribed, and they were sold coins earmarked for out-of-staters. The price was $1.50 for Mainers and $1.65 (including postage) for those living elsewhere.[35] When sales came to a halt in mid-1937, the Commission still had over 6,000 coins remaining. These were retained by the Commission and offered for sale in the 1950s at $15.50 for ten coins; they quickly sold.[32][41]
With the exception of the first 100 coins, the commemoratives were sold in folding paper holders that depicted on their front cover black line drawings of Brown's Garrison and the York National Bank of Saco. Also included were slots to hold up to five more coins, as well as a tissue paper insert that read "We thank you for your interest in our commemorative half dollar, and extend to you the hospitality of York County, Maine. York County Commemorative Coin Commission."
By 1940 the York piece sold for about $1.25 in uncirculated condition, though this went up to $2.50 by 1950, $10 by 1960, and $325 by 1985.
Notes
- ^ The edge is ridged, or milled.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Yeoman, p. 1096.
- ^ a b Flynn, p. 356.
- OCLC 1123997620. Archivedfrom the original on 2021-03-20. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
- ^ "Mint Marks". United States Mint. December 3, 2020. Archived from the original on April 4, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
- ^ Slabaugh, p. 120.
- ^ Bowers, pp. 12–13.
- ^ Yeoman, pp. 1079–1101.
- ^ "1936 York 50C MS silver commemoratives". NGC. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
- ^ Sear, Rick (February 2011). "An overlooked gem". The Numismatist. 124 (2): 29.
- ^ Slabaugh, pp. 119–120.
- ^ a b Swiatek & Breen, p. 269.
- ^ "Congressional Record, May 8, 1936, p. 6889" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on May 24, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
- ^ "Congressional Record, May 21, 1936, p. 7657" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on May 24, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
- ^ Senate hearings, pp. 11–12.
- ^ Senate report, p. 1.
- ^ "Congressional Record, May 12, 1936, p. 7139" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on May 24, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
- ^ House report, p. 1.
- ^ "Congressional Record, June 15, 1936, p. 9472" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on May 24, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
- ^ "Congressional Record, June 1, 1936, p. 8440" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on May 24, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
- ^ a b c "Congressional Record, June 20, 1936, p. 10617" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on May 24, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
- ^ "Will it Be a Coin or Medal?". The Numismatist. 49 (9): 710. September 1936.
- ^ "Coinage of 50-Cent Pieces in Commemoration of the Norfolk, Va., Land Grant and the Founding of the City of Norfolk, Virginia". United States House of Representatives. May 26, 1937. Archived from the original on May 7, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2019 – via Congressional ProQuest.
- ^ Bowers, p. 405.
- ^ a b c Taxay, p. 236.
- ^ Taxay, pp. v–vi.
- ^ Taxay, p. 238.
- ^ a b c "York County Tercentenary Half Dollar". CoinSite. 30 November 2013. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
- ^ "The York County (Maine) half dollar". The Numismatist. 49 (9): 713. September 1936.
- ^ a b Swiatek, p. 382.
- ^ Dunn, John W. (February 1959). "Birds and mammals on U.S. coins". The Numismatist. 72 (2): 171.
- ^ Swiatek, pp. 382–383.
- ^ a b Slabaugh, p. 119.
- ^ Bowers, pp. 405–406.
- ^ Bullowa, p. 159.
- ^ a b Bowers, p. 406.
- ^ Sheehan, pp. 20–21.
- ^ Vermeule, p. 195.
- ^ Vermeule, pp. 195–196.
- ^ Flynn, p. 340.
- ^ Flynn, pp. 199, 341.
- ^ Swiatek & Breen, p. 272.
- ^ Bowers, p. 407.
- ^ "Silver commemoratives 1936 York 50c MS coin auctions". NGC. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
- ^ Swiatek, p. 384.
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.
- Sheehan, William F. (January 1975). "The ugly duckling from York County". The Numismatist. 88 (1): 19–21.
- Slabaugh, Arlie R. (1975). United States Commemorative Coinage (second ed.). Racine, WI: 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 (May 29, 1936). To Authorize the Coinage of 50-cent Pieces in Commemoration of the Founding of York County, Maine. United States Government Printing Office – via Congressional ProQuest.)(subscription required)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - United States Senate Committee on Banking and Currency (March 11, 1936). Coinage of commemorative 50-cent pieces. United States Government Printing Office– via Congressional ProQuest.(subscription required)
- United States Senate Committee on Banking and Currency (May 21, 1936). Authorize the Coinage of 50-cent Pieces in Commemoration of the Founding of York County, Maine (PDF) – via Congressional ProQuest. (subscription required)
- ISBN 978-0-674-62840-3.
- ISBN 978-0-7948-4705-0.
External links
- Media related to York County, Maine Tercentenary half dollar at Wikimedia Commons