1926 American Sesquicentennial half dollar

[villa66]

The U.S. was still working off a half-dollar surplus during the 1920s, so there were no regular issue half-dollars struck in 1924, '25, and '26. Limited numbers of new commemorative half-dollars did appear, however.

Here's the 1926 half-dollar commemorating the Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) of the independence of the United States of America. Struck—very appropriately—in Philadelphia (where the Declaration of Independence was signed), of .900 fine silver, to the same specifications as the regular issue half-dollars then circulating. Of the 1,000,000 examples coined, some 859,408 went unsold and were melted. One of the survivors....

[villa66]

The low relief of this 1926 Sesquicentennial half dollar robs it of much of its commemorative appeal, I think (as do many others). But the Liberty Bell is fully-realized and rounded on the '26 half dollar in a way that it isn't on the Franklin half of '48, so this commemorative does have its strengths.

Design credit for both the '26 commem and the '48 Franklin goes to John R. Sinnock, but it is often noted that John Frederick Lewis should get at least some of the credit for the design of the reverse Liberty Bell. For comparison, the Franklin reverse....

[villa66]

A hundred and fifty years of American independence deserved a full-throated celebration, I think, and the too-delicate 1926 commemorative half dollar just wasn't it. Note that "Silent Cal" (President Calvin Coolidge, who was famous for not talking much), makes an appearance on this coin—the first by an American president during his lifetime.

These coins were intended to raise money for the 1926 Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia, and were joined in America's celebration of the event by a (much more muscular) 2-cent postage stamp featuring the Liberty Bell in carmine and white....

[villa66]

One last note, about the many 1926 Sesquicentennial half-dollars that are found slightly worn: as is the case with many American commemorative half dollars coined before the Great Depression, some of these coins were spent into circulation during the hard times of the 1930s.

And I'll bet—given their subject, and especially in the old days when picture images were harder to come by than they are now—that at least a few of these coins have been the focus of a dinner-table lesson about American history, told parent to child, with plenty of handling of the coin, and turning it over and over as the narrative required.

v.

[@josephjk]

Don't know much about 1/2 dollars...is it true that coins with "full bell lines" the lines that horizontally across the cracks in the bell are more desired?

[paisepagal]

Very interesting timing of the celebrations. With the US.still reeling or just coming out of recession, what would the parents tell their child across the table ? .

[villa66]

Very interesting timing of the celebrations. With the US.still reeling or just coming out of recession, what would the parents tell their child across the table ? .

Actually, the timing of the Sesquicentennial events could hardly have been luckier. The U.S. was less than a decade past a  won Great War, the brief postwar slump had been got past, and, well, it's not for nothing that the decade acquired the pop label of "The Roaring Twenties." For Americans, times were good, generally, in 1926. They were at home, and trying to refocus on themselves. The Peace looked durable--to some, even permanent--and the economy looked like it would run and run.

All these things and more--and moreover, the hubris therefrom--would likely have crept into those dinner-table talks. The Europeans had humbled themselves, and in the postwar '20s were humbling themselves still. So the talk would have been of the Old versus New, of dead or dying monarchies versus young republics, and of the corrupt being shown the door by the virtuous. The particular lesson for the kids? How all that came to be.

And of course there would have been the inevitable discussions among the adults: "Now how did that Republican get himself on a coin? Isn't that against the law?"

Which means the timing of the Sesquicentennial commem was also pretty handy--1926 wasn't a presidential election year, so at least it was harder to say Coolidge was campaigning.

But I certainly take your point about timing. The conversations involving this coin--and the lessons to the kids--would change materially only a few years later. I can imagine this coin, in say 1931 or '32--being much less something to broadcast, and much more something to cling to.

v.

[villa66]

Don't know much about 1/2 dollars...is it true that coins with "full bell lines" the lines that horizontally across the cracks in the bell are more desired?

That's certainly true, where the Franklins of '48-63 are concerned, for a segment of the American coin hobby. I haven't noticed the prices for some years, but the last time I did, some were really astonishing. (Others might say "puzzling.")

v.

[paisepagal]

That puts a totally new perspective for me ! I was so caught up with hyper inflation in Europe it did not strike me of the roaring 20's ... And indeed the race to the top with the building boom and skyscrapers popping up in new York and Chicago (?).
I received a similar note to this from a German friend. I do not collect banknotes, but it's an excellent show-and-tell item

As you can see, the note dates to 1923... Truly a marked (pun intended  ) moment in history where power shifted further westward into the new world