Commems Collection Classic: What If? 1930 Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary

The journey in Congress for the Massachusetts Bay Colony coin proposal began in November 1929 with the introduction of a bill in the Senate by David Ignasius Walsh of Massachusetts (D-MA). The bill called for the striking of half dollar coins "in commemoration of the three hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony." It was immediately referred to the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency.

Walsh's bill called for 500,000 silver half dollars of standard specifications, to be struck "at the mints of the United States" (i.e., all Mint facilities were in play). The bill did not specify a year to be placed on the coins (a common practice of the time), and did not specify an expiration date for the minting of the coins. The sponsor of the coins was listed as Massachusetts Bay Tercentenary (Incorporated). The bill did not progress out of the Senate Committee for further consideration.

A pair of bills were introduced in the House of Representatives in December 1929; the pair was nearly identical. The first was introduced by Representative John William McCormack (D-MA), and the second by Representative Edith Nourse Rogers (R-MA). The only difference between the two House bills and the Senate bill that preceded them was the addition of the phrase "and constitutional government" after "Massachusetts Bay Colony" in the description of the coin's commemorative objectives in the Rogers bill. It was the Rogers' bill that moved forward - not much of a surprise considering Republicans held 270 seats in the House vs. just 164 for the Democrats at the time. (One seat was held by the Farmer-Labor Party.)

A Hearing was held for the Rogers bill in February 1930. Representative Rogers went to the Hearing with drawings of the coin's potential design, but it does not appear they were a focus of the discussions - the designs weren't discussed nor were illustrations included in the Hearing report.

Rogers entered a written statement into the record in place of extended remarks. Included in the statement was a declaration that the coin's sponsor, Massachusetts Bay Tercentenary, Inc., was certain that between the population of Massachusetts (4 million), the millions of expected visitors, and the 25 million school children across the country, the requested 500,000 coins would be sold such that none would be returned to the Mint to be melted.

This was an area of concern for the Committee members, and Rogers was asked if some form of guarantee could be obtained to this effect. A letter was secured from the National Bank of Boston (to the Tercentenary group) which stated that it would accept the 500,000 coins and it would "use its best endeavors along with your committee [Massachusetts Bay Tercentenary, Inc.] and others to see that they are duly distributed." So, no guarantee that no coins would be returned to the Mint, just that best efforts would be made to distribute them.

With the letter received, however, the Committee felt comfortable enough to report the bill, unchanged, with a recommendation for it to pass. It was brought up for consideration in the House in March 1930 on the same day the Gadsden Purchase 75th Anniversary coin bill was considered (more on that later!). The House passed the bill without debate and sent it on to the Senate.

In the Senate, the bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency. While it was in Committee, US President Herbert Hoover vetoed the Gadsden Purchase 75th Anniversary coin bill (Read more here: What If? 1930 Gadsden Purchase) which effectively put a stop to further consideration of the Massachusetts Bay Colony coin.

With the Hoover veto of a commemorative coin bill on a parallel course to that of the Massachusetts Bay Colony coin, it was deemed likely a similar fate awaited the Tercentenary bill. The bill was never reported out of Committee, nor considered by the full Senate. It passed quietly without further notice.

So, though US President Herbert Hoover was not directly involved in the Massachusetts Bay Colony coin's demise, "blame" for its failure can be attributed to President Hoover as a bit of "collateral damage" after his Gadsden Purchase coin veto.

The Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary was not, however, bereft of numismatic souvenirs for the anniversary. In fact, the Tercentenary triggered the creation of dozens of souvenir commemorative medals. Shepard Pond created a catalog/listing of the medals; it was published in the American Numismatic Association's The Numismatist magazine in multiple parts following the anniversary year.

Here are three of the medals in my collection:

- 1930 Massachusetts Bay Colony 300th Anniversary Medal
- 1930 Massachusetts Bay Colony 300th Anniversary Medal - #2
- 1930 Massachusetts Bay Colony 300th Anniversary Medal - #3 (issued by the coin's sponsor)


For more of my topics on commemorative coins and medals, including many more What if? stories, see: Commems Collection.