Commems Collection Classic: 1918 Illinois Statehood Centennial - Hearing Question

In a previous post about the Illinois Statehood Centennial Half Dollar, I wrote the following about the coin and a discussion that took place during its Hearing conducted by the House Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures: (Full post here: 1918 Illinois Statehood Centennial - Revisited

Representative Loren Edgar Wheeler "was asked by the Committee Chairman, William Ashbrook, if the coins were to be sold at a premium. He responded "No, sir." This is interesting, of course, as the coin was being sought to help the Centennial Commission defray the costs of staging Illinois' centennial celebrations and to do so they would need to charge more for the coin than what they were required to pay - the face value of fifty cents. Clearly, Wheeler was not yet wise in the ways of the commemorative coin!" (Emphasis added.)

It turns out, Representative Wheeler might have been a bit more savvy than I originally realized. After thinking more about the sales model employed by the Illinois Centennial Commission, I came to realize that Wheeler's response to the Committee was 100% accurate. The Commission did, in fact, sell the coins without a premium. The Commission sold the coins to local Centennial Committees at par value with the recommendation that they, in turn, sell the coin for $1.00 so that they could garner a profit and use the net proceeds to support their local Centennial events and/or local war relief efforts (the US was engaged in World War I at the time).

So, it might be possible that Wheeler knew full well that the coins would be sold to the public at a premium, but that the Commission itself would be selling the coins at par value. Thus, based on the question asked, he answered truthfully. Now, had the question been worded a bit differently...


1918 Illinois Statehood Centennial Half Dollar



For more about the Illinois half dollar, check out:

- 1918 Illinois Statehood Centennial
- 1918 Illinois Statehood Centennial - Revisited
- 1918 Illinois Statehood Centennial - Lincoln's Portrait
- 1918 Illinois Statehood Centennial - Trivia
- 1918 Illinois Statehood Centennial - Official Seals on Classic US Commemorative Coins


For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, check out: Commems Collection.