Years
Designer
Various (Saint-Gaudens, Fraser, Weinman, and others)
Composition
Usually 90% silver; some gold $1, $2.50, $50
Diameter
30.6 mm
Mass
12.5 g
Thickness
2.1 mm
Edge
Reeded
Mints
Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco
Metal
Silver
Design
A series of half dollars (plus a few gold pieces and the 1893 Isabella quarter and Lafayette dollar) celebrating expositions, pioneers, states, and Civil War memory. Designs are a museum of American sculpture.
History
Beginning with the 1892–93 Columbian Exposition half, classic commemoratives were sold at a premium to fund statues, expos, and local boosters. Abuses in the 1930s — too many types, too many mint marks — led Congress to shut the program down after the 1954 Carver-Washington issues. Highlights: 1915-S Panama-Pacific (including the $50 gold slugs), 1921 Missouri 2★4, 1928 Hawaiian, 1935 Hudson, 1936 Cincinnati. The series is the American counterpart to European exposition coinage.
Key dates
175 issues