Post your favorite U.S. commemorative coin!

Azurescens

Hey everyone I thought this would be a fun thread. Post your favorite U.S. commemorative coin, and tell us why, or post something interesting or fun about it. Gold, silver, alloys, anything is fair game.

Mine is by far the 1893 US Commemorative 50C piece. The 1892 and 1893 Columbian half dollars were the first commemorative coins issued by the United States. They were created to commemorate the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. "This event, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was to be held in 1892. With the cost of the fair ballooning, an enterprising manager of the expo suggested that souvenir half dollars be produced and sold for $1 each to help cover the cost of the exposition."

...and they feature artwork from both Charles E. Barber and George T. Morgan! How better can it get! Morgan had such a wonderful style. It's very easy to tell who did work for which side. I honestly think the coin is a testament to the skill of two artists who defined an era.

Also, this is one of my best pieces for toning. I really love that deep dark veneer. It can "ruin" some coins, but to me, magnificent. If toned well, it truly makes the designs come alive, and coupled with the two artisans work, I'll forever love these two pieces. The brighter one was my brother's, and reminds me of how bright of a life he led.

Coin Specifications (1892)
Category: Silver Commemoratives (1892-1954)
Mint: Philadelphia
Mintage: 950,000
Obverse Designer: Charles E. Barber
Reverse Designer: George T. Morgan
Composition: Silver
Fineness: 0.9000
Weight: 12.5000g
ASW: 0.3617oz
Diameter: 30.6mm
Edge: Reeded
Note: 1.548m were minted for the 1893 date, and E. Remington & Sons bought the first strike for $10k, or $1.25m today, and it would still be 20 years until the mass production of a typewriter.

If I had a better obverse on my toned coin, I'd send it off to PCGS. Not only are they a world leader in the coin grading industry, but they've been my go-to for almost 30 years.

SkyMan

illini420

I like the Illinois Commemorative the most Next year is the Illinois Bicentennial... would be nice to have another coin like this issued

illini420

I have always like the Columbian Halves as well though... especially the prooflike examples like this one:

JohnnyCache

I bought this coin as a reminder of a favorite vacation destination.
For more years now than I can remember, I visit York ME in the summer to relax and recharge.

Justacommeman

I like the denomination uniqueness of the $.25 Isabella and the $1.00 Lafayette.

mark

Azurescens

@skyman, I'm from Oregon and love that piece. Jeepers! I go metal detecting up and down the coast while picking mushrooms (food not fun) and when taking vacations.

A shot of a December sunrise from the most Northwestern tip of Oregon attached below.

Right where those waves break is an entrance to an emerald green grove. Ferns as tall as a person, mushrooms as tall as your knee, lichen and sooo many birdsongs. Its natural beauty is so real it's surreal, almost like you just walked into the Jurassic period. There are migratory birds so the songs are softer when they're gone and less "gull-ish", but their mating songs are great if they're the only ones singing.

Voyageur

From my Birth Year Set...

Azurescens

@illini420 .. that reverse artwork is great! I love this thread already lol. Illinois is such a nice state, and Chicago is great. It's nothing like any other major US city, and I've lived all over the place. It's the only place in the US that makes real pizza!

The brighter 1893 50c I have is my late brother's, and my mother should still have my father's 1892 in MS. A wonderful man and his two sons bought three of the same type of coin back in 1988 at a show in CT... the rest is history. =P

AuroraBorealis

Mark that is one gorgeous Antietam! Here`s one of my favorites and I love the busy design!
AB

dpoole

I've always loved this powerful depiction of our first president. Modern crap, but what the heck...

kaz

DancingFire

These are so cheap now. Here are a few that I own.

Zoins

@illini420 said:
I like the Illinois Commemorative the most Next year is the Illinois Bicentennial... would be nice to have another coin like this issued

What about a 2018 overstrike?

rainbowroosie

Nice 36 Texas.

illini420

@Zoins said:

@illini420 said:
I like the Illinois Commemorative the most Next year is the Illinois Bicentennial... would be nice to have another coin like this issued

What about a 2018 overstrike?

Believe me, I did mention that idea to a certain forum member who happens to own a really cool coin press

BG

Authorized by Congress on June 24, 1936 and issued to commemorate the three hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Sir Walter Raleigh’s colony on Roanoke Island, North Carolina, known in history as the Lost Colony, and the birth of Virginia Dare, the first child of English parentage to be born on the American continent.

50,030 pieces coined at the Philadelphia Mint with 30 pieces reserved for annual assay and 21,000 melted. Designed and modeled by William Marks Simpson. Distributed by the Roanoke Colony Memorial Association, Manteo, NC, D. B. Fearing Chairman.

northcoin

@SkyMan said:

That and the San Francisco Bay Bridge have the most impressive designs which was my criteria for including them in my very limited Commem Collection. That said I do have several of the Pan Pacs including the Octagonal which is my favorite for other reasons.

oih82w8

Ok, now that other Pan Pac Half is a little further up the thread, I don't like seeing successive coins too close together, especially when theirs is nicer looking than mine;

1915-S/S Panama Pacific Commem FS-501

CommemDude

I have always liked the design of the Connecticut, with the deco Eagle and charter oak, the best:

Goldbully