Those who have frequented the US Commemorative Coins forum here on CCF over the past few years will likely recall my fondness for
supplemental items associated with my commemorative coins. One such supplemental category is philatelic-numismatic combination covers or PNCs.
Here, I'm presenting a PNC I picked up several years ago related to the 1925 Stone Mountain half dollar. It contains an example of the 1925 half dollar as well as the 1970 dedication medal and a pair of commemorative stamps - a four-cent Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson stamp from 1937 and a three-cent Final Reunion of United Confederate Veterans stamp from 1951. The PNC was issued to commemorate the Stone Mountain Memorial's dedication in 1970.
Work on the Stone Mountain Monument occurred in stages. Gutzon Borglum and his team began work in 1923. He was fired by the Stone Mountain Monumental Association in 1925 after several
strong financial disagreements, after which Augustus Lukeman took up the carving work (after sandblasting Borglum's work away and developing a new design). Funding issues arose during Lukeman's time on the project and the lack of funds brought things to a halt in 1928.
For the most part, the mountain's memorial carving sat untouched until 1964 when sculptor Walter Hancock began the task of completing what Lukeman had started (though he revised and simplified Lukeman's original vision). Roy Faulkner, a welder without any art training, was hired to build a 400-foot tall elevator on the side of Stone Mountain to enable monument workers to get to/from work areas. While on site, he witnessed first hand the carvers' frustrations with their tools and recommended a thermo-jet torch fueled by a mixture of kerosene, oxygen and fire. The torch proved to be a good solution and was used going forward. Faulkner soon proposed to the Monument Association that he take over the carving and was soon hired to do so. He worked tirelessly for over eight years, and completed the carving of the memorial, with periodic consultation from Hancock, in May 1970; the memorial was officially dedicated on May 9, 1970. It took until March 1972, however, for all of the scaffolding and support structures to be removed from the site.
A commemorative medal was struck in 1970 to mark the completion and dedication of the monument. The medals were struck in bronze and silver, in 1.5" and 2.5" sizes; medals were struck by the US Mint (they carry a "P" mint mark) and Medallic Art Company (MACO).
The PNC shown is apparently one of just 100 to be produced, though I'm not sure of who issued it or if the quantity produced was really only 100. It would not surprise me to learn that Roy Faulkner had a hand in the cover as he created a museum dedicated to the memorial and so certainly had the entrepreneurial bent to create such a cover - but such is pure conjecture on my part.
I came across one being sold on
ebay about a year and a half ago and had to laugh - it was listed as a "Buy It Now" for $10,000! IMO, about $9,800 too high! The seller believed the Stone Mountain half dollar contained in the cover was at least an MS-68 and therefore merited such a strong price. He/she noted that the NGC Price Guide listed the coin in MS-68 as having a value of $20,000. So, I guess the asking price of $10,000 was very reasonable considering it wasn't certified and the MS-68 grade couldn't be guaranteed!
The cover is still available (as of 08-Feb-21), and its price has come down significantly! It can now be had for a mere $2,500! Still ridiculously high IMO.
That said, here's your chance to pick up the cover for your own collection! I wasn't interested when it was first listed and I'm not interested now. So, it's yours for the taking! I won't compete against you!
I believe the PNC makes for a nice "bookends" collectible with its coin that was issued in 1925 to help fund the carving of the monument and its medal - issued 45 years later! - to dedicate its completion. I like it!
And at an asking price of $200 or less, I would even consider buying it!
Posted 02/08/2021 4:22 pm
