Commems Collection Classic: 1935 Hudson, NY Sesquicentennial - Julius Guttag

Within the 50-piece Type Set of classic US silver commemorative coins, three half dollars are considered the keys: the 1928 Hawaiian (European) Discovery Sesquicentennial, the 1935 Old Spanish Trail and the 1935 Hudson, NY Sesquicentennial.

Each of these coins had an authorized mintage of 10,000, making them the lowest mintage figures among the series' design types. There are multiple date/mint mark combinations and/or design varieties within the series that have lower mintage totals, but no design types are lower.

As a result, the Hudson half dollars were much sought after by collectors at the time of their issue, and continue to be among the US commemorative coins that have consistent demand (and stronger prices!) in the present-day marketplace.

During a March 1936 Hearing before the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency, coin dealer LW Hoffecker, then serving as Chairman of the American Numismatic Association ( ANA) Legislative Committee, stated "The Hudson issue was delivered on the 29th day of June, and they reported on the 2d day of July that all had been disposed of. One dealer is reported to have 7,500 of them that he bought for 95 cents a piece, but we cannot prove it." That dealer was Louis Guttag. (The regular issue price for the coin was $1.00 each plus $0.18 for registration and $0.03 postage - a total of $1.21 for a single coin.)

Guttag Bros. Logo


Side Note 1: As I read through the transcript of the Hearing, I found it ironic that Hoffecker complained to Congress about the tactics of other dealers, considering his own questionable handling of US commemorative coins such as the 1935 Old Spanish Trail half dollar.

Side Note 2: Dealer Hubert Carcaba of St. Augustine, Florida is reported to have purchased 1,000 of the coins).

The 5% discount that Guttag received from the coin's sponsor (i.e., Hudson Sesquicentennial Committee) was not significant, but his ability to create an artificial scarcity in the marketplace was! Guttag was able to sell quantities to other dealers at prices above original issue and profit from the difference, as well as control the coin's general availability through the timing and volume of dealer sales.

Within the dealer community, the Hudson half dollar was often jokingly referred to as the "Guttag Half Dollar." The coins weren't immediately made available in the marketplace - in quantity - so the artificially-created "limited quantity" allowed dealers to ask excessively-high prices for the coins from the start - $8.00 and more per coin vs. the $1.00 issue price. Understandably, collectors reacted negatively and many began suggesting foul play by the coin's sponsor.

Julius Guttag was the primary driver of the Guttag Brothers' coin business. His brother, Henry, was not an avid numismatist and focused more on the securities/foreign exchange side of the business. Guttag Brothers was active in the coin business in the late 1920s, and into the 1930s. The Wall Street crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression took its toll on the coin business and caused a shift in focus from "general collectors" to "specialists." (I interpret that to mean a switch to higher dollar/more profitable offerings vs. more common material at tighter margins.)

I've never heard a fellow collector or current dealer refer to the Hudson as a "Guttag Half Dollar" but I don't know anyone who was active in the hobby in the mid-1930s!

Do you have a "Guttag Half Dollar" in your collection? There's a good chance you might!

Here's my example:

1935 Hudson, NY Sesquicentennial Half Dollar



For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including others about the Hudson half dollar, see: Commems Collection.