When I think of Toledo, OH, two things immediately come to mind: 1) the Toledo Mud Hens AAA baseball team (I'm a life-long baseball fan), and 2) Corporal/Sergeant Max Klinger (MASH 4077). In 1937, however, the centennial of the founding of the city was on the mind of local citizens and, to help celebrate the occasion, attempts were made to secure a commemorative half dollar to mark the anniversary.
Toledo is located in northwest Ohio, on the Maumee River, at the western edge of Lake Erie. The area occupied by present-day Toledo was inhabited by an indigenous population prior to the arrival of Europeans., and had been for many years. Two permanent European settlements were created in 1817 - the towns of Port Lawrence and Vistula. The two towns were combined in 1836, with the combination being named Toledo. The new town was chartered in 1837, and this is that was to be commemorated by a new half dollar.
Three bills were introduced in Congress, companion House and Senate bills on behalf of the Toledo Centennial Commemorative
Coin Association and a third bill for the benefit of the Toledo Centennial
Coin Committee of the Dean Horton Navy Post, Numbered 108, American Legion of Ohio. The bills sought coins "in commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the city of Toledo, OH."
Each of the bills called for a 1937-dated commemorative silver half dollar of standard specifications, the companion bills for the Coin Association requested 25,000 coins; the Senate bill for the Coin Committee requested - oddly - 27,000 coins. Another difference, the bills for the Coin Association called for coins from a single US Mint facility, while the Coin Committee bill looked for coins to be struck at all three facilities then operating; i.e., a P-D-S set with, presumably, 9,000 coins struck at Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco.
In keeping with the prevailing mindset in Congress regarding commemorative coins, the bills specified that the coins were to be dated "1937" regardless of when minted or issued, were to be delivered in one batch (either 25,000 or 27,000 coins) to its sponsor and orders for the coin needed to be placed within one year of the date of enactment of the bill, after which coining authority would expire.
The companion Coin Association bills were introduced in January, 1937 (House) and April, 1937 (Senate), while the Coin Committee bill (Senate) was introduced a few months later, in June. The fact that Senator Robert Johns Bulkley (D-OH) introduced both measures in the Senate, leads me to think the Coin Committee bill was less a competitor and more an attempt to jump start the failed attempt of the previous bills. Each of the bills was referred to its designated Committee (House: Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures; Senate: Committee on Banking and Currency), but none was reported out or brought up for consideration by its respective chamber.
Though a US commemorative half dollar was not to be, the centennial of Toledo in 1937 was numismatically celebrated by multiple local groups, including the Toledo Coin Club, who arranged for privately-struck medals to be produced. I have not yet been able to determine if one in particular was considered "official," however. Also, I haven't yet found any links between the medals that were struck and either the Coin Association or Coin Committee referenced above. So, I currently believe that neither the Association nor Committee pursued a privately-struck medal after its coin bill failed.
For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including many "What If?" stories about failed US commemorative coin proposals, check out:
Commems Collection. 
Posted 02/05/2022 6:37 pm
