During the modern commemorative coin era, the United States Mint has issued 30 different gold coins. This has included 27 different $5 gold coins, two different $10 gold coins, and one bimetallic gold and platinum $10 coin, with each available in either proof or uncirculated versions. Across the various issues, mintages have covered an extremely […]
1924 Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary Half Dollar
The next coin in the early commemorative series is one of the more historically odd. Struck in 1924, the Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary Half Dollar commemorates the 300th year anniversary of the settlement of New Netherland by Walloons, French and Belgian Huguenots. While the 1624 settlement was important as it was the first Dutch attempt at colonization […]
1923 Monroe Doctrine Centennial Half Dollar
Most of the early commemorative coins that were struck by the United States Mint were requested and released by commissions around the country, often to honor anniversaries of states or cities, or to honor important people within American history. These commissions will have a direct link to the event commemorated, but within the classic commemorative […]
1922 Grant Memorial Half Dollar Shared Design with Gold Coin
One of the oddities in the silver commemorative series can be found in the issue released in 1922 to commemorate the centennial of the birth of President Ulysses S. Grant. The silver half dollar was produced with the exact same design as a gold dollar (the only time this has happened in the classic commemorative […]
1921 Alabama Centennial Half Dollar Issued Two Years Late
In 1921 the United States Mint issued another commemorative half dollar coin which like some of the others before commemorated the centennial of statehood for an American State. Honored this time was the southern state of Alabama, which had been admitted to the Union in 1819. It seems logical to celebrate the centennial of 1919 […]
1921 Missouri Centennial Half Dollar
Issued to mark the centennial of the statehood of Missouri, the first commemorative half dollar design of 1921 follows a somewhat common theme of the early 20th century. The pieces were struck for the Missouri Centennial Exposition, which was held in August of 1921 in Sedalia, where virtually all state fairs had been held since […]
1920-1921 Pilgrim Tercentenary Half Dollar
The Pilgrim Tercentenary Half Dollar are a well-known classic commemorative coin which was struck to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the arrival of the Mayflower and the Pilgrims in what would later become the United States of America. Struck in both 1920 (the actual year of commemoration) and 1921, the coins provide an instant history […]
1920 Maine Centennial Half Dollar
The first silver commemorative from the 1920’s was issued to celebrate the centennial of Maine statehood. This was the second state to issue a commemorative to mark an anniversary and would slowly start a tradition followed by other states in the coming years. Since the coins were generally sold for a premium over face value, […]
1918 Illinois Centennial Half Dollar Featured Lincoln
Three years after the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition Half Dollar, another commemorative half dollar was issued, this time for the statehood centennial of Illinois. This coin prominently featured a portrait of Abraham Lincoln on the obverse, leading many to refer to it as the Lincoln Half Dollar, although it is more appropriately known as the Illinois […]
Collecting Modern Commemorative Half Dollars
Although the half dollar was used for the majority of early commemorative coins, the denomination has been used only periodically within the modern era. From 1982 to date, the United States Mint has issued 18 different commemorative half dollars in uncirculated and proof versions. Assembling a complete collection of these coins represents an achievable goal, […]
