The Hudson Commemorative - A Personal Favorite

That is a cool one. I like the Moon on the reverse.

I'm going from memory on this one (lunch break at work) ..... but here are some fun facts about this lovely coin ....

The obverse (side with the ship) shows an image of the sailing ship Half Moon which the English (?) explorer Henry Hudson used to first explore what is now known as the Hudson River in 1609. He returned a year later in a ship called Discovery and explored what is now known as Hudson Bay. After a few years his crew grew mutinous and set Hudson and a few others adrift. Hudson was never heard from again.

Interestingly, the designer of this coin (don't recall his name without any references available) set out to memorialize the ship Half Moon with a .... well ..... half moon. He must not have know the difference between a half moon versus quarter moon as evidenced by that funky little quarter moon on the obverse at 10:00.

The reverse (you have your photos backwards) reproduces the seal of the city Hudson, NY to memorialize the 150th anniversary of their founding. Neptune is riding a whale (backwards) while a mermaid blows on a conch. I see to remember that the Latin (?) inscription translates to something like "Both the Honor and Reward of the Right".

This coin was minted In Philadelphia with a total distribution of 10,008 coins. As far as I know all were sold, but with great numismatic controversy at the time as one 'favored' dealer managed to snag a deal and get the lions share (7500 coins or so) before they were made available to the public. Another example of many of the greed plaguing this great series in 1935/1936.

Anyways ...... to this particular coin ...... the Hudson is notorious for weak strike and I have personally never seen one fully struck up. That weakness is evident on the obverse on the sail rigging and on the reverse at Neptunes arm and face.

This coin is not worn but weakly struck per typical Hudson's. Those bag marks (and probably some original planchet marks as well) will keep it at MS-64 IMHO. This coin compares very favorably with my PCGS MS-64.

Beautiful coin with a great story.

Thanks for sharing the photo.

Hopefully those with references available will be able to correct any factual errors in my recollection.

David

I was hoping nickelsearcher would chime in with his wealth of classic commem. knowledge. The coin did look softly struck to me but the weakness is so extreme that it gives the appearence that the coin circulated. I would have never guessed the coin would be MS-64!

Another nice coin .. you are very lucky to have so many beautiful coins.

Thanks for all the feedback, guys.

It's funny, I can still picture my grandmother from when I was a kid. I can imagine her getting on the bus to go do her shopping, and at the end of it stopping by the local coin shop to see what was new (or old). She'd probably also stop by the bank where the tellers kept rolls of silver dollars for her to buy and pick coins out of. Judging from the 150-plus Eisenhower dollars I sorted through yesterday, she must have been to the bank quite a bit.

Anyway, I appreciate the comments. As long as people enjoy seeing the pictures, I'll keep sharing them.