Commems Collection Classic: Matched Pairs

Matched pairs:-
How about a 2021 and a 1921 Morgan dollar pair ?

Fun idea. Here is the first one that popped into my head. (Disclaimer - these are not my coins / photos - hope that's acceptable.)





I first thought of matching the modern Civil War Half Dollar, but the Dollar coin has Gettysburg imagery on the reverse.

1909 Cent and 2009 cent
The former created to commemorate 100 anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth and the latter was made with different reverses for the 200 year commemoration.

Fun idea commems - I'm going to think it through some, but the first pairing that popped into my head was the 1926 Sesquicentennial of the United States half and the 1976 Bicentennial half.

Assumes of course that you can consider the 1976 example as a circulating commemorative, which I do.

I'm going to come up with at least one more.

I have a few more 'pairs' to offer for consideration:

1995 Civil War Battlefield Half vs. 1937 Antietam Half

I could have chosen the Gettysburg half for this pair, but it was already spoken for above. The Antietam reverse image of the Burnside Bridge does indeed show a piece of the Civil War battlefield making the connection to this coin even stronger.


Source: public image

Here is my PCGS MS67/CAC Antietam



And here is a recent photograph of the Burnside Bridge that I took trying to capture the same angle as William Marks Simpson did for the coin. Note for scale the people standing on the far side of the bridge, that was the Union soldiers position with the Confederate soldiers positioned on a bluff overlooking the bridge.



2009 Abe Lincoln Dollar vs. 1918 Illinois (Lincoln) Half

The obvious connection for this pair are the obverse portraits featuring Lincoln on both coins.


Source: public image

Here is my PCGS MS66+/CAC 1918 Lincoln



I'm trying to make a 3rd pair using the 2007 Jamestown 400th Anniversary dollar as the modern commemorative coin.

It's a debate as to which classic coin I should pair it with. I'm going with the 1936 Delaware half commemorative the 300th anniversary of the Swedes landing.

To me, the common theme between both coins that makes them a potential pair is original ocean voyages to settle new lands in the New World.

OK - thats a somewhat tenuous connection. I welcome anyones input into a different selection.


Source: Public Image

Here is my PCGS MS66/CAC Delaware half

@nickelsearcher: Nice additions to the discussion!

I think the Classic Delaware / Modern Jamestown connection works, though I would offer the 1937 Roanoke as a classic-era coin that would also work for the pairing. The settlement in Jamestown was built upon the lessons learned from the Roanoke Colony's failure and thus has a strong contemporary link; the two were also both English attempts at establishing a colony.

@ commems - I understand your logic pairing the Roanoke half to the Jamestown dollar and concur with that selection.

I seem to recall as well your home state connection to the Roanoke half, so we'll give some extra credit to that choice.

Now - are there any more entries to discuss?

Excellent!