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Early Commemorative Coins (1892 - 1954)

Information

The 1892 Columbian Exposition half dollar was the first commemorative coin authorized by Congress. From 1892 through 1954, subsequent legislation authorized the U.S. Mint to produce commemorative coins for 53 different events, occasions, or individuals. This resulted in the Mint producing a total of 157 silver and gold commemorative coins.

As early as 1925, many in Congress expressed concern over bills introduced to "...commemorate events of local and not national interest..." After extensive hearings on the "objectionable practices and abuses related to the issuance of special coins", as published in House Report No. 101, issued February 27, 1939, Congress passed legislation prohibiting "...the issuance and coinage of certain commemorative coins..." (Public Law No. 278-76th Congress - Approved August 5, 1939), which also halted the issue of all commemorative coins already approved.

With the exception of Acts signed on August 7, 1946, for the Iowa Centennial and Booker T. Washington half dollars, and an amendment to one of these in 1951 for the (George Washington) Carver-(Booker T.) Washington half dollar, no further coins were authorized. Produced from 1951 through 1954, the Carver-Washington half dollar was the last of the pre-modern commemorative coin programs.

1951-54

George Washington Carver-Booker T. Washington Half Dollar

1946-51

Booker T. Washington Memorial Half Dollar

1946

Iowa Centennial Half Dollar

1938

New Rochelle, New York Half Dollar

1937

Roanoke Island, North Carolina Half Dollar

1937

Battle of Antietam Half Dollar

1936

York County, Maine Tercentenary Half Dollar

1936

Wisconsin Territorial Centennial Half Dollar

1936

Robinson-Arkansas Centennial Half Dollar

1936

Providence, Rhode Island Tercentenary Half Dollar

1936

Norfolk, Virginia Bicentennial Half Dollar

1936

Lynchburg, Virginia Sesquicentennial Half Dollar

1936

Long Island Tercentenary Half Dollar

1936

Battle of Gettysburg Half Dollar

1936

Elgin, Illinois Centennial Half Dollar

1936

Delaware Tercentenary Half Dollar

1936

Columbia, South Carolina Sesquicentennial Half Dollar

1936

Cleveland Great Lakes Exposition Half Dollar

1936

Cincinnati Music Center Half Dollar

1936

Bridgeport, Connecticut Centennial Half Dollar

1936

Bay Bridge San Francisco-Oakland Half Dollar

1936

Albany, New York Charter Half Dollar

1935-36

San Diego-California-Pacific Exposition Half Dollar

1935

Old Spanish Trail Half Dollar

1935

Hudson, New York Sesquicentennial Half Dollar

1935

Connecticut Tercentenary Half Dollar

1935-39

Arkansas Centennial Half Dollar

1934-38

Texas Centennial Half Dollar

1934

Maryland Tercentenary Half Dollar

1934-38

Daniel Boone Bicentennial Half Dollar

1928

Hawaiian Sesquicentennial Half Dollar

1927

Vermont Sesquicentennial (Bennington) Half Dollar

1926

Sesquicentennial of American Independence Quarter Eagle

1926

Sesquicentennial of American Independence Half Dollar

1926, 1928,
1933-34, 1936-39

Oregon Trail Memorial Half Dollar

1925

Fort Vancouver Centennial Half Dollar

1925

Stone Mountain Memorial Half Dollar

1925

Lexington-Concord Sesquicentennial Half Dollar

1925

California Diamond Jubilee Half Dollar

1924

Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary Half Dollar

1923

Monroe Doctrine Centennial Half Dollar

1922

Grant Memorial Gold Dollar

1922

Grant Memorial Half Dollar

1921

Missouri Centennial Half Dollar

1921

Alabama Centennial Half Dollar

1920-21

Pilgrim Tercentenary Half Dollar

1920

Maine Centennial Half Dollar

1918

Illinois Centennial Half Dollar

1916-17

McKinley Memorial Gold Dollar

1915

Panama-Pacific Exposition Gold $50 (Octagonal)

1915

Panama-Pacific Exposition Gold $50 (Round)

1915

Panama-Pacific Exposition Quarter-Eagle

1915

Panama-Pacific Exposition Gold Dollar

1915

Panama-Pacific Exposition Half Dollar

1904-05

Lewis and Clark Exposition Gold Dollar

1903

Louisiana Purchase Exposition Gold Dollar (McKinley)

1903

Louisiana Purchase Exposition Gold Dollar (Jefferson)

1900

Lafayette Dollar

1893

Queen Isabella Quarter Dollar

1892-93

Columbian Exposition Half Dollar

Recommended Reference Books

Commemorative Coin Reference Books on our New Website

All Reference Books on our New Website

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