Post Your Coins Depicting Places!

Lesotho 1 Loti from 1995 showing the United Nations HQ (formerly the League of Nations Palace) in Geneva:


Partial view of the UN building taken by me through a tour bus window on a very wet day in June 1981:

Golden Nugget Las Vegas

I guess a map would count.
Brazil 1944 1 Cruz

Another of the 2016 French silver 10-euro coins depicting Saint-Exupery's Little Prince visiting various places in France. Here he is having his portrait painted by a street artist in front of the Basilica of Montmartre in Paris:


My photo of the Basilica of Montmartre taken two years ago:

Here's a coin that depicts a place that no longer exists - the 1936 York County, ME Tercentenary half dollar which presents Brown's Garrison on its obverse (per the US Mint).

Brown's Garrison was located in Saco, Maine. What came to be known as Brown's Garrison was built as a shelter for workers in a nearby sawmill; it served as protection against hostilities launched by local Native Americans. The garrison consisted of several houses with a surrounding stockade; it was built on the same site as was occupied by the York National Bank building (circa 1936). The York National Bank served as the distributor of the York County commemorative coin on behalf of its legal sponsor - the Committee for the Commemoration of the Founding of York County.

The coin was designed by Walter Rich. The source material for his design was a woodcut of Brown's Garrison in The Proprietors of Saco; the booklet was was privately published/printed by York National Bank of Saco, Maine in 1931; the booklet was written by Frank Cutter Deering. I can't attest to the woodcut's accuracy.




1936 York County, ME Tercentenary




The coin's view of the garrison is definitely more crowded than the original illustration - and where's the gate on the coin!? (it's there, just far less obvious.)


For more information about the York County coin and its original holder/mailer, have a look at: 1936 York County Tercentenary.

Other of my commemorative coin and medal posts can be found here: Read More: Commems Collection

The seeds for the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge were planted in 1929 with the creation of the California Toll Bridge Authority. The Authority was tasked with constructing a bridge that connected the City of San Francisco with Alameda County (Oakland) across the San Francisco Bay. After years of planning and pre-work, construction on the bridge began in July 1933.

House and Senate bills proposing a commemorative coin to mark the bridge's opening were introduced in Congress in April 1936; the Senate bill was ultimately successful and was passed in June 1936. The bridge opened on November 12, 1936 with a grand dedication ceremony that was well attended by dignitaries and the general public.

The bridge consists of two sections, a Western Span from San Francisco and an Eastern Span that extends to Oakland; the two spans meet at Yerba Buena Island in the SF Bay. The Western Span from San Francisco is primarily a suspension bridge, while the Eastern Span to Oakland was primarily a cantilever bridge; the original Eastern Span was damaged during the 1989 earthquake that hit the area and was replaced by a new suspension bridge that opened in September 2013.

SF-Oakland Bay Bridge - Western Span - Suspension Bridge from San Francisco

(Image courtesy of US Library of Congress - Prints and Photographs Division.)

SF-Oakland Bay Bridge - Eastern Span - Original Cantilever Bridge Towards Oakland

(Image courtesy of US Library of Congress - Prints and Photographs Division.)

The commemorative half dollars were not ready in time to be sold at the bridge's opening, but were soon available at the bridge's toll booths, as well as at various local locations and via mail order. The original cost was $1.50 per coin.

1936 San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Half Dollar (AKA "Bay Bridge")





For information on the Bay Bridge coin, see: 1936 San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, 1936 Bay Bridge - Ephemera and 1936 Bay Bridge Half Dollar - A Distant Cousin.

Other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals can be found here: Read More: Commems Collection.

The Old Lynchburg Courthouse is featured on the 1936 Lynchburg, VA Sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar. The Courthouse is placed in the background on the coin's reverse, with a standing figure of Liberty seen front and center. The coin's obverse features a portrait of Carter Glass, one of the two US Senators from Virginia at the time and the honorary chairman of the Lynchburg Sesquicentennial Commission. Glass was opposed to his portrait appearing on the coin, but was outvoted.

Old Courthouse Building, Lynchburg, VA (circa 1970s)

(Image courtesy of US Library of Congress - Prints and Photographs Division

The Courthouse was constructed between 1853 and 1855 under the direction of the architectural firm of Andrew Ellison, Jr; of Philadelphia, records indicate that Andrew's younger brother, William S. Ellison, was the building's lead designer. The four Greek-inspired Doric columns of the building's front portico are signature architectural elements of the Greek Revival style structure, and can be easily seen on the coin, as can the belfry that tops the building's shallow dome.

Courthouse Trivia: The Courthouse shown on the coin was the second Lynchburg Courthouse built on the site, the first was completed in 1813.

The building served as a courthouse from its opening in 1855 to the late 1960s/early 1970s; the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court was the last to hold court sessions in the building.

No longer an active courthouse, today the building is home to the Lynchburg Museum, a general history museum of Lynchburg and its surrounding region. You can check the museum out here: Lynchburg Museum.

1936 Lynchburg, VA Sesquicentennial Half Dollar




For more details about the coin and its original holder, visit: 1936 Lynchburg Sesquicentennial.

Other of my post about commemorative coins and medals can be found here: Read More: Commems Collection