Since I posted about published notices of how the 1921 Missouri Statehood Centennial Half Dollar would be given out in change at the annual Missouri State Fair (read it here:
1921 Missouri Statehood Centennial - Admission Change?), I've been looking for a definitive source for this incorrect information. I might have just found it...
In 1920, well before the 1921 Missouri Centennial Exposition and State Fair, the State Fair Board of the Missouri Department of Agriculture devoted an issue of its "Fair Facts of Missouri's State Fair" to the Missouri State Fair and Centennial Exposition. The issue was titled "How to Celebrate Missouri's Centennial: A Handbook of Suggestions."
"How To Celebrate" Booklet - Front Cover
The 80+ page booklet was produced "to serve as a guide to those who wish to study Missouri history in connection with the Missouri Centennial. It is intended to be of practical help to the citizens of the community
- In celebrating the Centennial with a literary or musical program.
- In producing a Centennial pageant.
- In organizing a local historical society.
- In writing a local history."
As the booklet was published prior to the striking/availability of the Missouri commemorative half dollar, it did not provide details on the coin. It did, however, include the coin among the "BIG FEATURES" of the Centennial celebrations:
THE UNITED STATES MINT
will coin 250,000 memorial souvenir half-dollars commemorating the Centennial. These souvenirs will be paid out as change for admission tickets, at the Exposition gates. "How To Celebrate" Booklet - BIG FEATURES Panel (Inside Back Cover)
(Image Credits: The State Historical Society of Missouri. Booklet Content, Public Domain.)Based on this booklet, the newspapers of the day can hardly be blamed for running with a information provided by the Fair/Exposition organizers!
1921 Missouri Statehood Centennial Half Dollar - Plain Variety
For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more Missouri half dollar stories, see:
Commems Collection Nicky Mami
Posted 11/05/2025 11:41 am
