1920-21 Pilgrim Tercentenary Half Dollar

Great writeup and nice coins.

Thanks for sharing! I always enjoy reading about classic commemoratives.

Attractive examples of each of the coins. I bet "yellowkid" and "Justacommeman" are very happy having them in their respective collections!

The Taxay book is a great reference for some of the "behind the scenes" goings on with each classic series coin. Always recommended!

Nice read Lee and great looking Pilgrims! I have always liked yellowkid's example

Lead Die Trials, Judd-A1920-1 and Judd-A1920-2.

Approximately 43 to 44 millimeters horizontally across each piece. Struck from the original completed dies for 1920, the first year of issue. The incused D below the Pilgrim's elbow is the initial of Cyrus E. Dallin (1861-1944), noted sculptor of Arlington, Massachusetts, who was called upon by the Massachusetts Tercentenary Commission to prepare models for a commemorative coin showing depictions of Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford and the Mayflower. The die trials were in the hands of Dallin's great-grandson. Image courtesy of Stacks Bowers Galleries.

". . . A large hoard of thousands of 1920 Pilgrim half dollars, all in original Mint cloth shipping bags, was sold by Paramount International Coin Corporation circa 1967-1968.1 The market was not particularly strong at the time, and most of the coins were sold for about $8 each."6

1 Per a recollection of Raymond N. Merena, general manager of Paramount at the time.

6 Commemorative Coins of the United States; A Complete Encyclopedia, Q. David Bowers. Published by Bowers and Merena Galleries, Inc., Box 1224, Wolfeboro, NH 03894, 1991, p. 142.

Courtesy of the U. S. Commission of Fine Arts

Minutes of Meeting held in Washington, D.C., September 3, 1920.

The following members were present:
Mr. Moore, Chairman,
Mr. Platt,
Mr. Pope,
Mr. Fraser,

Also Major C. S. Ridley, Secretary and Executive Officer.

Plymouth Memorial Coin: On August 23, 1920, the Commission received from the Director of the Mint photographs for the proposed Plymouth Memorial Coin with a statement that an immediate decision was desired from the Commission.

The model was made in plaster by Cyrus E. Dallin, sculptor, of Boston, and showed the head of a Puritan on the obverse and the Mayflower on the reverse. The Director of the Mint had advised that the Plymouth Memorial Committee was in a great hurry to place these coins on the market, that Congress had authorized making 300,000 of them and that it would be necessary to proceed with the coining at once.

The Commission did not consider the design as being good and felt an improvement ought to be made at least in the lettering. The Commission particularly regretted the exceedingly great haste in this matter in view of the opportunity for a splendid piece of work and returned the submission to the Director of the Mint without action. (Exhibit A).

" James Earle Fraser was shown Cyrus E. Dallin's models by the Commission of Fine Arts and found the devices to be well done but the inscriptions crude, as noted in this letter to chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts Charles Moore, undated, but probably toward the end of August:

My Dear Mr. Moore,
'Altogether the design for the Pilgrim fifty-cent coin is good. The part that seems to me to need most attention if there is time is the lettering. The design would be greatly helped by good lettering. It is too bad that we can't make our suggestions in time to let the artist make a few changes if needed. As it is, the coins are to be minted within a month, which leaves no time for bettering the work and puts us in the position of accepting work which we are not altogether in favor of. Would it be possible to make a suggestion that the model should be shown to the Commission three months before the coin could be minted?

Faithfully yours.

Dallin was not given the opportunity to redo the lettering."7

Exhibit A

September 7, 1920.
Sir:
With reference to the submission of the design for the Plymouth Memorial Coin, the Commission at its meeting on September 3, 1920, requested me to advise you as follows:

The Commission of Fine Arts regret that the design for the Plymouth Memorial Coin was submitted to the Commission at such a late date that there was no opportunity to confer with the designer for the purpose of making suggestions calculated to bring the work in harmony with the standards worked out in connection with the subsidiary silver coinage. . . This, the Commission feel, is a loss to the artist not less than to the public and to the prestige of the Mint. The submission is, therefore, returned without action.

The Commission respectfully suggests:
1. That as a part of the procedure in the case of memorial coins, the Director of the Mint make regulations requiring that a person of experience and ability in designing coins or medals be selected as the designer;

2. That a sum sufficient to secure the services of a designer of high ability be set apart for the payment of the design;

3. That not less than three months be given to the designer for the preparation of the model;

4. That the model be submitted to the National Commission of Fine Arts for approval, with the understanding that the sculptor may consult with the Commission during the progress of his work.

Memorial coins should represent in the very highest degree the ability of the United States Mint. These coins, if well-designed and well-executed, become a portion of American history. If ill-designed and poorly executed, they are a reflection on American taste. It is not an answer to say that these coins quickly disappear from circulation and are lost to the world, - rather the assertion is in itself an argument for a perfection of our coinage, because the fine coins of the world belong quite as much to history as they do to numismatics, and they endure for centuries.

7 Commemorative Coins of the United States; A Complete Encyclopedia, Q. David Bowers. Published by Bowers and Merena Galleries, Inc., Box 1224, Wolfeboro, NH 03894, 1991, p. 142.

Respectfully, yours,
(Signed) C. S. Ridley,
Major, Corps of Engineers,
Secretary and Executive Officer.
Hon. Raymond T. Baker,
Director of the Mint,
Washington, D. C.



1920 Pilgrim Half Dollar Distribution Letter From The National Shawmut Bank of Boston, This form announces the release price of the soon to be released Pilgrim Commemorative half dollar at the price of $1. Pictures of the plaster cast mock ups are included, without dates or legends. Courtesy Stacks Bowers Galleries.