Commemorative Half Dollars For My 7070 Album

When I first started working on my 7070 album last year, I really knew nothing whatsoever about commemorative half dollars and just threw in four random commemoratives for the sake of filling the holes. One was an 1893 Columbian Exposition that I happened to pick up as part of a set of "Classic Silver American Half Dollars" and the other three were modern issues.

When I first started showing pictures of my album here on the forums, one of the members (hesgut) commented that I might want to consider filling the commemorative slots with "classic" coins instead of modern ones. At the time, I didn't think much of it (especially since, as I said, I didn't really know anything about the older commemoratives), but the more I've learned about them the more I've come to realize that hesgut was absolutely correct.

Now, the only problem is figuring out which commemoratives I should get! Unlike almost every other coin in my 7070 album (the other exception being the commemorative State Quarter), I get to pick the coins instead of just relying on the album to tell me what to get and would therefore like to get some that have some special meaning to me.

I've decided to keep the Columbian Expo Commemorative, although I have upgraded my original one to a slightly nicer 1892 example with a really nice patina:




I like this one because it speaks to me as an American. It may no longer be politically correct to celebrate the discovery of America by Columbus, but I don't care.

Because I am from Massachusetts, I figure I should probably go with the Pilgrim and Lexington commemoratives next (the commemorative State Quarter in my album is the Massachusetts one for this very reason). In fact, I recently purchased what I hope is a nice Pilgrim on ebay and am waiting anxiously for it to arrive (I'll post pics here when I get it). I saw a Lexington at a local coin shop the other day, but it was ridiculously expensive (upwards of $300), so I'll probably end up getting one on ebay as well.

But what about the fourth coin?

For (presumably) obvious reasons, I'm probably not going to go for a Stone Mountain. The Oregon Trail appeals to me (since many traveled from Massachusetts along the trail), but the examples I have seen are way out of my price range (probably $100 or so). I'm really not all that interested in coins commemorating other states, simply because I don't feel any connection to them.

I realize everybody has their own opinions on the subject, but I'd love to hear what your favorite classic commemorative half dollar is and, more importantly, why. They all look nice, but I'm especially interested in the history behind your favorite example and why it spoke to you.