Commems Collection Classic: What If? 1937-39 Arkansas-Robinson Coins - P / D / S Sets

I've posted in the past about how the Robinson Type of the Arkansas Statehood Centennial coin program came about via an amendment to the original Act that authorized the Arkansas Statehood Centennial Half Dollar. I've also discussed how Hattie Wyatt Caraway (D-AZ) attempted to amend the amendment to allow additional Robinson coins to be struck, to engage any/all US Mints and to remove the expiration date for Robinson coining authority. You can read about these topics here 1936 Arkansas Statehood Centennial / Joseph Robinson and here 1936 Arkansas Statehood Centennial, Robinson Variety, Additional Mintage

I wanted to return to the "amendment of the amendment" to more fully explore how the classic US commemorative coin series would likely have been altered if Caraway's Amendment had been successful.

Public Law 73-225, the original Act authorizing the Arkansas Statehood Centennial coin program included two key phrases: "at the mints of the United States" and "in such numbers, and at such times as they shall be requested." The two phrases enabled the sponsor - the Arkansas Honorary Centennial Celebration Commission - to create a multi-year coin program struck by the three US Mint facilities that were active at the time. The Arkansas coin program issued coins from 1935 through 1939, inclusive, with coins from Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco produced each year.

In contrast, the Arkansas-Robinson Amendment Act included the phrases "at a mint" and "no coins shall be issued after the expiration of one year after the enactment of this Act." These phrases limited the approved Arkansas-Robinson coins to production at a single US Mint facility and restricted production to 1936 and 1937 (the Act was approved on June 26, 1936) but all coins were to be dated "1936" regardless of when struck per the legislation. A minimum of 25,000 and a maximum of 50,000 coins were authorized to be struck. (The Philadelphia Mint struck 25,250 coins (plus 15 for assay) in January 1937.)

The second attempt (introduced in May 1937) to amend the original Arkansas Statehood Centennial Coin Act looked to increase the number of potential Arkansas-Robinson coins by 25,000 vs. the first amendment - a requested increase of the maximum limit from 50,000 to 75,000 - as well as allow the coins to be struck "at the mints." The amendment also looked to remove the "1936" date requirement and the expiration date of coining authority. In essence, the language of the new amendment returned to what appeared in the original Act vs. just an update to the mintage limit of the Arkansas-Robinson Amendment Act.

So, had it been passed, it is very likely that the Arkansas-Robinson program would today include coins from 1936, 1937, 1938 and 1939 and that P/D/S sets would exist for 1937, 1938 and 1939. (Recall that Congress passed legislation to discontinue the issuing of commemorative coins from prior-approved coin programs in 1939). A potential nine more coins for the collector seeking a full date and mint set!

Personally, I'm glad the Robinson coin was a one-year type. I don't believe that the Arkansas Statehood Centennial merited two parallel, multi-year/multi-mint commemorative coin programs! Do you?

1936 Arkansas Statehood Centennial, Joseph T. Robinson Type Half Dollar



For more of my stories about commemorative coins and medals, including more about the Arkansas-Robinson half dollar and its related ephemera, see: Commems Collection.