The Cleveland Centennial half dollar is
a commemorative United States half dollar struck at the
Philadelphia Mint in 1936 and 1937, though all bear the earlier date. Sometimes known as the Cleveland Centennial Great Lakes Exposition half dollar, it was issued to mark the 100th anniversary of
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, as an incorporated city, and in commemoration of the
Great Lakes Exposition
The Great Lakes Exposition (also known as the World Fair of 1936) was held in Cleveland, Ohio, in the summers of 1936 and 1937, along the Lake Erie shore north of downtown. The fair commemorated the centennial of Cleveland's incorporation as a ci ...
, held in Cleveland in 1936.
In the mid-1930s, commemorative coins were increasing in value, and Cincinnati businessman
Thomas G. Melish, a coin collector, lobbied Congress to authorize several new issues, of which he would be the sole distributor. He was successful with the
Cincinnati Musical Center half dollar
The Cincinnati Musical Center half dollar or Cincinnati Music Center half dollar is a commemorative 50-cent piece struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1936. Produced with the stated purpose of commemorating the fiftieth anniversar ...
, from which he profited greatly, and with the Cleveland piece.
Brenda Putnam
Brenda Putnam (June 3, 1890 – October 18, 1975) was an American sculptor, teacher and author.
Biography
She was the daughter of Librarian of Congress Herbert Putnam and his wife Charlotte Elizabeth Munroe. Her older sister Shirley and sh ...
designed the Cleveland coin, which was approved by the
Commission of Fine Arts after suggestions by sculptor
Lee Lawrie
Lee Oscar Lawrie (October 16, 1877 – January 23, 1963) was an American architectural sculptor and a key figure in the American art scene preceding World War II. Over his long career of more than 300 commissions Lawrie's style evolved through ...
.
Melish distributed the Cleveland coins through the exposition, at local banks, and by mail order from his office in Cincinnati. Sales were good, and the full authorized mintage of 50,000 was struck. Congress had inserted safeguards in the legislation to curb excessive profits, and though some of the coins were minted in 1937, there was no change of date, meaning collectors would have to purchase only one piece to have a complete set. Thousands remained in dealer inventories for years, and the coins remain inexpensive by the standards of commemorative coins of the era.
Background
After the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, the area known as the
Western Reserve, now in eastern Ohio, was the subject of dispute among the states, several of which claimed it as part of their territory. Although political rights to the area were given up to the federal government, Connecticut kept land ownership and used part of its holdings to resettle those whose homes had been destroyed by the British during the war. The remainder was sold to the
Connecticut Land Company in 1795.
Moses Cleaveland
Moses Cleaveland (January 29, 1754 – November 16, 1806) was an American lawyer, politician, soldier, and surveyor from Connecticut who founded the city of Cleveland, Ohio, while surveying the Connecticut Western Reserve in 1796. During the Ame ...
was a surveyor, a lawyer, and one of the company's directors. In 1796, by the shores of
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
, he set out a townsite that came to bear his name. In 1830, a newspaper was founded, to be called the ''Cleaveland Advertiser''. The editor found the name one character too long to fit in the printing form and dropped the first "a" in Cleaveland — a change that was adopted by the public. The town of
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
became a
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
in 1836.
Thomas G. Melish was a prominent Cincinnati businessman, who had inherited the Bromwell Wire Company. Melish was also a coin collector, who came up with an idea for a commemorative coin that he would control. At the time, commemoratives were not sold by the government — Congress, in authorizing legislation, designated an organization that had the exclusive right to purchase the coins at face value and vend them to the public at a premium. The result was the 1936
Cincinnati Music Center half dollar
The Cincinnati Musical Center half dollar or Cincinnati Music Center half dollar is a commemorative 50-cent piece struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1936. Produced with the stated purpose of commemorating the fiftieth anniversary ...
, an issue controlled by Melish and issued to commemorate an anniversary that did not exist. Melish sold only a few coins at the issue price, which was high, keeping back most for later sale once scarcity drove the price higher. By 1936, the market for U.S. commemorative coins had become, according to
Q. David Bowers
Quentin David Bowers (born October 21, 1938) is an American numismatist, author, and columnist. Beginning in 1952, Bowers’s contributions to numismatics have continued uninterrupted and unabated to the present day. , "as hot as a volcano", and "Congress gave
elishpermission to have his own commemorative coins minted and to charge the public whatever he liked for them!" Melish, who had friends in Congress, had in early 1936 also tried to get lawmakers to authorize other commemorative issues that he would control. The only one of these that came to fruition was the Cleveland Centennial
half dollar.
Legislation
A bill for a Cleveland Centennial half dollar was introduced into the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
by Ohio's
Robert J. Bulkley
Robert Johns Bulkley (October 8, 1880July 21, 1965) was an American attorney and politician from Ohio. A Democrat, he served in the United States House of Representatives, and in the United States Senate from 1930 until 1939.
Life and career
Bu ...
on March 23, 1936, and it was referred to the
Committee on Banking and Currency. The bill was to honor both the 100th anniversary of Cleveland's incorporation as a city, and the
Great Lakes Exposition
The Great Lakes Exposition (also known as the World Fair of 1936) was held in Cleveland, Ohio, in the summers of 1936 and 1937, along the Lake Erie shore north of downtown. The fair commemorated the centennial of Cleveland's incorporation as a ci ...
, to be held there in 1936. The original bill would have provided for 50,000 pieces, which could be purchased from the
United States Bureau of the Mint
The United States Mint is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury, Department of the Treasury responsible for producing currency, coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movemen ...
at any time, and could be struck by any or all three of the mints then in operation. The bill was reported back to the House by committee chairman
Alva B. Adams
Alva Blanchard Adams (October 29, 1875 – December 1, 1941) was a Democratic politician who represented Colorado in the United States Senate from 1923 until 1924 and again from 1933 to 1941.
Biography
Adams was born in Del Norte, Colorado an ...
of Colorado on March 26, drastically amended.
Adams had held hearings on other commemorative coins on March 11, 1936, and had separately been told of the abuses as issuers sought to get collectors to buy their coins. These included getting additional designs authorized (as in the case of the
Arkansas Centennial half dollar
The Arkansas Centennial half dollar was minted from 1935 to 1939.
The Arkansas-Robinson half dollar, a special issue of the coin featuring a different design, was minted in 1936.
See also
* List of United States commemorative coins and medals ...
) and having the coins struck at all three mints. As the law required coins to bear the year of striking, and because
mint marks were used on coins produced at some mints, striking them in successive years at multiple mints created more
varieties that coin enthusiasts would have to buy to keep their collections complete. The committee heard of the
Oregon Trail Memorial half dollar, authorized in 1926 and still being struck in 1936, and of commemorative coins created with intentionally low mintages as a way of inflating profits. When legislation for a Cleveland half dollar came before his committee, Adams struck out the entire bill, after the
enacting clause
An enacting clause is a short phrase that introduces the main provisions of a law enacted by a legislature. It is also called enacting formula or enacting words. It usually declares the source from which the law claims to derive its authority. In ...
, and substituted a new version. The original legislation had given the Cleveland Centennial Commemorative Coin Committee, controlled by Melish, discretion to have the new piece struck at any of the mints, at any time even over the course of years, in any amount up to the authorized limit of 50,000. Adams's new text kept the total limit but set a minimum of 25,000 that had to be issued. Adams's amendment required that all the coins be of a single design, be struck at a single mint (to be selected by the
Director of the Mint
The director of the United States Mint is a presidential appointment that requires a Senate confirmation. The incumbent is Ventris Gibson, who became director of the Mint on June 22, 2022, after serving in acting capacity.
When the position ...
). It provided that all the coins be dated 1936 even if struck later and that the Cleveland committee could purchase no less than 5,000 at a time.
In a separate report, Senator Adams noted that Bulkley's original bill "contains certain provisions which the committee recommends be eliminated not only from such bill but also from all subsequent bills relating to the issuance of commemorative coins."
The bill, as amended, passed the Senate without a recorded vote on March 27, 1936. The House of Representatives received the bill on April 1 and referred it to the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures. It was reported back to the House on April 16, having been amended to require the Cleveland committee to purchase not less than 25,000 coins at one time, eliminating the possibility that the committee could order an initial 5,000 and then fail to purchase any more.
The full House considered the bill on April 23, 1936, with the bill reported by
John Joseph Cochran of Missouri as an emergency measure. When he asked for
unanimous consent to pass the amended bill, Pennsylvania's
Robert F. Rich asked how many coinage bills were going to be considered and if it would not be possible to consolidate a dozen of them into one bill. Cochran replied that he had consulted with Ohio's
Robert Crosser
Robert Crosser (June 7, 1874 – June 3, 1957) was an American lawyer and politician who served 19 terms as a U.S. Representative from Ohio. He remains the longest-serving member of the United States House of Representatives from the state of O ...
and been informed that "if we do not get the authority to print the coins now it will be useless". The following day, Bulkley moved that the Senate concur in the House amendments, which it did, and the bill was signed into law by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
on May 5, 1936.
Preparation
Brenda Putnam
Brenda Putnam (June 3, 1890 – October 18, 1975) was an American sculptor, teacher and author.
Biography
She was the daughter of Librarian of Congress Herbert Putnam and his wife Charlotte Elizabeth Munroe. Her older sister Shirley and sh ...
, a well-known sculptor, was engaged to design the coin. On May 1, even before Roosevelt signed the legislation, the Director of the Mint,
Nellie Tayloe Ross
Nellie Davis Tayloe Ross (November 29, 1876 – December 19, 1977) was an American educator and politician who served as the 14th governor of Wyoming from 1925 to 1927, and as the 28th and first female director of the United States Mint from 193 ...
, sent sketches that had been submitted by Putnam to the
Commission of Fine Arts. That commission had been charged by President
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...
's 1921
executive order with rendering advisory opinions on the designs of public artworks, including coins. On May 2, commission chairman Charles Moore responded to Ross, giving preliminary approval, and stating that one of its members would work with Putnam as she prepared the necessary plaster models. That representative was
Lee Lawrie
Lee Oscar Lawrie (October 16, 1877 – January 23, 1963) was an American architectural sculptor and a key figure in the American art scene preceding World War II. Over his long career of more than 300 commissions Lawrie's style evolved through ...
, who suggested to Putnam that she use stars to represent the cities of the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
region. Putnam had placed, on the map on the reverse, sketches of buildings to represent the sites of Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Toronto. When Lawrie wrote to Moore to report this and other progress, Moore joked about the coin having an enlarged star for Cleveland,
Putnam's models were approved by the commission on June 2, 1936. The
Medallic Art Company
Medallic Art Company, Ltd. based in Dayton, Nevada was at one time "America’s oldest and largest private mint" and specialized in making academic awards, maces, medallions, along with chains of office and universities medals for schools. Aft ...
of New York reduced the models to half-dollar sized
hubs from which coinage dies could be prepared.
Design
![General Moses Cleaveland](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/General_Moses_Cleaveland.jpg)
Putnam's obverse features Moses Cleaveland, in a depiction based on the only known portrait of him, by an unknown artist. Surrounding Cleaveland are two lines of inscription,
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA * HALF DOLLAR and
MOSES CLEAVELAND * LIBERTY. The designer's initials, "BP", are beneath Cleaveland's head. The reverse shows a map of the Great Lakes region with nine stars to represent its cities, listed from west to east: Duluth, Milwaukee, Chicago, Toledo, Detroit, Cleveland, Toronto, Buffalo, and Rochester. Cleveland gets the largest star, which is transfixed by a compass. Anthony Swiatek and
Walter Breen, in their book on commemoratives, stated that "we have not found documentation, but we suspect that the compass was intended to show Cleveland as the center of industry within a radius of approximately 900 miles", thus encompassing, the authors suggested, not only the Great Lakes cities represented, but New York, Boston, Washington, and St. Louis. The other inscriptions required by law appear in the upper right of the reverse, and
1836 GREAT LAKES EXPOSITION 1936 CLEVELAND CENTENNIAL surround the map.
Numismatist David Bullowa, in his early work on commemoratives, stated, "the design of this issue is pleasing ... the obverse and reverse alike are sharply defined, interesting and not crowded". Art historian
Cornelius Vermeule
Cornelius Clarkson Vermeule III (August 10, 1925 – November 27, 2008) was an American scholar of ancient art and curator of classical art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, from 1957 to 1996. He was also well known as a numismatist. He also ...
, in his work on U.S. coins and medals, wrote that the half dollar "manages to combine most of the faults found in the better designs of the 1920s and 1930s." After complaining about the flat design and a large amount of lettering on both sides, Vermeule critiqued, "the bust of Moses Cleaveland can only be described as commonplace, and the view of the Great Lakes, bisected by a large compass, is nothing short of incomprehensible." Nevertheless, Vermeule suggested that Putnam did the best she could to squeeze the required text onto a half dollar, and might have done better with fewer words to place.
Production, distribution, and collecting
![1936 50C Cincinnati](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/1936_50C_Cincinnati.jpg)
Melish, in his capacity as treasurer of the Cleveland committee, ordered 25,000 pieces in July 1936. They were shipped from the
Philadelphia Mint, where they were struck, on July 20. As well as those pieces, 15 coins were struck and set aside for inspection and testing at the 1937 meeting of the annual
Assay Commission
The United States Assay Commission was an agency of the United States government from 1792 to 1980. Its function was to supervise the annual testing of the gold, silver, and (in its final years) base metal coins produced by the United States Mint ...
. Melish had arranged for the Philadelphia Mint to place the first 201 struck into individually numbered envelopes; these were later placed in special cardboard holders, the first by itself and each two thereafter together, with a notarized statement from Melish.
The Cleveland Centennial and Great Lakes Exposition opened on June 27, 1936, and before it closed on October 4, some four million people passed through its gates. Located on a 150-acre (61 ha) site by the shores of Lake Erie, there were artistic and industrial exhibits, as well as the usual amusements. The half dollars were sold at the fairgrounds, at Ohio banks, and by mail order from Melish's office in Cincinnati. Editor Lee Hewitt commented in the ''Numismatic Scrapbook'', "it seems strange that Mr. Melish, living in Cincinnati, should be the distributor of the Cleveland issue." The Cincinnati Musical Center coin had quickly sold out, the pieces Melish allowed on the market many times oversubscribed, but for the Cleveland piece, "Melish's sales strategy had to be very different; the coins would have to be aimed at the Exposition visitors and the general public at $1.50 each, not at his own coterie of greedy speculators".
Melish sent form letters to collectors warning that his committee had received offers from speculators to buy the entire issue and suggesting they act quickly to get their orders in. By the end of July, Melish wrote that 24,000 pieces had been distributed and that the remaining thousand soon would be. Sales were good enough that in February 1937, Melish ordered the 25,000 pieces which remained from the authorized quantity. In addition to those 25,000 coins, 15 more pieces were struck, intended for the 1938 Assay Commission. Because of the legislation, the new pieces resembled the old exactly, including bearing the date "1936". So many were produced that thousands were hoarded by coin dealers. In 1942, Melish offered 16,000 Cleveland Centennial half dollars to prominent dealer Abe Kosoff for any advance on face value. Kosoff, who would, after Melish's death, auction his coin collection, declined.
In 1941, the Western Reserve Coin Club of Cleveland celebrated its 20th anniversary by
countermarking 100 Cleveland Centennial half dollars with a special design. The
Secret Service
A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...
objected, and many were destroyed. The club made similar markings for its 50th and 75th anniversaries, without government interference. The Cleveland Centennial coin is the most common commemorative of the many different designs struck in 1936.
R.S. Yeoman's ''
A Guide Book of United States Coins
''A Guide Book of United States Coins (The Official Red Book)'', first compiled by R. S. Yeoman in 1946, is a price guide for coin collectors of coins of the United States dollar, commonly known as the Red Book.
Along with its sister publicatio ...
'', published in 2020, lists the issue at between $100 and $230, depending on condition. An exceptional specimen sold at auction in 2014 for $4,700.
Notes
References
Sources
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{{Portal bar, Arts, Business and economics, Ohio, Numismatics, United States, Visual arts, Money
Currencies introduced in 1936
Cleveland
Early United States commemorative coins
Fifty-cent coins
United States silver coins
Maps on coins
1936 in Ohio
World's fair commemorative coins