Commems Collection Classic: 1936 Cincinnati Music Center 50th Anniversary - Origin Story

I recently posted about how the controversy surrounding the 1936 Cincinnati half dollar might have possibly been avoided. In that post, I touched upon some of the content presented here. So, if you've already read that one and sense a bit of dejà vu while reading this post - that's the reason! If you haven't yet read the other post, it would be a great follow-up to this one.


The call for a 1936 Cincinnati half dollar came via a pair of bills introduced in the House and Senate in January 1936. The House bill, introduced first by Representative William Emil Hess (R-OH), called for half dollars "in commemoration of the Fiftieth (Golden) Anniversary of Cincinnati, Ohio, as a center of music, and its contribution of the annual May festival to the art of music for the past fifty years." The Senate bill, introduced by Senator Robert Johns Bulkley (D-OH), sought coins "in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of Cincinnati, Ohio, as a center of music, and its contribution to the art of music for the past fifty years."

Each of the bills called for 15,000 50-cents pieces to be struck for the benefit of the Cincinnati Musical Center Commemorative Coin Association, of Cincinnati, Ohio (the brainchild of Thomas G. Melish). Both bills allowed for multiple Mint facilities to be used to strike the coins, with the House version specifying that 10,000 coins were to be struck in Philadelphia, 3.000 in San Francisco and 2,000 in Denver. Neither bill included a specification for the year that was to appear on the coins nor did they specify an expiration date for coining authority.

The Senate bill was the first to move forward. It was referred to the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency, from which it was quickly reported back with a recommendation for passage without amendment; no Hearing was held. Based on the Committee Report, the bill was passed in the Senate without objection and sent to the House for its consideration and concurrence.

The original House bill was referred to the House Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures where it was also viewed favorably (without a Hearing). When the Committee reported on the bill, it recommended that it be amended such that the mintage was raised to 25,000 (from 15,000) and the specification of mintage figures by Mint facility be removed. The recommended amendments did not ever come up for consideration in the House, however, as the Senate version of the coin bill was substituted and acted upon by the House and its version was laid on the table. The Senate version of the bill was passed by the House via unanimous consent.

So, the bill capping the coin's mintage at 15,000 was the version that moved forward. It was signed into law by US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on March 31, 1936.

Constance Ortmeyer was commissioned to create the designs for the coin, and promptly created several design sketches. When asked to review the designs, the Commission on Fine Arts (CFA) objected to the coin's historical inaccuracy and to the prominent inclusion of Stephen Foster as a key figure in Cincinnati's musical history (it didn't believe he had any credentials for such recognition - an accurate assessment!). It stated that it "was at a loss to connect a fiftieth anniversary in 1936 with a movement that began in 1873." (Letter from CFA to Director of the Mint, May 1936.) (See "Controversy" link below for more.)

The CFA's objections did not derail the Association's efforts, and the original proposed designs, with some modifications, were carried forth to the struck coins, supporting continued criticisms.

Less than a month after the original coin bill's approval, a new bill was introduced in the Senate, in April 1936, by Senator Bulkley that sought up to 50,000 additional coins. Though it was passed in the Senate, the bill did not pass the House (it was not reported out of Committee) and thus the coin's authorized mintage remained at 15,000. (See the link below for details.)

1936 Cincinnati, OH Musical Center 50th Anniversary



For the posts referenced above, see:

- 1936 Cincinnati Music Center 50th Anniversary - Controversy Avoided?
- 1936 Cincinnati Music Center 50th Anniversary - A Mintage Revisit


For more on the history of the Cincinnati, OH half dollar, and other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, check out: Commems Collection.