Commems Collection Classic: 1925 Fort Vancouver Centennial - Historical Tidbits

Time for a trip to the Northwest and a few tidbits about the 1925 Fort Vancouver Centennial Half Dollar...


Tidbit #1

The initial standalone bills proposing the Fort Vancouver Centennial Half Dollar called for the minting of up to five million coins. Later, when the coin proposal was added to the Battle of Bennington Half Dollar bill via amendment, the potential total had been reduced to 300,000 coins. When the proposal was approved, its corresponding Public Law specified the 300,000 coin limit.

Per the initial order from the coin's sponsor - the Fort Vancouver Centennial Corporation of Vancouver, Washington - the Mint struck just 50,000 coins (16.67% of the authorized maximum). Unfortunately for the sponsor, sales were quite poor and just 15,000 coins of the initial batch were sold; 35,000 unsold coins were returned to the Mint to be melted.

Clearly, five million coins were not needed to meet the demand for the commemorative piece - it had mostly regional appeal vs. national (outside of coin collectors).


Tidbit #2

The plane trip from Vancouver to San Francisco and back to pickup and deliver the Fort Vancouver Centennial coins set records for its same-day trip. The pilot for the trip was Lieutenant Oakley G. Kelly; he was accompanied by Don Sterling, Managing Editor, Portland Journal.

The flight left Vancouver at 5:15 am and, after a brief stop in Eugene, Oregon, arrived in San Francisco at 11:15 am. After loading the coins, the plane left for Vancouver at 12:45 pm and arrived at 6:21 pm.

In total, the trip's flight time was 10 hours, 55 minutes and its overall time was 13 hours, 6 minutes. It was the first same-day round-trip flight between Vancouver, Washington and San Francisco, California.

For more on this unusual coin delivery model, see:

- 1925 Fort Vancouver Centennial - Special Airmail Delivery!

Armed guards greeted the plane when it arrived back in Vancouver to ensure the safe delivery of the coins to the Vancouver National Bank.


Tidbit #3

The coin's sponsor arranged for staff at the San Francisco Branch Mint to place the first 20 coins struck in designated envelopes so that they could be used for special VIP presentations.

Coin #1: President Calvin Coolidge via Vancouver Mayor B. E. Allen
Coin #2: Councilman O. W. Storey for the City of Vancouver
Coin #3: Don Sterling, Managing Editor, Portland Journal
Coin #4: H. D. Warren, Vice President of Vancouver National Bank (the bank handling the coins)
Coin #5: Herbert J. Campbell, President of the Fort Vancouver Centennial Corporation
Coin #6: Ed Marcell, Chairman, Centennial Celebration Committee
Coin #7: Vancouver Chamber of Commerce via Lewis Shattuck, President
Coin #10: Lieutenant Oakley G. Kelly, the pilot of the plane that picked up the coins

Note: Coins #8, #9 and #s 11 through 20 were presumably given to other Centennial VIPs though my available resources do not list such recipients.


Tidbit #4

Just days after President Calvin Coolidge signed into law the bill that authorized the Fort Vancouver Centennial Half Dollar, an editorial in The Tacoma Daily Ledger (Tacoma, Washington) stated:

"It is greatly doubted that profits on the sale of the Vancouver half dollars would be sufficient to help much in the restoration plan [of the original Fort Vancouver]."[/i]

Not exactly a strong kick-off for the coin, but certainly a prophetic one!


Tidbit #5

A Fort Vancouver Centennial Half Dollar served as "payment" for a historic Hudson's Bay Company flag that was donated to the City of Vancouver in September 1926.

Glenn Ranck, Historian at the Clark County Historical Society, (Vancouver is located within Clark County, it is the County Seat) presented the 100+ year old flag to Vancouver and received in exchange one of the Fort Vancouver Centennial commemorative half dollars. (I wonder if it was one of the 'First 20' discussed above?) The flag was believed to have flown over Fort Vancouver a century before.

As a condition of the donation, Vancouver had to agree that the flag would not be sold or given away, and that it only be used on "patriotic, civic and historical occasions." Replicas of the flag can be seen today at the rebuilt Fort Vancouver.


1925 Fort Vancouver Centennial Half Dollar



For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including other Fort Vancouver Centennial stories, see: [b]Commems Collection