Commems Collection: 1936 Gettysburg Ephemera

At my local coin club's annual show a couple of weeks back, I mounted an exhibit on US commemorative coins with a Civil War theme. I included the two varieties of the 1922 Grant Memorial, the 1925 Stone Mountain, the 1936 Gettysburg, the 1937 Antietam and the three 1995 Civil War Battlefields coins.

In case you are wondering, I did not include the 1918 Lincoln-Illinois Statehood Centennial half-dollar because while Lincoln was clearly a key figure in the Civil War, the 1918 coin, and his image on it, was not intended to mark anything related to the Civil War.

I pulled out some related ephemera for the classic pieces I exhibited and thought I'd share a piece related to the Gettysburg coin that I did not include in my original post. (http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/...IC_ID=116536 )

The Battle of Gettysburg 75th Anniversary half-dollar was authorized in 1936, but was struck in 1937 with a ‘1936' date. All a bit out of sync as the battle being commemorated occurred on 1-3 July 1863, so 1938 was the actual 75th anniversary. The coin was designed by Frank Vittor. The Pennsylvania State Commission, sponsor of the coin, had hoped to have it struck at each of the three US mints, but only Philadelphia-struck coins were produced (net mintage = 26,900).

The primary celebration for the battle's anniversary in 1938 was the Blue and Gray Reunion that was held in Gettysburg. Shown below is a promotional brochure about the reunion, it features a nice illustration of the Gettysburg half-dollar with its selling price of $1.65.

I try always to add these types of pieces to my collection when I get the chance -- I believe they "round out" my collection!

Enjoy!

1936 Battle of Gettysburg Half-Dollar -- Obverse