York County, Maine, Tercentenary half dollar
Commemorative fifty-cent coin struck by the United States Mint / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The York County, Maine, Tercentenary half dollar is a 50-cent commemorative coin minted in 1936 to mark the tercentenary (300th anniversary) of the founding of York County, Maine. The obverse shows Brown's Garrison, the fort around which York County was formed, while the reverse depicts the county's arms.
United States | |
Value | 50 cents (0.50 US dollars) |
---|---|
Mass | 12.5[1] g |
Diameter | 30.61[1] mm (1.20 in) |
Thickness | 2.15 mm (0.08[2][3] in) |
Edge | Reeded[1][lower-alpha 1] |
Composition |
|
Silver | 0.36169[1] troy oz |
Years of minting | 1936 |
Mintage | 25,015 including 15 pieces for the Assay Commission |
Mint marks | None, all pieces struck at Philadelphia Mint without mint mark[1][4] |
Obverse | |
Design | Brown's Garrison |
Designer | Walter H. Rich |
Design date | 1936 |
Reverse | |
Design | York County Seal |
Designer | Walter H. Rich |
Design date | 1936 |
A commemorative coin craze in 1936 saw some coins authorized by the United States Congress that were of mainly local significance; the York County issue was one of these. Legislation permitting the half dollar passed Congress without opposition in the first half of 1936. Maine artist Walter H. Rich designed the issue; his work has garnered mixed praise and dislike from numismatic authors.
The committee in charge of selling the coins to the public asked that the maximum issue of 30,000 coins be struck, but for uncertain reasons, the Philadelphia Mint struck only 25,000 for public sale. Fewer than 19,000 had been sold by 1937, more than half to Mainers; the rest were sold in the 1950s. As of 2020, the York County half dollar catalogs for around $200, depending on condition.