Commems Collection Classic: What If? 1947 Oregon Trail Memorial Revival

The 1926 Act that authorized the Oregon Trail Memorial half-dollar limited the total mintage for the coin to no more than six million coins. It was about the only limit the Act placed on the Oregon Trail Memorial Association, the coin's sponsor.

The "generous" Act allowed the coin to be struck at all three US Mints active at the time (P, D and S), and allowed the Association to request coins at any time that it desired and in any amount that it desired. In essence, the Act provided for the open-ended minting of the coin. Sales of the attractive coin never challenged the upper limit authorized, however. Between its first issue in 1926 and its last in 1939 (see below for a discussion on why 1939 was the last year of the series), the Oregon Trail half-dollar had a total net mintage of approximately 203,000.

Subtracting that net mintage from the total authorized left about 5.8 million coins still unissued. To fully appreciate the 5.8 million figure, consider that the Association could have continued to request 75,000 new coins each year right on up to the present day and still not have reached its authorized maximum!

Fortunately, Congress put a stop to the Oregon Trail series -and other multi-year series such as the Arkansas, Boone and Texas - by passing a law in 1939 that ended the continued striking of all previously authorized commemorative coins.

The allure of the profits that could be generated by the sale of up to 5.8 million coins was apparently a very strong one, however, as an attempt to revive the series was made in 1947. Senator Henry Clarence Dworshak (R-Idaho) introduced bill S-722 in February 1947 on behalf of the Oregon Trail Monument Association - - " Idaho Unit. The bill called for the minting of the unissued balance of the original Oregon Trail coins.

To get past the 1939 Act that put a stop to the coin, Senator Dworshak's bill included the following language: "That notwithstanding the provisions of the Act entitled "An Act to prohibit the issuance and coinage of certain commemorative coins, and for other purposes", approved August 5, 1939, the Director of the Mint is authorized and directed to coin...the unissued balance of the 50-cent pieces authorized to be issued by the Act of May 17, 1926."

Incredibly, the bill ignored the lessons of the past and would have created the same misguided, open-ended scenario that was included in the original Oregon Trail bill. Namely, the coins could be requested for as long as desired by the new sponsor with no specified minimum number of coins per request.

Somewhat surprisingly, considering the recent (1946) presidential vetoes of multiple commemorative bills, S-722 was passed by the Senate and referred to the House Committee on Banking and Currency. Fortunately, the House Committee took no action on the bill and it died a quiet death. I'm sure collectors around the country breathed a sigh of relief upon the news!

Imagine an Oregon Trail date and mint set that would require 200+ coins to complete! Glad I'm just a "Type" collector!


1926 Oregon Trail Memorial Half-Dollar - Obverse




1926 Oregon Trail Memorial Half-Dollar - Reverse