A quick look at a few official "cousins" of the 1925 Stone Mountain half dollar...1925 Stone Mountain Half Dollar
In addition to the 1925 half dollar, the Stone Mountain Confederate Monumental Association ("Association") also sponsored a number of souvenir medals that it used to raise funds for its mountain sculpture project. The first one, a bronze, octagonal medal was designed by Gutzon Borglum and struck by Whitehead and Hoag of Newark, NJ; Borglum was also the designer of the Stone Mountain half dollar.
On its obverse, the medal depicts General "Stonewall" Jackson, General Robert E. Lee and Confederate States President Jefferson Davis (from left to right) on horseback. The depiction of Jackson and Lee is similar to what is seen on the half dollar. The medal's reverse is largely devoted to inscriptions that identify the medal as a
Children's Founders Roll piece and alert the viewer to its commemorative nature.
Stone Mountain Children's Founders Roll Medal - Borglum Version
The medal was given to children who donated $1.00 to the monument project. Each child donating was given a certificate granting them membership in the "Children's Founders Roll." It also gave each child the opportunity to place their name in the
Book of Memory and to add the name of a Confederate soldier, or woman of the Confederacy, in whose name the donation was made.
As most know, Borglum eventually had significant disagreements with the officers/Board of the Association and was ultimately fired. Augustus Lukeman was hired as his replacement; Lukeman designed a new medal for the Association. The Lukeman medal was issued in three versions:
Stone Mountain Bronze Children's Founders Roll Medal - Lukeman Version
1) The first version of the Lukeman medal is the most common and can be found with regularity on-line and at larger coin shows. It is the round, bronze
Children's Founders Roll medal that replaced the Borglum version. The medal's design reflects Lukeman's vision for the mountainside carving. The top half of the medal's obverse depicts the same three Confederate leaders as does the Borglum medal, but in a different order. On the Lukeman medal, Confederate States President Jefferson Davis is leftmost, followed by General Robert E. Lee and General "Stonewall" Jackson (from left to right). Each is presented riding his favorite horse, Black Jack, Traveler and Little Sorrel, respectively. The bottom half of the obverse presents descriptive text, identifying the purpose of the medal.
The medal's reverse presents the entrance to the planned Memorial Hall, with several people shown walking up the stairs to the Hall. Also seen is one of the large incense holders/burners that were planned to be installed; each was to be 14 feet long and eight feet wide. The original Memorial Hall was to be carved into the base of the mountain, below the carving. It was planned to be a semicircle in shape with a depth of 50 feet, a width of 95 feet and a height of 50 feet. It was to include 13 interior 30-foot tall Ionic columns, one for each State in the Confederacy. Among other things, the Hall was to include a vault which would contain the roster of soldiers from each each Confederate state.
Memorial Hall, as depicted, was never built, but a modern-day version was eventually built across from the carving; it currently houses a museum, two theaters and a gift shop.
Stone Mountain Living Veterans' Roll Medal - Lukeman
2) The second version of the medal is the
Living Veterans' Roll medal. It is a gold-plated bronze medal that was sold to Confederate veterans of the Civil War for $5.00. Its obverse has the same graphic elements as the
Children's medal, but swaps out "Children's Founders" for "Living Veterans'." The base design of the medal's reverse is also the same, but at the six o'clock position is added "U.C.V." (aka United Confederate Veterans) and "1927" - the year the medals were first sold. The additions were carved into the die, and appear in relief on the medal - the inscriptions are not counterstamps.
Stone Mountain Gold Star Adult Medal - Lukeman
3) The third version of the medal is somewhat of a hybrid or mule of the first two. It's obverse is taken from the
Children's Founders Roll medal, while its reverse is that of the
Living Veterans' Roll medal. As is the
Veterans' medal, this version of the medal is gold-plated; it was referred to as the "Gold Star" medal and was sold to adults who were not Confederate veterans but who wanted to support the memorial. Its cost was the same as the Veterans' piece - $5.00.
In terms of market availability, my experience suggests that the round, bronze Children's Founders Roll medal designed by Lukeman is the most available, followed by the octagonal Borglum medal. The Living Veterans' piece would be next on my personal scarcity list, followed by the Gold Star medal as the most infrequently found. (Of course, your experience might not parallel mine - you may see/have seen more Gold Star medals than any other - sightings can often include a bit of serendipity!)
All of the Lukeman medals were produced by Whitehead and Hoag.
I also have a counterstamped version of the Lukeman medal, but I'll save that for a future post.
I've posted about the Borglum medal before, you can read about it here:
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1925 Stone Mountain "Cousin" - BorglumI've made several posts about the Stone Mountain half dollar, you can find most here:
Read More: Commems Collection.
You might also find the following of interest:
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1925 Stone Mountain Half Dollar - Coins Depicting Places Thread - Image of the completed Memorial
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1925 Stone Mountain Half Dollar - Coins With Beards Thread - Great images of Lee and Jackson!
Posted 06/24/2021 11:01 am
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