Recently, I posted about "Mismatched Dates" on US classic-era commemorative coins and mentioned that I would be posting about other types of mismatches going forward. My first follow-up post was about "Fictitious Anniversaries." (See links below.) Here's my next look at date mismatches - this time out, it's a look at coins that feature a date/year that does not reflect the year the coin was struck.1900 Lafayette Memorial DollarThe Lafayette Memorial Dollar presents an interesting case when it comes to dates. The coins were struck on December 14, 1899 - the 100th anniversary of George Washington's death. Though it was standard practice for the Mint to place the year a coin was struck on its obverse, the Lafayette dollars do not feature an "1899" date. The date seen on the coins - on their reverse - is "1900."
At the time, the Mint stated that the "1900" was simply part of the coin's commemorative inscription and represented the date of the Exposition Universelle / Paris Exposition - it was noted that the coin doesn't actually bear a traditional coining date. So, either the coin is dateless - a unique characteristic within the series - or it is dated "1900" and the first strike/event date mismatch of the series. You decide!
1936 Norfolk, VA Bicentennial-TricentennialBy 1936, one of the provisions insisted on by the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency was that commemorative coins were to feature a single date/year regardless of the year the coin was struck. (See link below for more.)
The Norfolk half dollar was one to be impacted by this stance. The Norfolk's enabling legislation specified that the coins "shall bear the date 1936, irrespective of the year in which they are minted or issued." The US Mint struck the Norfolk half dollar in 1937 with the prescribed year of "1936." That said, the legislation ensured a match between the coin's date and the date being commemorated.
The coin commemorates two milestone events in Norfolk, VA's history: the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the Borough of Norfolk (noted on obverse) and the 300th anniversary of the land grant that led to the founding of the Village of Norfolk (highlighted on the reverse). The coin features five different dates - most of any classic-era US commemorative coin.
1936 Landing of the Swedes in Delaware TercentenaryI discussed the Delaware half dollar in my mismatched dates post, but bring it up here for its coining date vs. anniversary date.
The
Kalmar Nyckel and
Fogel Grip sailing ships brought Swedish and Finnish settlers to the New World, landing at present-day Wilmington, Delaware in March 1638. Delaware staged an impressive celebration for the 300th anniversary of the event on June 27, 1938. It featured an address by US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and included multiple members of the Royal Family of Sweden.
The Delaware commemorative coins are dated, per their enabling legislation, "1936" though they were struck and released in 1937. Throw in the fact they were intended to mark a 1938 event, and you have a "triple-play" coin!
1936 Battle of Gettysburg 75th AnniversaryThe Gettysburg half dollar is another triple-play coin - it features a 1936 date, was struck in 1937 and commemorates a 1938 anniversary/event.
The Battle of Gettysburg took place July 1-3, 1863. The 75th Anniversary of the critical US Civil War (CW) battle was marked in 1938 with a large Blue & Gray Reunion of CW veterans at the battlefield in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania State Commission was very efficient in its planning for the event, including having successfully lobbied Congress for a commemorative half dollar to support the 1938 anniversary in 1936 - two years early!
The US Mint did not wait to 1938 to strike the coins, however, it struck them in June and August 1937 (25,014 each month - includes 28 total assay coins ). Regardless of the 1937 striking, the coins bear a "1936" date as per their authorizing legislation which states that all coins struck would "bear the date 1936, irrespective of the year in which they are minted or issued." Hence, 1936 date, 1937 strike and 1938 anniversary!
1938 New Rochelle, NY 250th AnniversaryRather than being back-dated (i.e., featuring a date representing a year that was prior to when it was struck), the New Rochelle, NY 250th Anniversary half dollar was a case of a coin carrying a future/forward-looking date. The New Rochelle coin was dated "1938" but all coins were struck in April 1937. The half dollar was offered for sale in 1937, with advertisements by its sponsor and dealers being seen by September 1937.
The coin was issued to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the settling/founding of New Rochelle, NY.
For more on the referenced posts/coins, check out:
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Quick Bits #63 - Single-Year Issues With Non-Matching-
Quick Bits #64 - Fictitious Anniversaries-
Senate Committee on Banking and CurrencyFor more of my posts on commemorative coins and medals, including multiple discussions of each of the above, see:
Commems Collection. 
Posted 05/04/2022 6:20 pm
