Days Of Classic US Commemorative Coins

October 25 - Hudson Half

Chester Beach whimsical design for this coin is one of my favorites in the series. I chuckle every time I view the reverse image of the quarter moon ... Beach's fun reference to Henry Hudson Half Moon flagship shown as well on the reverse.

Where else are you going to find a USA coin showing Neptune riding backwards on a whale? How about a mermaid blowing on a conch shell? :)

1935 Hudson (NY) Sesquicentennial Half Dollar - PCGS MS66/CAC



Blast white and fully lustrous. My poor digital photography does not convey the in-hand visual impact of this coin. I recall paying a substantial premium when acquiring this coin 2010 ... given that MS66 Hudson are somewhat expensive to begin with.

This coin brings me great joy every time I view it.

1935 Hudson (NY) Sesquicentennial Half Dollar - PCGS VF35



Lovely toned surfaces indicating a lifetime of service in our nation's commerce prior to its retirement.

This is an extremely difficult coin to find in honestly circulated state. This example is the only one I have seen in over 5 years of dedicated searching for the circulated type set. The original net mintage of 10,008 pieces (including assay coins) coupled with the high-price shenanigans with the original distribution combined to allow very few of these coins to see circulation use.

PCGS has certified 5 Hudson at XF45 or lower. The current lowball are two Hudson certified at VF30.

Tough as this coin might be to obtain in circulated state ... rarer ones are coming up soon. Looking forward to discussing them with you.

Black Cabinet Hudson

Counterfeit Hudson half dollars appear with some regularity in the market ... alas often fooling less educated collectors into paying high prices for a Chinese manufactured coin.

A typical black cabinet example was recently shown in this forum by MeadowviewCollector ... check it out. Gain the knowledge to protect yourself.

David

A good design, here is my example.

A really nice coin.

Day Thirty-Four: 1935 Old Spanish Trail

Why issued?

1) To indicate the interest of the Government of the United States in commemorating the 400th anniversary of the expedition of Cabeza de Vaca and the opening of the Old Spanish Trail.
2) To help the El Paso Museum Committee raise funds to assist with the staging of anniversary events.

Design // Designer

Obverse:. A longhorn cow's head meant to be symbolic of Cabeza de Vaca which translates as "Head of a Cow." Such symbolism was used due to a lack of available portrait of the 16th century explorer. // L.W. Hoffecker

Reverse: A yucca tree superimposed over a map of the states on the Gulf Coast within which is seen the alleged trail followed by Cabeza de Vaca during his exploration of the area. (Follow the link below for more accurate information about his travels.) // L.W. Hoffecker

Net Mintage:

1935: 10,000

Original Selling Price:

1935: $2.00


Quick Fact:

The Old Spanish Trail half dollar is one of the key coins within a type set of classic silver US commemorative coins. Its net mintage of 10,000 coins places it alongside the 1928 Hawaiian and the 1935 Hudson for the lowest mintage of a type coin. (A good number of individual year/mintmark issues within multi-year series had lower mintages, but 10,000 is the lowest mintage among silver commemorative types.)


Here's a link to one of my prior posts about the Old Spanish Trail half dollar:
https://goccf.com/t/180366

Here's my example, it's a satiny, original surfaces piece with nice luster and a dusting of golden toning.

Here are some black cabinet I have acquired for study, to find out how good they are.
1st an Old Spanish Trail. Not a very good one...but could fool someone not familiar with this series.





And of an Uncirculated California Jubilee...looks almost real...if not for the rim, it could have fooled me.

Day Thirty-Five: 1936 Arkansas Centennial / Robinson

Why issued?

1) To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the admission of the State of Arkansas into the Union.
2) To help the Arkansas Honorary Centennial Celebration Committee raise funds to support its planned anniversary celebrations.

Note: The law authorizing the new design for the Arkansas Centennial half dollar specified that the original purposes for the coin continue unchanged - - " only a supplemental design was approved.

Design // Designer

Obverse:. Right-facing portrait of then-current Arkansas Senator Joseph Robinson. // Enid Bell

Reverse: An American (Bald) Eagle with outstretched wings standing atop a sun (meant to represent "Enterprise") in the foreground with a portion of the Arkansas flag behind it. The three stars visible below "Arkansas" have multiple symbolic meanings: 1) to represent the three flags that had flown over the state at the time of its Statehood (Spain, France and the United States); 2) 1803 was the year of the Louisiana Purchase, from which Arkansas was created, and 3) Arkansas was the third state to be created from the territory gained by the Louisiana Purchase (Louisiana and Missouri preceded it). The single star above "Arkansas" is symbolic of the years Arkansas spent as part of the Confederacy. // Edward Everett Burr

Note 1: The law authorizing the Robinson coin, as well as the original Arkansas Centennial half dollar, refers to the eagle side of the coin as the obverse; the portrait side is officially considered the reverse. Within US coinage series, however, the portrait side of coins (the "heads" side) is generally considered the obverse. So, I have followed that convention within this thread.

Note 2: Henry Kreiss (designer of the Bridgeport and Connecticut half dollars) prepared the models for the "obverse" based on design sketches by Ms. Bell.


Net Mintage:

1936: 25,250

Original Selling Price:

$1.85


Quick Fact:

The Centennial Celebration Committee originally sought three new designs for their coin. Congress approved only one, however, and Senator Robinson was selected as the subject.


Here's a link to one of my prior posts about the Arkansas-Robinson half dollar:
https://goccf.com/t/118139

Here's my example, it's a nice brilliant white example with very nice luster.