I've previously posted the Arkansas Statehood Centennial half dollar in this thread, but return here with the "Robinson Variety" of the coin.
The sponsor of the Arkansas Statehood coin, the Arkansas Honorary Centennial Celebration Commission, approached Congress in 1936 seeking approval for an amendment to their bill that would have allowed for multiple new designs for their coin.
The original three-design amendment bill did not get approved, but a one-additional-design version did - the result was a coin that featured Senator Joseph Robinson on its reverse. Robinson was living at the time his coin was issued - an uncommon, but not unprecendented, occurence in
US coinage. See my
Alive and Well (At the Time!) post for more details.
As the coin shares the obverse (the "star side") with the original Arkansas Statehood Centennial half dollar, my previous discussiopn of it still applies so there's no need to repeat it. If interested, you can read about the coin's 17 obverse stars there:
Arkansas Statehood Centennial.
Edward Everett Burr was the designer for the obverse of the coin; Henry Kreiss modeled the Robinson portrait from sketches prepared by Enid Bell, an artist / sculptor / illustrator born in London, England but living in New Jersey at the time; Bell moved to the US and spent most of her professional career working from her studio in New Jersey. She is best remembered for her wood carvings/sculptures. Kreiss was the designer of record for the 1935 Connecticut Tercentenary half dollar and the 1936 Bridgeport, CT Centennial half dollar.
1936 Arkansas Statehood Centennial - Robinson Half Dollar

You can find my more detailed post about the Robinson-Arkansas half dollar here:
1936 Arkansas Centennial / Robinson.
Other of my commemorative coin post are here:
Read More: Commems Collection
Collecting history one coin or medal at a time! (c) commems. All rights reserved.
Edited by commems
02/28/2021 10:42 am