US Commemorative Coin Series: Quick Bits #43 - To The Melting Pot

One of the "charms" of the classic-era of US commemorative coins was the fact that coin sponsors typically had the authority to determine how many coins they wanted to order from the Mint (within the guidelines established by their coin's enabling legislation) and handled the marketing and distribution of the coins. Today, the Mint manages production, marketing and distribution of modern commemorative coins and simply sends a check (or checks) for the amount of earned surcharges to the sponsor once its sales figures are finalized and audited.

Many of the coins from the classic era did not sell out their entire mintage - their sponsor's were often overly optimistic. Often, the coin's sponsor returned thousands of unsold coins to the Mint to be melted. In many cases, the number of coins melted exceeded 50% of the number of coins struck!

Here are two "Top 5" Lists - one by total coins and one by percentage - of the "leading" melted classic-era commemorative coins:

Classic Era Commemorative Coins Melted: Top 5 By Total Count

#   Year     Coin                                                     Authorized    Struck        Melted      Percentage
5.  1926     American Independence Sesquicentennial - Silver $0.50    1,000,000     1,000,000     859,408     85.94%
4.  1925     Stone Mountain Memorial                                  5,000,000     2,314,000     1,000,000   43.22%
3.  1951     George Washington Carver-Booker T. Washington            3,418,369     2,422,000     1,093,198   45.14%
2.  1946-51  Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial                 5,000,000     3,166,000     1,581,631   49.96%
1.  1892-93  World's Columbian Exposition - Silver $0.50              5,000,000     4,050,000     2,501,700   61.77% 

Classic Era Commemorative Coins Melted: Top 5 By Percentage

#   Year     Coin                                                     Authorized    Struck        Melted      Percentage
5.  1926     American Independence Sesquicentennial - Gold $2.50      200,000       200,000       154,267     77.13%
4.  1921     Pilgrim Tercentenary (Total Authorization of 300K)       300,000       100,000       80,000      80.00%
3.  1926     American Independence Sesquicentennial - Silver $0.50    1,000,000     1,000,000     859,408     85.94%
2.  1903     Louisiana Purchase Exposition - Gold Dollar              250,000       250,000       215,250     86.10%
1.  1928     Oregon Trail Memorial (Total Authorization of 6.0M)      6,000,000     50,000        44,000      88.00%

Note: US Mint Reports and Hearings of Congress were used as sources for the above.