Commems Collection Classic: Wayte Raymond Illustrated Price List Of Commemorative Half Dollars

Very interesting. I assume the prices are for uncirculated examples?

Why would anyone pay $1.50 for a 1935 Connecticut Tercentenary Half Dollar the same year the guide came out? It's like paying $1.50 for a 2022 Kennedy half dollar.

Thank you for sharing this information commems.

It's always instructive to read the perspectives of collectors from the 1930's when the study of classic commemoratives was not well documented and collector reference information was difficult to come by.




I'm curious, given the general lack of published reference material in the day, why you do not consider the 1937 pamphlet titled The Commemorative Coins of the United States by B. Max Mehl as a noteworthy publication in this context?

In the pamphlet he provides a page of description, along with obverse and reverse photographs, mintage data and original issue price for every classic silver and gold commemorative issued through January 1, 1937. He also highlights a preview of the five upcoming issues authorized but not yet minted. It seems to me that a collector in early 1937 would have been satisfied with the information presented.

I don't recall how I obtained the pamphlet, but it's likely a commonly available publication even today.

Analogous to your Wayte Raymond 1936 price guide, the Mehl publication does a reasonable job of beginning to identify the coins that we eventually would come to know as key dates.

It's instructive, and occasionally ironic, to read some of the self-serving commentary such as the following excerpt for the notorious origin and distribution for the profitable benefit of L.W. Hoffecker for the Old Spanish Trail half:

"The issue was prompted, fathered, and nursed by a very able numismatist who also managed its fair distribution."

Of course, Mehl himself was not known as a leading ethical light in his various dealings with the classic commemorative coins.

I'd consider starting a thread discussing some of the highlights and insights from the 1937 Mehl publication - unless commems you already have notes of a thread started in which case I prefer to defer to the master!

@nickelsearcher:

The reason I don't elevate Mehl's volume to the level of Howland Wood's or David Bullowa's comes down to a matter of scholarship. While Mehl does provide a range of core information about each coin type of the series, I've never been able to take his highly-opinionated copy seriously.

Of course, I've had a copy of his booklet in my collection for years, and have read through it on multiple occasions, but it never even crosses my mind when I need to look up a something for which I need a trusted source. Mehl's tactics in promoting his coin business - and the somewhat dubious lengths to which he sometimes went to do so - have created a skeptical eye for me when it comes to Mehl. Your "self-serving commentary"comment sums things up nicely for me.

I think it's a fun little book, and one I would encourage collectors of the series to seek it out. I just will never consider it a serious/trustworthy reference source.



I look forward to reading it!

@commems - well said and I absolutely concur with your position, from the perspective of a 2022 collector looking backwards in time 85 years to 1937.

I also suggest that we are in agreement on the modern day value of Mehl publication - although I do wish to explain a differing position from the perspective of a 1937 collector.

There is no question that the rigid scholarship available today - of which you are the shining and beloved example - renders Mehl publication trivial and almost comical in parts.

I'm not advocating a position that Mehl pamphlet remains today a scholary reference ... I'm suggesting that you put yourself into the shoes of Ma & Pa Kettle living in Pocatello ID in say March 1937.

My imagined Ma & Pa Kettle are dedicated collectors of the commemorative coins - and likely feeling abused by the 1936 issues. They are seeking any possible information on what's next in the whirlwind of the 1936 commemorative issues.

In the context I've just described - which was reality for many/most collectors of the day, I suggest that the January 1937 publication of Mehl pamphlet was a welcome read for many.

In that regard I consider Mehl work to be a key element of documenting the history of our beloved series - notwithstanding the obvious fact that in todays light of day it is shown to be a trivial and self-serving publication.




Don't hold your breath LOL

The Florida dealer I've mentioned before (Hubert Carcaba) published price lists in the 1930s, as well. If I ever go through the boxes in my basement, I'm sure I have some. He had hundreds of rolls of Hudson halves and always tried to sell rolls of them at shows. I'm sure his advertised price was high enough to make his show offers look like a bargain.

I had the brief impression that you could have gone to the bank and got a "roll of Connecticut Tercentenary Half Dollars" for face value. But I guess not.
Seems to me the Connecticut Tercentenary Commission operated in the same way as the US Mint does now: charge sky high prices for (semi-)bullion products.