Commems Collection Classic: 1937 Battle Of Antietam 75th Anniversary - Historical Tidbits

There's always room for Tidbits!


Tidbit #1

In March 1936, a delegation from Hagerstown, Maryland representing the Washington County Historical Society, traveled to Washington, DC to meet with Representative David John Lewis (D-MD) to review its plans for the 1937 commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Antietam, the 175th Anniversary of the founding of Hagerstown and the 200th Anniversary of the settlement of Washington County.

The group left the meeting with assurances from Lewis that he would introduce a commemorative coin bill for the Battle Anniversary, along with a commemorative stamp proposal for the same.

Note: By the date of the meeting, Senator Millard Evelyn Tydings (D-MD) had already introduced a bill in the Senate for a Battle of Antietam coin. The Senate bill would ultimately be the one that was approved.


Tidbit #2

December 1936 saw the announcement by the Washington County Historical Society that its members would be issued from one to 10 examples of its commemorative half dollar before the coin was to be made available to the general public. The move was to be made to ensure that Society members had guaranteed access to the coins.

I wonder if there was a membership deadline date put in place to prevent collectors from "flooding" the Society with membership applications to ensure access to the coin?


Tidbit #3

In September 1937, the Washington County Historical Society urged those interested in obtaining an example of the Battle of Antietam commemorative coin to act to avoid missing out. Plans were being made to return unsold coins to the Mint to be melted.

Note: The Battle of Antietam Anniversary full authorized the striking of 50,000 coins - all were struck by the US Mint. The sales volume for the coin, however, never reached "sell-out" (or near sell-out) levels. In the end, 32,000 coins were returned to the Mint to be melted, leaving a net mintage of just 18,000.


Tidbit #4

A re-enactment of the 1862 Battle of Antietam was held on September 17, 1937 to honor the fallen at the United States ("US") Civil War Battle (>23,000);. An estimated 50,000 to 100,000 were expected to attend the event, including a small number of surviving veterans of the 1862 battle.


1937 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Antietam Half Dollar



For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more Battle of Antietam coin stories, see: Commems Collection