Sorry ... long thread coming up!
It's based on my enthusiasm for the topic of classic US silver commemorative and my willingness to share ... those with less interest can skip straight to the photos.
Sooo .. the 1892-1893 Columbian Exposition Half Dollar was issued by the US Mint as a '
souvenir' coin ... today we know it as the first ever USA commemorative coin.
This is the first USA legal tender coin to depict a foreigner ... in this case
Charles Barber's supposed likeness of Christopher Columbus on the obverse. Later commemorative issues will follow on this theme ... namely within the next 7 years Queen Isabella on the quarter dollar of 1893 and the Parisian Gen. Lafayette on the magnificent dollar of 1900.
Classic US coin fans can take note that the Columbian Half was designed by the two powerhouse US Mint designers of the time ... the obverse by
Charles E. Barber and the reverse by George T. Morgan. Sooo ...
if you thought you had a complete type set of Barber/Morgan coins .... better include this one.
These coins were struck in quantity ... net mintage for 1892 was 950,000 examples and 1893 net mintage was 1,550,405.
The 1893 coin is the first of many upcoming illogical dates placed on USA commemorative ... noting that the exposition and 400th anniversary of Columbus landing was held in 1892. More than 2,500,000 of the 1893 dated coins were later returned to the mint for melting.
Lack of sales forced the US Treasury to place many of these coins in circulation at face value ... to the consternation of folks who paid $1 each ... and the subsequent result is today these are common to find in well circulated grades (photo coming right up).
Too add some historical perspective to the collectors feelings at the time these coins were issued ... I quote (without permission) the following from B. Max Mehl classic 1937 publication "
The Commemorative Coins of the United States of America" of which I have an original copy ... keep in mind that Mehl wrote his classic treatise during time of great unhappiness amongst commemorative collectors ... given the abuses of 1936 and the 19 different type issues of that date.
In 1937 Mehl wrote ...
"
There has been so much comment, favorable and otherwise, on the flood of commemorative halves, that it is interesting to note that even our very first issue of commemorative half dollars in 1892 created similar comment which appears with and after each subsequent issue.
On the next page I give some of the comments on the Columbian Half Dollars as it appeared soon after they were issued, which even today makes highly interesting and amusing reading"
Mehl goes on to quote the following ...
San Francisco Examiner (1892):
"
The newest thing out. Buy your Half-Dollar for a dollar and sell it for two dollars. We don't hear much about the two-dollar victims yet; but suppose they will be forthcoming.
The picture of Columbus upon the souvenir coins will be ideal, so it is stated. It is not altogether clear how it could be anything else, since the roving gentleman whose bones rest in a pair of tombs neglected to leave any authentic portrait."
Galveston Daily News (1892): (My excerpts for sake of brevity)
"
The front side of the coin has an elegant likeness of the late Sitting Bull. This, however, is said to be meant for Columbus. On the right shoulder appears the letter B. This certainly indicates the location of either a boil or a barnacle.
There is also a likeness of Columbus' ship, under full sail. At first blush the ship seems to be on wheels.
The figure 1492 appears below the vessel. The coin is of the same size and weight as the old run of half-dollars, and, for all they are sold at a heavy premium, the purchasing power is but ten beers."So much for the history ... here 119 years later in 2011 we have ample opportunity to acquire a Columbian Half Dollar ... these are not that expensive due to their tremendous mintage ... and now the photos of my set ...
1893 FR2/AG3 ... 'ship on wheels' as mentioned in 1892.
Compare to my 1892 PCGS MS65+ CAC ...
Great fun ... great stories ... great history in the USA commemorative series.
Thanks for hanging in with me ... hope you enjoyed the perspective.
David
Posted 05/22/2011 9:37 pm
