Missouri Centennial half dollar
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The Missouri Centennial half dollar is a commemorative fifty-cent piece struck by the
United States Mint The United States Mint is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. It does not produce paper money; tha ...
in 1921. It was designed by Robert Ingersoll Aitken. The
US state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
wanted a
commemorative coin Commemorative coins are coins issued to commemorate some particular event or issue with a distinct design with reference to the occasion on which they were issued. Many coins of this category serve as collectors items only, although some countries ...
to mark its centennial that year. Legislation for such a coin passed through Congress without opposition and was signed 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 ...
on his
inauguration day The inauguration of the president of the United States is a ceremony to mark the commencement of a new four-year term of the president of the United States. During this ceremony, between 73 to 79 days after the presidential election, the pres ...
, March 4, 1921. The federal
Commission of Fine Arts The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States, and was established in 1910. The CFA has review (but not approval) authority over the "design and aesthetics" of all construction wit ...
hired Aitken to design the coin, which depicted
Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...
on both sides. The reverse design, showing Boone with a Native American, has been interpreted as symbolizing the displacement of the Indians by white settlers. To increase sales, a portion of the issue was produced with the mark 2★4, symbolic of Missouri being the 24th state. Although admired for the design, the coins did not sell as well as hoped, and almost 60 percent were returned to the
Philadelphia Mint The Philadelphia Mint in Philadelphia was created from the need to establish a national identity and the needs of commerce in the United States. This led the Founding Fathers of the United States to make an establishment of a continental national ...
for melting. There are fewer coins with 2★4 than without, but they remain near-equal in value.


Legislation

The State of Missouri, admitted to the Union in 1821 as part of the
Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise was a federal legislation of the United States that balanced desires of northern states to prevent expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand it. It admitted Missouri as a slave state and ...
, wanted a commemorative coin for sale at the Missouri Centennial Exposition and State Fair, to be held in Sedalia from August 8 to 20, 1921. Legislation for such a half dollar was introduced in the Senate by that state's Selden P. Spencer on January 20, 1921, the bill being designated S. 4893. Click through on "66 S. 4893 – Introduced in Senate Jan. 18, 1921" for information It was referred to the Committee on Banking and Currency. The bill was reported to the full Senate by Connecticut's
George P. McLean George Payne McLean (October 7, 1857 – June 6, 1932) was the 59th Governor of Connecticut, and a United States senator from Connecticut. Biography McLean was born in Simsbury, Connecticut, one of five children of Dudley B. McLean and Mary ( ...
on January 25 with an amendment reducing the authorized mintage from 500,000 to 250,000 and a recommendation that it pass. Vice President
Thomas R. Marshall Thomas Riley Marshall (March 14, 1854 â€“ June 1, 1925) was an American politician who served as the 28th vice president of the United States from 1913 to 1921 under President Woodrow Wilson. A prominent lawyer in Indiana, he became an acti ...
, who was presiding over the Senate, asked if there was objection to its passage. The Minority Leader, Democrat
Oscar Underwood Oscar Wilder Underwood (May 6, 1862 – January 25, 1929) was an American lawyer and politician from Alabama, and also a candidate for President of the United States in 1912 and 1924. He was the first formally designated floor leader in the Unit ...
of Alabama, said he did not think there would be objection, but that the bill should be read first. Idaho Senator
William E. Borah William Edgar Borah (June 29, 1865 â€“ January 19, 1940) was an outspoken Republican United States Senator, one of the best-known figures in Idaho's history. A progressive who served from 1907 until his death in 1940, Borah is often con ...
stated he would object if there was to be discussion of it, as the Senate had not had morning business in ten days. Borah asked McLean if he expected there would be objection to the bill, and McLean reassured the Idahoan. The bill, as amended, passed the Senate without recorded opposition. An identical bill, H. R. 15767, had been introduced in the
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
on January 17, 1921. On February 10, Indiana Representative Albert Vestal, chairman of the House Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures (to which the bill had been referred) reported it back to the House with an amendment identical to that approved by the Senate, and with a recommendation that the bill pass. S. 4983 had been referred to that committee after its receipt by the House, and on February 24 the Coinage Committee recommended the Senate bill pass the House, noting that the two bills were identical. S. 4893 was considered by the House of Representatives on March 2, 1921, with two days remaining in the congressional session. Ohio's
Warren Gard Warren Gard (July 2, 1873 – November 1, 1929) was an attorney, prosecutor, jurist and member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio for four terms from 1913 to 1921. Early life and career Warren Gard was born in Hamilton ...
had asked questions about previous coin bills when they passed through the House. Gard enquired of Vestal whether the Missouri bill was identical to the earlier bills, and whether it contained the same safeguards, and Vestal confirmed these. The bill was passed by the House without recorded objection, and was enacted into law with the signature of the new 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 ...
, on his inauguration day, March 4, 1921.


Preparation

While the legislation was still pending in Congress, on January 29, 1921, Senator Spencer wrote to Charles Moore, chairman of the
Commission of Fine Arts The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States, and was established in 1910. The CFA has review (but not approval) authority over the "design and aesthetics" of all construction wit ...
(CFA), regarding the bill. Moore replied on February 2, advising that one of the few American sculptors capable of designing a coin be hired, and that the resulting work be subjected to the friendly criticism of other artists. Spencer put James Montgomery, chairman of the Missouri Centennial Commission, in touch with Moore, and on February 9, Moore made several proposals for the design, including a " prairie-schooner ... second, the heads of ioneer Daniel Boone and arly Missouri politician Thomas Hart Benton; third, the state seal of Missouri; and fourth, the Indian pointing westward". The hired sculptor could choose among these concepts, Moore suggested, and decide which could be used to best effect, with Montgomery's approval and that of the Fine Arts Commission. Montgomery replied on February 16, proposing a "standing figure of Daniel Boone, coon skin cap, deer skin clothes, with an Indian sitting at his feet, the Missouri River flowing in front, with the bluffs on opposite side, with one star with the figures '24' in center of star. This would signify first, that the white man had supplanted the Indian in Missouri Territory." Montgomery also proposed that a star with the number "24" (Missouri being the 24th state) be included in the design, but be removed from the die after 5,000 coins were struck. These would boost proceeds, helping to pay the sculptor's fee and the cost of the die, an expense estimated at $1,750. Montgomery wrote again on March 22, proposing that the words "MISSOURI CENTENNIAL, SEDALIA, 1921" appear on the coins, and if possible the centennial date of August 10 as well. The Fine Arts Commission hired Robert Ingersoll Aitken, a sculptor best known in numismatic circles for his design for the $50 Panama Pacific gold pieces. This was apparently not communicated to the Missouri commission as on May 17, James Earle Fraser, a member of the Fine Arts Commission, told Moore that he had heard that someone associated with the Missouri Centennial had made inquiries with 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. Af ...
of New York, aimed at hiring a sculptor. Whether Moore wrote to Montgomery is unclear, but he wrote to Spencer on May 26, advising the senator that the designs had been preliminarily approved. CFA members had suggested several changes; these were implemented and, on June 9, the CFA approved the design, a decision communicated by letter that day to the Director of the Mint, Raymond T. Baker. To speed production, the Medallic Art Company produced hubs from Aitken's plaster models, from which working dies to strike the coins could be made. These hubs were sent to the Philadelphia Mint on June 29, 1921.


Design

The bust of frontiersman
Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...
, who lived in Missouri for the final quarter century of his life, appears on the
obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...
. Anthony Swiatek and
Walter Breen Walter Henry Breen Jr. (September 5, 1928 – April 27, 1993) was an American numismatist, writer, and convicted child sex offender; as well as the husband of author Marion Zimmer Bradley. He was known among coin collectors for writing ''Wa ...
, in their 1988 book on commemorative coins, note speculation that the obverse may have been inspired by
Albin Polasek Albin Polasek (February 14, 1879 – May 19, 1965) was a Czech-American sculptor and educator. He created more than 400 works during his career, 200 of which are displayed in the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens in Winter Park, Flori ...
's sculptured bust of Boone in the
Hall of Fame for Great Americans The Hall of Fame for Great Americans is an outdoor sculpture gallery located on the grounds of Bronx Community College (BCC) in the Bronx, New York City. It is the first such hall of fame in the United States. Built in 1901 as part of the U ...
in New York City. Boone wears a deerskin jacket and a
coonskin cap A coonskin cap is a hat fashioned from the skin and fur of a raccoon. The original coonskin cap consisted of the entire skin of the raccoon including its head and tail. Beginning as traditional Native American headgear, coonskin caps became assoc ...
. The centennial dates, the name of the country and the coin's denomination surround the bust. The reverse depicts Boone with rifle and powder horn, and a Native American—Swiatek and Breen interpret the frontiersman as sending away the Indian, who bears a shield and
peace pipe A ceremonial pipe is a particular type of smoking pipe, used by a number of cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas in their sacred ceremonies. Traditionally they are used to offer prayers in a religious ceremony, to make a ceremonial ...
, apparently dramatizing Montgomery's desire to show the white man supplanting the Indian in Missouri; Breen stated "as though this was something to brag about". The 1921 ''Report of the Director of the Mint'' describes the interaction as "Daniel Boone, with powder and rifle, directing the attention of an Indian to the westward course of the white man". The Missouri Centennial half dollar, which shows Boone on either side, is one of the few coin designs in United States numismatic history to have the same individual depicted on both sides; other such depictions include Boone himself on the 1934–1938 Daniel Boone Bicentennial half dollar,
Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757â ...
on the 1900-dated
Lafayette dollar The Lafayette dollar was a silver coin issued as part of the United States' participation in the Paris World's Fair of 1900. Depicting Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette with George Washington, and designed by Chief Engraver Charles E. ...
and the frontiersman on the 1936 Elgin, Illinois, Centennial half dollar. The 24 stars on the reverse convey the same message that the 2★4 on the obverse of some specimens does—that Missouri was the 24th state to enter the Union. The name SEDALIA, the site of the centennial exposition, appears in
exergue A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...
. Aitken's stylized monogram, RA, is near the rifle butt. The Missouri piece, and the
Columbian half dollar The Columbian half dollar is a coin issued by the Bureau of the Mint in 1892 and 1893. The first traditional United States commemorative coin, it was issued both to raise funds for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and to mark the quadricent ...
of 1892–1893, are the only US commemorative half dollars to bear none of the patriotic mottoes usually found on US coinage, that is LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and E PLURIBUS UNUM. The design was liked at the time of issue; several specimens were shown and admired at the 1921 American Numismatic Association convention at Boston in August, soon after the coin's release. 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 als ...
, in his volume on US coins and medals, admired Aitken's Missouri piece, writing that Aitken "became the first American medalist to apply the principles of Renaissance medallic design to a coin of the United States and the first such artist to make a frontiersman look like a Medici prince". He suggested that the figures on the reverse stand "like Roman soldiers in an Antonine relief on the Arch of Constantine or Renaissance condottieri in a large fresco of court ceremonials." Vermeule noted that "the lettering on the obverse follows the forms and system of Pisanello" and that "the coin as a whole is a work of art rather than just another way to market a silver fifty-cent piece because all three of the mottoes that usually burden and constrict America's attempts of numismatic art are omitted." The author concluded of Aitken's works, "his imagination in selecting from the past to rephrase the present worked very well in the United States commemorative coinage".


Production, distribution, and collecting

A total of 50,028 Missouri Centennial half dollars was struck at the Philadelphia Mint in July 1921, 28 being reserved for inspection and testing at the 1922 meeting of the annual Assay Commission. The first coins displayed the 2★4 on the obverse; afterwards, this was ground off the dies and the remainder were struck without it. The Sedalia Trust Company distributed the coins at a price of $1 on behalf of the centennial commission, selling both varieties by mail and the plain ones at the exposition in August. There had been little advance publicity, and the exposition took place during the Recession of 1921. All of the 2★4 coins sold, but when sales slowed of the plain variety, 29,600 were returned to the mint for melting. Early advertisements for the coin contained sketches prepared by Aitken, showing the obverse as issued, but depicting a reverse bearing the state
Seal of Missouri The Great Seal of Missouri is used to authenticate certain documents issued by the Government of Missouri. The phrase is used both for the physical seal itself, which is kept by the secretary of state, and more generally for the design impressed u ...
, that Aitken had abandoned when he found it did not work well. Aitken, in a letter published in part in the December 1921 issue of ''
The Numismatist ''The Numismatist'' (formerly ''Numismatist'') is the monthly publication of the American Numismatic Association. ''The Numismatist'' contains articles written on such topics as coins, tokens, medals, paper money, and stock certificates. All mem ...
'' (the journal of the
American Numismatic Association The American Numismatic Association (ANA) is an organization founded in 1891 by George Francis Heath. Located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, it was formed to advance the knowledge of numismatics (the study of coins) along educational, histori ...
) wrote that "The illustration that you published was made from one of several drawings which I submitted to the Federal Art Commission. The Missouri committee was informed that I would work along these lines, though I was given full latitude for any change I might advise. The seal of the State did not work out well, so I developed the reverse with the two standing figures, which met with the instant approval of the Commission in Washington." The number of coins bearing the 2★4 is uncertain. Swiatek and Breen wrote that 5,000 were struck and were sold, meaning that 15,400 of the plain ones were issued. Swiatek, in his 2012 volume on commemoratives, adhered to these figures. Coin dealer David Bullowa wrote in 1937 that 10,000 of the 2★4 were issued, with which numismatic writer Q. David Bowers concurred, noting that the two varieties are about equal in rarity. The deluxe edition of 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 2018, estimates that 9,400 of the 2★4 were issued, and 11,400 of the plain. Both varieties sold at a premium above the issue price by 1925, and at the height of the first commemorative coin boom in 1936, the 2★4 sold for $25 and the plain for $28. By 1940, the 2★4 sold for more than the plain, and at the height of the second boom in 1980, the 2★4 brought $2,600 to the plain's $2,400. Yeoman's book lists the 2★4 for between $625 and $7,250, and the plain for between $400 and $6,650, each depending on condition. An exceptional specimen of the plain variety sold at auction in 2015 for $70,500. At least one specimen in proof condition is known, sold at auction in 1992.


References


Sources

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External links

* {{Portal bar, Arts, Business and economics, Numismatics, United States, Visual arts 1921 establishments in the United States Cultural depictions of Daniel Boone Currencies introduced in 1921 Early United States commemorative coins Fifty-cent coins Missouri culture Native Americans on coins