Happy Thanksgiving Everyone
Broadstruck
Posts: 30,497 ✭✭✭✭✭
I hope that everyone has a Turkeyfic Thanksgiving holiday!
When it come to the forum I'm thankful for all the friends I've made, along with the priceless daily laughs.
CommemDude's Pilgrim fits well for this thread
When it come to the forum I'm thankful for all the friends I've made, along with the priceless daily laughs.
CommemDude's Pilgrim fits well for this thread
To Err Is Human.... To Collect Err's Is Just Too Much Darn Tootin Fun!
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Every calendar page with no gaps since Thanksgiving 2003
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
<< <i>Second time I posted this today but hey its Turkey Day (almost). Happy Turkey. >>
Never seen this CWT design before
JH
Proof Buffalo Registry Set
Capped Bust Quarters Registry Set
Proof Walking Liberty Halves Registry Set
Thats odd, I would of expected you or Stefanie to of already posted a superior example
Mike
A family member is in a nursing home and not able to travel, so I have Turkey day tomorrow, then again at home on saturday. happy thanksgiving to all my friends here on the forum, my coin collecting would be much less without you guys!!
"Keep your malarkey filter in good operating order" -Walter Breen
Happy Thanksgiving everyone
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CoinsAreFun Toned Silver Eagle Proof Album
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Gallery Mint Museum, Ron Landis& Joe Rust, The beginnings of the Golden Dollar
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More CoinsAreFun Pictorials NGC
<< <i>
Is that Charlie Weiss, Capt Frontbutt?......MJ
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
<< <i>Today's the second time I posted this one as well.......getting some good use out of it
Happy Thanksgiving everyone
<< <i>
I guess were are the 2 turkeys
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CoinsAreFun Toned Silver Eagle Proof Album
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Gallery Mint Museum, Ron Landis& Joe Rust, The beginnings of the Golden Dollar
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More CoinsAreFun Pictorials NGC
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC
Hoard the keys.
Commemorative coins were still something of a novelty in 1920 when Congress authorized the coining of half dollars to celebrate the three-hundredth anniversary of the arrival of the pilgrims. Only eight commemorative coin programs had gone before. Some of these included multiple denominations, while a few even offered two different dates of the same design. These multi-date offerings usually resulted from bad timing on the part of the authorizing commissions. The Pilgrim Tercentenary half dollar of 1920-21, however, was the first issue coined with more than one date for the sole purpose of achieving repeat sales. It set an alarming precedent for future programs, since this gimmick would be repeated numerous times, much to the irritation of collectors.
This kind of scheming contrasts sharply with the pilgrims themselves, who rejected material wealth, along with ostentatious display and gregarious behavior. It was their rejection of the Church of England, however, that earned them the title Separatists, as well as the wrath of Britain's King James I. Forced to flee to Holland, their price of freedom proved to be limited opportunities and a growing loss of their English culture in exchange for mere tolerance by the Dutch. Holland, certainly, was not the refuge they sought. With backing from a group of English investors hoping to reap profits in the New World, the pilgrims sailed westward in the late summer of 1620, landing on November 11 at a place they named Provincetown Bay, on what would ultimately be called Cape Cod. With winter approaching, they quickly settled on a site for their colony, christening it Plymouth after their departure point from England.
Nearly starving that first year, only their instruction by natives in the planting of corn enabled the colonists to carry on. The next several summers brought new arrivals, and the Plymouth Colony thrived. Not everyone was a Separatist, however, and those who couldn't stand the severity of that lifestyle soon formed neighboring communities. The Pilgrim Separatists ultimately became a minority of the population, and the Plymouth Colony was absorbed into the greater Colony of Massachusetts in 1691.
The summer of 1920 witnessed many celebrations throughout New England marking the 300th anniversary of the pilgrims' arrival. Among the souvenir items planned was a commemorative half dollar, the proceeds from which would be used to fund some of these events. The bill as originally read called for the minting of half a million pieces! Assured that this was a misprint, Congress instead approved a still-generous mintage of 300,000. The legislation was not passed until May 12, however: all those concerned would have to act quickly to get the coins into production.
The Pilgrim Monument between 1910-15
Boston sculptor Cyrus E. Dallin was selected by the Tercentenary Commission to prepare models showing a portrait of Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford and the pilgrim’s ship, the Mayflower, on which they made their historic journey in 1620. Dallin ran afoul of the Commission of Fine Arts' sculptor member, James Earle Fraser of Buffalo nickel fame, who found fault with his execution of the inscriptions: "Altogether the design for the pilgrim fifty cent coin is good. The part that seems to me to need most attention if there is time is the lettering." Of course, there wasn't time to correct this, and the Fine Arts Commission's decision to not render a verdict on Dallin's models prompted the Treasury Department to simply disregard their comments and proceed with the preparation of dies. In October of 1920 a total of 200,112 pilgrim halves were struck at the Philadelphia Mint, the odd 112 pieces being reserved for assay and later destroyed. The coins were first offered for sale at $1 apiece in November. Distribution was handled by the Shawmut National Bank of Boston and the coins were available at every bank in Boston and Plymouth. Although there was no official packaging, two types of boxes were privately produced. One was gold with a green coin sleeve inside, and was imprinted with PEOPLE'S SAVINGS BANK, WORCHESTER, MASS. The other, a white box with a circular coin slot, was imprinted with SOCIETY OF COLONIAL WARS, IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS. Both of these are quite valuable today.
Base of the monument in 1921
The obverse of the pilgrim Tercentenary half dollar portrays a left-facing, half-length figure of William Bradford, the second governor of the Plymouth Colony. He assumed this role in 1621 and was re-elected thirty times! The image is fanciful, as no actual portrait of him exists. He holds in his left arm what is most likely the Bible, but what has also been identified as his own book History of Plimmoth Plantation. Behind his portrait is the motto IN GOD WE TRUST, while the legends UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and pilgrim HALF DOLLAR are arranged peripherally, separated by stars. Dallin's incuse initial D appears below Bradford's elbow. The reverse is dominated by a three-quarters view of the Mayflower sailing on rough seas. Its rigging is erroneous, the forward jib sail being of a type not utilized as early as 1620. The inscription PILGRIM TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION is arranged peripherally. Separated from it by stars are the dual dates 1620 - 1920.
The harbor front near the monument in 1921
Coming out so late in the year, much of the enthusiasm which might have greeted these coins during the summer months had already dissipated. Many thousands remained unsold as the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts prepared for additional commemorative activities during 1921. With sales resuming, but at a much slower pace, something was needed to prompt additional buyers or, better still, repeat buyers. As only 200,000 coins had been struck from the authorized figure of 300,000, the Tercentenary Commission requested that the remaining balance be minted with the date 1921. That date was added in small figures to the obverse field, and the additional 100,000 halves were minted in July of that year. Although there were some collectors who responded with repeat orders, the severe economic recession of 1921-22 worked against these coins becoming a financial bonanza for the Commission. Conceding that this issue had run its course, they returned to the mint for melting some 48,000 halves dated 1920 and 80,000 of the 1921 striking. This left net mintages of 152,000 for 1920 and just 20,000 for 1921.
Buildings across from Town Hall, with the pilgrim Monument above, taken during an engineers survey in 1921.
As the 1920 coin was sold primarily to the general public, it is often encountered with ugly toning or harshly cleaned. It is readily available in grades up through MS-65 but quite scarce above that level. Much of the 1921 issue went directly to dealers and speculators, so in spite of its lower mintage, a larger proportion of high-grade survivors exists. In grades of MS-64 and higher, a few hundred have been certified. Wear on pilgrim halves appears first on Bradford's cheekbone and the hair above his ear; on the reverse, check the crow's nest and stern of the Mayflower.
The Mayflower
A few of the 1921 pilgrim halves will show die-clash marks but this feature is more commonly seen on the 1920 issue, often accompanied by die striations. Two matte proofs are known of the 1920 coinage, one of these from the estate of Mint engraver John R. Sinnock, while a single 1921 in matte proof is also rumored to exist.
Willaim Bradford
Franklin-Lover's Forum
A Happy Thanksgiving to all the brothers and sisters on the forum.
From Abraham Lincoln, who proposed a National day of Thanksgiving to be celebrated the last Thursday in November:
"The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth." Proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln, October 3, 1863.
TC71
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
<< <i>I hope that everyone has a Turkeyfic Thanksgiving holiday!
When it come to the forum I'm thankful for all the friends I've made, along with the priceless daily laughs.
CommemDude's Pilgrim fits well for this thread
Hear! Hear!
We're just about the door and thought I might find a thread like this.
Have a happy Thanksgiving; don't run over the deer; drive safely and don't drink too much!
Kiss your kids and hug your wife.
JT
I collect all 20th century series except gold including those series that ended there.
Thanksgiving- an American tradition
Peace and Health to all.
Larry L.
Happy Thanksgiving all you coin weenies!!
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"America suffers today from too much pluribus and not enough unum.".....Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
Family
Friends
Food
Football
Pretty good deal.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
President, Racine Numismatic Society 2013-2014; Variety Resource Dimes; See 6/8/12 CDN for my article on Winged Liberty Dimes; Ebay