This evening's offering is a 1921 Alabama Statehood Centennial, Plain variety in PCGS MS-65; it is the companion piece to the Alabama 2x2 variety that I recently posted.
The content provided in my Alabama ‘2x2' post is generally applicable to this coin as well, here's a link to that coin's post:
http://goccf.com/t/115032The Plain variety lacks the incused ‘2x2' in the obverse field to the right of the portrait of circa 1920 Alabama Governor Thomas Kilby.
Read More: Commems CollectionOne interesting addition here is the fact that the Alabama commemorative was originally proposed as a 25-cent piece, but was amended to be a half-dollar. It would have been the second US commemorative quarter-dollar (following the 1893 Isabella) if it was struck as originally conceived and may have started a trend that would have produced a mix of 25-cent and 50-cent commemoratives! An interesting "What might have been?" scenario to consider!
The use of conjoined bust portraits as seen on the Alabama was surprisingly common within the classic US silver commemorative series -- 11 of the 50 silver types featured conjoined portraits (that's 22%!). Here's the list:
- 1900 Lafayette Dollar
- 1921 Alabama
- 1921 Missouri Statehood Centennial
- 1923 Monroe Doctrine Centennial
- 1924 Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary
- 1926 Independence Sesquicentennial
- 1935-39 Arkansas Statehood Centennial
- 1936 Long Island Tercentenary
- 1936 Battle of Gettysburg
- 1936 Battle of Antietam 75th Anniversary
- 1951-54 Carver-Washington
Note: I don't count the 1925 Stone Mountain in this group as I don't consider its design to be a portrait design. Just for fun, I've also included an image of a 1975 commemorative coin from Bolivia. Though a modern coin, I find it has a "classic" aesthetic. It also has conjoined portraits in a similar vein to the Alabama, the coin depicts a key figure in Bolivia's past -- its 1825 Liberator Simon Bolivar -- and a then-current political figure -- 1975 Bolivian President Hugo Banzer.
Enjoy! Happy Easter! (If you celebrate it, Happy Sunday! if you don't.)
1921 Alabama Plain -- Obverse
1921 Alabama Plain -- Reverse
1975 Bolivia Independence Sesquicentennial -- Reverse
Posted 04/09/2012 1:13 pm
