The original bill proposing the 1934 Maryland Tercentenary Half Dollar, introduced in the Senate, called for 10,000 coins to be struck. The Senate passed the bill and sent it on to the House for its consideration; upon its receipt, the bill was referred to the House Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures. During its review of the bill, the Committee recommended that the mintage be increased to 25,000 coins. I've written before about this change for the Maryland Tercentenary coin, you can read the post here:
1934 Maryland Tercentenary - Amended Request.
The bill and the changes recommended by the Committee were brought up for consideration in the full House via a request for unanimous consent by Representative Andrew Lawrence Somers (D-NY). Instead of proceeding without issue, however, Representative Thomas Lindsay Blanton (D-TX) rose to object to limiting the mintage increase to just 25,000 and asked consideration for raising it to 100,000. Blanton was looking to increase the amount of silver in circulation and reasoned the Maryland half dollar could be a vehicle to help fulfill such a desire.
Representative Somers, a member of the House Committee, addressed Representative Blanton's suggestion and indicated that the Committee, after discussion, believed 25,000 was "the proper number." Representative Blanton persisted, however, suggesting that he would be fine with having 25,000 coins make up the portion of the mintage that is held as non-circulating souvenirs, but believed the remaining 75,000 coins could find their way into circulation.
Representative Somers reminded Blanton that most commemorative coins are never placed into circulation by those who purchase them (at a premium) and stated that he knew of no mechanism to force a portion of the mintage into circulation (at face value). With this argument presented, Representative Blanton withdrew his objection and the 25,000 coin version of the bill passed without further issue.
And so, the Maryland Tercentenary Half Dollar
did not instantly become a commemorative half dollar that was unlikely to have its sales reach the full level of its authorization - the 25,000 mintage proved to be a more than adequate number for the Maryland Tercentenary Commission.
1934 Province of Maryland Tercentenary Half Dollar
For more on the Maryland Tercentenary Half Dollar, check out:
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1934 Maryland Tercentenary-
1934 Maryland Tercentenary - Revisited-
1934 Maryland Tercentenary - Hans Schuler-
1934 Maryland Tercentenary - Official Seal-
1934 Maryland Tercentenary - Coins with Hats ThreadOther of my posts about commemorative coins and medals can be found here:
Commems Collection. 
Posted 02/10/2022 09:35 am
