Senators Phillips Lee Goldsborough (R-MD) and Millard Evelyn Tydings (D-MD) together introduced a bill for coins to be struck "in commemoration of the three-hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Province of Maryland" on March 6, 1934; the Senate Legislative Day was still officially February 28, however.
The bill requested 10,000 coins but did not limit their minting to a single Mint facility or a single year; the bill also did not specify a date to be inscribed on the coins or an expiration date for coining authority. It did, however, name the Maryland Tercentenary Commission as the coin's sponsor and specified that coins could only be delivered to the Commission and only upon payment for them at par value. Per the bill, the coins could be sold "at par or at a premium" and "all proceeds shall be used in furtherance of the Maryland Tercentenary Commission projects" of which there were many. (See the Hans Schuler link below for some.)
Upon its introduction, the bill was read twice and referred to the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency. The Committee did not hold a Hearing on the coin proposal, choosing to review it within Committee. It moved quickly, reporting the bill favorably, without amendment, approximately a week later on March 13, 1934. The Whole Senae passed the bill without discussion on March 20; subsequently, the bill was sent to the House for concurrence.
Upon receipt in the House, it was referred to the House Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures. The Committee recommended that the bill pass, but with amendments that raised the mintage to 25,000 (vs. 10,000) and ensured that the US Government would not incur any costs related to the making of the coin's models and dies or other production costs. The change in mintage was recommended by the Treasury Department after its review of the request.
The bill, as amended, was easily passed in the House and sent back to the Senate. The Senate agreed to the House amendments without issue and moved to pass the bill.
The passed bill was then examined and signed in each chamber of Congress before being sent to the President for approval. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the coin bill into law on May 9, 1934,
The full authorized mintage of 25,000 was struck in Philadelphia in July 1934 and sent to the Maryland Tercentenary Commission. Sales, at $1.00 per coin, were reasonable, but slowed after an initial surge. Over the next year, the Commission sold all of the coins, including some bulk orders to dealers toward the end, and returned zero coins to the Mint to be melted.
1934 Maryland Tercentenary Half Dollar
For more about the Maryland half dollar, check out:
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1934 Maryland Tercentenary-
1934 Maryland Tercentenary - Revisited-
1934 Maryland Tercentenary - Hans Schuler-
1934 Maryland Tercentenary - Amended Request - Mintage Story
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1934 Maryland Tercentenary - Official Seal Design Discussion-
1934 Maryland Tercentenary - Coins with Hats Thread - Discussion of British Crown on Reverse
To learn about the Official Medal of the Maryland Tercentenary, see:
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1934 Maryland Tercentenary MedalFor other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, check out:
Commems Collection
Posted 03/07/2022 10:38 am
