In a previous post, I took a closer look at the design elements seen on the 1935-39 Arkansas Statehood Centennial half dollars and highlighted several links some obverse elements had to the Confederate States of America (aka the Confederacy). (See link below.)
In the post, I referenced how the 13 rays seen emanating from the sun on the coin were meant to represent not the original 13 colonies/states, but the 13 states that seceded from the Union to form the Confederacy. I recently came across a brief article by Clayton Grant in a 1995 issue of
The Commemorative Trail that discussed more refined detail about the rays.
The obverse of the coin presents seven rays of the sun emanating from behind the top of the star-encased diamond shape at the coin's center. These seven rays symbolize the original seven states that seceded and formed the Confederate States of America. In order of secession, these states were/are: South Carolina (December 20, 1860), Mississippi (January 9, 1861), Florida (January 10, 1861), Alabama (January 11, 1861), Georgia (January 19, 1861), Louisiana (January 26, 1861) and Texas (February 1, 1861). The seven states all seceded within a roughly six-week period.
Just shy of 11 weeks later, another round of secessions took place: Virginia (April 17, 1861), Arkansas (May 6, 1861), North Carolina (May 20, 1861) and Tennessee (June 8, 1861). As I've discussed before, secession was also declared by pro-Confederate governments in Missouri (October 31, 1861) and Kentucky (November 20, 1861), but as these states also had a competing pro-Union Government in place, the secession orders were never truly official. Still, they are often included with the other four "Round 2" states to make a total of six more states that were either all or partly on the Confederacy side during the War. Each was represented on the coin by one of the six rays seen below the outstretched wings of the eagle.
So, there you have it - even more Confederate symbolism than I had previously discussed!
1935-39 Arkansas Statehood Centennial Half Dollar
For more on the design of the Arkansas Statehood Centennial half dollar, check out:
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1935-39 Arkansas Ststehood Centennial Design DiscussionFor other posts about the Arkansas half dollar, as well as other commemorative coins and medals, have a look at:
Commems Collection.
Posted 10/12/2021 12:07 pm
