In May 1938, Representative John Martin Costello (D-CA) introduced a bill in the House that called for the striking of half dollars "in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Hollywood, California."
The bill's language did not include specific details regarding the founding of Hollywood. Such an omission may have been by design as public records document that the town plan for "Hollywood" was registered in 1887 not 1888. As such, its 50th anniversary should have been marked in 1937 rather than 1938.
On February 1, 1887, a map of a town named "Hollywood" was submitted to the Recorder's Office of the County of Los Angeles by Harvey Henderson Wilcox. Wilcox was the new owner of a 160-acre tract of land west of Los Angeles and he had plans to convert the undeveloped property into a town. Wilcox had recently moved to Los Angeles from Ohio with his wife Daieda; it was Daieda who named the future town. Regular water shortages in the developing town led to residents voting to being annexed by the much larger Los Angeles in 1910. Los Angeles had recently constructed a new aqueduct system for its water supply and could easily accommodate the needs of the ~500 residents of Hollywood {Los Angeles had about 100,000 residents at the time).
Hollywood became the site of the United States' movie industry in the early 1900s as studios moved to it from the East to "escape" from the many restrictions imposed on it by Thomas Edison (owner of many patents related to movie making). "Tinseltown" was born and continues to be synonymous with the US movie industry to the present day.
The coin bill sought up to 250,000 silver 50-cent pieces without restriction as to Mint facilities, and specified that all coins produced were to feature the year/date "1938" regardless of when struck. The bill did not, however, include an expiration date for coining authority nor did it specify a minimum size for coin orders. Thus, the coin's sponsor, the Committee for the Commemoration of the Founding of Hollywood, California, could, theoretically, have placed orders beyond 1938, but the coins struck would have appeared identical to those struck in 1938.
As written, the bill would have authorized a coin with the potential to be an ongoing fundraiser for the Committee. IMO, such an ongoing program would require new purchasers to be found each year vs. repeat buyers looking to keep their collection complete. Without a design or date change, collectors would not have needed to purchase additional coins in the post-1938 years to keep their collections current. Regardless, the open-ended bill would have been shutdown in 1939 with the passing of Public Law 76-278 that retired all previous commemorative coin Acts approved before March 1, 1939. (Read more about it here:
Regulating US Commemorative Coins.)
Upon its introduction, the bill was referred to the House Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures. It did not gain approval within the Committee and was never reported out for further consideration. Thus, the bill suffered the same fate as the 1931 coin proposal for a 50-cent piece in commemoration of Los Angeles' 150th anniversary. (You can read more about the Los Angeles bill here:
What If? 1931 Los Angeles, California.
For more of my topics on commemorative coins and medals, including more What If? stories, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 09/25/2022 07:26 am
