1934 Maryland Silver Commemoratives - another US Mint failure?

TopographicOceans

According to Mr. Hall, the Mint couldn't get their full offering price of $1.00 and had to be dumped at a discount.
Anybody know what the discounted price was?


David Hall

The 1934 Maryland was struck to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the landing of English settlers in Maryland. The original mintage was 25,015 coins and about 15,000 were sold at the initial offering price of $1.00. During 1935, the price was cut and the remainder of the coins were sold at the discounted price.

Goldbully

Not a very attractive coin.....I'm from Maryland and am perplexed as to the Cecil Calvert weak strike.

Not to mention he appears to be a member of Three Dog Night!


67+

Broadstruck

Maryland's are tough with color but Cecil Calvert being a sloppy eater covered with BBQ sauce as shown in the center of that 67+ impacts the overall eye appeal IMHO

Broadstruck

<< <i>According to Mr. Hall, the Mint couldn't get their full offering price of $1.00 and had to be dumped at a discount. Anybody know what the discounted price was? >>



Since so many Commemoratives where released in the 1930's many issues beyond just the Maryland that didn't sell where reduced to 65 cents.

Kove

The mint didn't request the coins (it was done by congressional legislation), didn't market the coins (the Maryland Tercentennial Commission bought them from the mint at face value), didn't design the coins (some local Maryland artist, appointed by the Tercentennial Commission, did), nor did they make the dies (made by the Medallic Art Company). Most early commemoratives were created by pet project congressional legislation, designed an outside artist, and sold by a third party.

A failure, maybe, but a failure created by a lot of different groups. Just not the US Mint.

Shamika

<< <i>Maryland's are tough with color but Cecil Calvert being a sloppy eater covered with BBQ sauce as shown in the center of that 67+ impacts the overall eye appeal IMHO >>




He's the wing master!!!

Broadstruck

<< <i>

<< <i>Maryland's are tough with color but Cecil Calvert being a sloppy eater covered with BBQ sauce as shown in the center of that 67+ impacts the overall eye appeal IMHO >>




He's the wing master!!! >>

Broadstruck

All the thousands of commemoratives that came up in the S/B's so-called Guttag Family Collection (which PCGS pedigreed) are a prime example of inventory which couldn't be sold and was just tucked away instead.

Goldbully

Broadstruck, this thread is now making me hungry, while I laugh my a$s off at the same time.

ricko

I am going out to fire up the barbecue.... winner, winner, BBQ chicken dinner..... Cheers, RickO

Broadstruck

That MS67+ should be a shoe in as the first U.S. coin to receive a sticker

BG

" . . . I don’t like the way they are handling the Bridgeport issue, as it looks very much like another steal like the Rhode Island, as no commission can dispose of 25,000 coins with only five coins to a person. The Maryland people only sold 15,000 out of their allotment of 25,000 and 5,000 of them were taken by the banks from a patriotic standpoint, and they were only asking $1.00 for their coins. They sold the balance for $0.75 apiece."

L. W. Hoffecker

August 7, 1936

BillJones

I don't think that the Maryland commemorative is such a bad looking coin. I can name several other "classic commemoratives" that have designs that are not as nice, at least in my opinion. The design was inspired by the Lord Baltimore coinage of mid 1600s. Here is a comparison of the two.





As for the "distress sale" price of the almost 5,000 coins that didn't sell, according to Anthony Swiatek, 2,000 coins were sold at 75 cents each and the rest were pushed out at 65 cents each.

Overdate

Thank goodness we're long past the era of low-mintage commems that are deeply unpopular and nearly impossible to sell!

MsMorrisine

I guess with the Constitution, the mint has always been a congressional subject.

I wonder if there ever was a post Consttitution time where the mint took liberties.