Commems Collection Classic: 1935-39 Arkansas Statehood Centennial - Progress Report

1935 Arkansas Statehood Centennial Half Dollar


In early 1937, the Arkansas Centennial Commission issued a Progress Report regarding its purposes and accomplishments (to date).

The Centennial Commission was established by the Arkansas Legislature in 1935 - Arkansas Governor Junius Marion Futrell signed the resolution into law on March 31, 1935. The Commission's objectives were:

"A. To foster, develop and conduct a befitting celebration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the State of Arkansas.

B. To select, procure, construct, finance and manage Recreational Areas in the State of Arkansas."

Interestingly, the Commission was established to function for a period of 30 years, but was not appropriated funds to carry out its objectives. Eventually, Arkansas' US Senators and Representatives were able to secure a $75,000 appropriation from the Federal Government. The lack of funds early on meant the Commission members had to personally fund many of the activities they conducted on behalf of the State, cancel and/or postpone multiple planned Centennial events and develop/pursue alternate fund raising tools such as commemorative coins and First Day Covers.

Before securing its commemorative coin, the Commission had to frame its plan for the Centennial. In the Progress Report, it stated:

"After mature consideration, the Commission decided that those things which Arkansas has of interest to offer the visitor are its climate, scenery, nine thousand miles of improved highways, and all year-round outdoor recreational facilities, which cannot be moved to or satisfactorily depicted in a centralized exposition. The Commission, therefore, adopted adopted as its slogan and guiding principle the statement: "Our State Is Our Exposition," and planned a decentralized, modernized type of exposition in which the community itself in its usual settings is the main attraction; a real living, natural display throughout the whole State as contrasted with an artificial exposition centered in one area."

So, if you ever wondered why Arkansas did not stage an Exposition like its neighbor Texas, now you have your answer!

In addition, the Commission adopted as its "Statement of Purposes:"

1. To Sell Arkansas to Her Own People by "causing Arkansans to become better acquainted with their State through interesting anf attractive Centennial exercises and celebration events in every county of Arkansas."

2. To Sell Arkansas to the Other Forty-Seven States by attracting visitors to Arkansas with its Centennial Celebrations via newspaper and radio publicity and distribution of maps, letter inserts and promotional brochures. The Commission also intended to piggy-back on Texas' Exposition and Centennial events which were projected to attract ~10 million visitors.

(Why 47 and not 50 States? The statement assumes Arkansas is the 48th State and neither Alaska nor Hawaii were yet States - they wouldn't become so until 1959.)

Regarding its commemorative coin, the Report stated:

"The Commission made an arrangement with a coin dealer for the handling of several thousand coins at a profit to the Commission. In addition, Chairman Couch conducted a campaign for volunteer supporters who contributed $100.00 each, realizing $9,953.51 from this source, while the Commission continued to sell more of the coins. These provided a small, though uncertain, income." (The referenced coin dealer was B. Max Mehl; you can read more about his involvement and sales efforts here: 1935-39 Arkansas Statehood Centennial - B. Max Mehl.)

Within the Commission's included Financial Statement, it listed that, as of November 30, 1936, the Commission had "Coin Sales" of $38,730.48, and itemized "Bills To Be Paid" of:

- Cash Coin Fund: $19,373.83
- Coin Purchases: $12,680.00
- Coin Dies: $25.00
- General Coin Expense: $944.19
- Joe T. Robinson Coin: 125.00

Sales minus Itemized Expenses left a coin-related Net of $5,582.46. One Note: It is certainly possible that other minor coin-related expenses were included in other line items of the Statement.

If the assumption is made that "Coin Purchases" cover past purchases from the US Mint (the $12,680 could represent up to 25,360 half dollars) and if the "Cash Coin Fund" is assumed to be earmarked for payment of additional coins, the ~$32,000 would cover ~64,000 half dollars. The Arkansas issue had 24,000 1935-dated coins struck and, by November 30, 1936, an additional 30,000 1936-dated coins struck. This suggests that the Commission was in "good shape" regarding its coin account with the Mint.

Of course, the Arkansas Centennial Commission continued on beyond November 30, 1936, and continued to order and issue coins through 1939 (distributed in 1937 by Stack's, read more here: 1937 Arkansas Statehood Centennial - Stack's Distribution).

The Comptroller's introduction to the Financial Statement noted "the Commission anticipates the receipt of several
thousand dollars additional funds from the sale of the Joe T. Robinson coin, which will be ready for distribution in a short time. Arrangements have been made for the sale of this entire issue as we understand it, and a fairly accurate estimate can be made as to the net income from same." The "Arrangement" referred to is the Commission's deal with Stack's to distribute the Arkansas Statehood Centennial - Joseph T. Robinson coin.


For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including posts on the 1935-39 Arkansas Type coins and the 1936 Robinson Type coins, see: Commems Collection.