In Part I of this topic, I discussed the formation of the New Rochelle Commemorative Coin Committee and its role as a catalyst for the 1938 New Rochelle, NY 250th Anniversary Half Dollar. This time out, it's a deeper dive into the story behind the coin's designs.Before being signed into law, but at a time when the coin bill's passage appeared assured, attention was turned to developing designs for the New Rochelle coin.
First, local historical societies and artists were consulted. Unfortunately, the feedback received proved unhelpful as it focused on what not to include in the coin's design vs. what should be included. From
The Fatt Calfe: "A loud chorus of don'ts included, 'Don't have a landing party; don't have another Plymouth Rock; don't have ships; don't have eagles; don't have Indians."
Without useful ideas from these sources, Pitt Skipton approached a local artist, presented his design thoughts and requested that his descriptions be turned into draft sketches. This was done and Skipton presented them to the Coin Committee. The Committee liked and supported Skipton's proposed design concept and "considered its theme as having a real relation to the founding of the city.".
Next, the sketches were formalized and a local sculptor (Lorrilard Wise) created plaster models from them. Photographs of the models were delivered to the US Commission of Fine Arts (CFA). The Committee and CFA exchanged letters regarding the designs through July, August and September 1936; each time, the Committee had Wise make adjustments to the models based on the comments/suggestions received and sent updated photographs to the CFA.
Though approval of the designs had been assumed to be forthcoming, the CFA, in its meeting on October 23, 1936, still found the designs lacking and sent a letter on October 28 suggesting that a sculptor with previous experience designing coins/medals be sought to develop new designs. Enter Gertrude Katherine Lathrop. (For more on Gertrude, check out:
Coins Designed by a Woman - Gertrude K. Lathrop - #1 and
Coins Designed by a Woman - Gertrude K. Lathrop - #2.)
1938 New Rochelle, NY 250th Anniversary Half Dollar - Rejected Models
(Image Credit: Heritage Auctions, 2017 ANA Signature Auction - Denver (Price: $3,525); also 2015 FUN US coins Signature auction - Orlando (Price: $258.50).)Impressed by Lathrop's work on the 1936 Albany, NY Charter Anniversary Half Dollar, Pitt and Amy Skipton met with Lathrop in New Rochelle and showed her around the city so that she might develop ideas for the coin designs. Such excursions did not spark much meaningful inspiration, however. Instead, Pitt Skipton and Lathrop each came up with the idea of depicting the original presentation of the fatt calfe to Lord Pell. (For more on this event, see:
1938 New Rochelle. NY 250th Anniversary.)
Lathrop went back to her home/studio in Albany and began work on the "fatt calfe" design. For the coin's reverse, she created a design based on the fleur-de-lis (potentially based on a suggestion previously made by Amy Skipton) - the fleur-de-lis can be found on the Coat-of-Arms of the French city of La Rochelle as well as the American New Rochelle (the American city derived its name from the French city).
Side Note: The calf used as a model for the coin was not a local "resident" of New Rochelle. It was found on Kenwood Farm of Albany, NY - near Gertude Lathrop's home.Gertrude Lathrop Posing with the Model Seen on the New Rochelle Half Dollar
Lathrop's models were presented to the Coin Committee, which supported them, and then Lathrop brought them to the CFA. The CFA approved Lathrop's models on February 18, 1937. The design hurdle had been overcome!
1938 New Rochelle, NY 250th Anniversary Half Dollar
Part III - Fulfillment wraps up this story.
- Click here for Part I of the story For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including a number about the New Rochelle, see:
Commems Collection - follow the US Classic link.
Posted 05/20/2024 2:46 pm
