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The following is excerpted from Dave Bowers' classic reference Commemorative Coins of the United States.

Commemoratives are interesting. For this succinct reason alone many people have collected United States commemorative coins over the years. Perhaps no better tribute is paid to the series in a widely-distributed publication than in A Guide Book of United States Coins, which informs its readers as follows: "Many modern nations have issued commemorative coins, and such pieces are highly esteemed by collectors. Yet no nation has surpassed our own country when it comes to commemorative coins, and in this we have reason to be proud. The unique position occupied by commemoratives in United States coinage is largely due to the fact that with few exceptions all commemorative coins have a real historical significance."

The Coin World Almanac stated: "Commemorative coins-the most colorful coinage issues struck in the United States are pure Americana, history of a great nation frozen into metal."

Arlie Slabaugh, in United States Commemorative Coinage, noted: "Collecting commemorative coins is the easy way to collect historical objects. It's easy to buy an Illinois (Lincoln) half dollar, but we can't all own Lincoln's cabin. The intangibility of Liberty becomes tangible here."

In 1989 the Treasury Department stated this in a news release: "Americans buy and collect commemorative coins for a variety of reasons, such as their artistic value, their patriotic appeal, use as jewelry, special gifts and as mementoes and keepsakes. These coins are also of value and interest to members of the coin collecting community. All U.S. Mint commemorative coin programs operate at no net cost to the federal government or the American taxpayer."

While I shudder at the thought of someone buying a nice commemorative coin and using it for jewelry purposes, this does have ample historic precedent, and the first commemorative gold dollar varieties ever made-the 1903-dated Louisiana Purchase Exposition coins-could be purchased mounted in brooches, pins, and even as part of spoons. Fortunately for posterity and the preservation of coins, most buyers acquire commemoratives for their value as "mementoes and keepsakes," which refers to their status as collectibles.

Modern commemorative coins of the types issued from 1982 to date are readily available in superb Uncirculated and Proof finishes as issued. An attractive collection rich in historical interest can be made by assembling a set of clad, silver, and gold coins issued since that time. Hopefully, many more will be produced in future years.

While current commemoratives are inexpensive, earlier issues of the 1892-1954 period are priced at higher levels but are within the range of nearly all serious collectors. Of course, if 100,000 people all decided that they wanted to form complete sets of early commemoratives, there would be a big problem, but that isn't the case. The number of such interested individuals is probably on the order of just a few thousand people. Of course, as some are building their collections, others are selling-thus providing a continuing supply of coins on the market.

One nice thing about putting together a collection of early American commemorative coins, such as a type set of silver half dollars of the 48 different designs minted from 1892 to 1954, is that there are no impossible rarities. Even the most elusive issues-the 1928 Hawaiian, 1935 Hudson, and the 1935 Old Spanish Trail, each of which was minted to the extent of just 10, 008 coins-are within the financial reach of nearly all numismatists. As a coin dealer I have seen many clients turn away from collecting a set of early regular-issue silver dollars because they could not afford or had no hope of obtaining the classic 1804 (of which just 15 exist), or to decide against collecting 1892-1916 Barber dimes because the 1894-S (of which just 24 were coined) could not be obtained, or to stay distant from $5 gold coins of the 1820s because even the least expensive varieties cost many thousands of dollars apiece. Not so with commemoratives, which are eminently affordable.

Each commemorative coin design is different, and each has its own story to tell. Art, history, romance, and other considerations all play a part. I will discuss these and other aspects of commemorative coin collecting.

We all have our favorite coins. I have mine and you have yours. Personally, among commemorative silver coins I like the early issues-the Columbian half dollars of 1892 and 1893, the Isabella quarter of the latter date, and the 1900 Lafayette dollar-four coins which on their own constitute a complete commemorative collection of the era. Among later issues I enjoy the half dollar varieties produced in 1936-rich in their diversity and each one carrying a generous measure of history. This was a unique era in American numismatics. I even like Oregon Trail, Boone, and Texas sets.

My opinion that the 1892-1893 Columbian half dollar design is really attractive is diametrically opposed to that of a reviewer in the American Journal of Numismatics in January 1893: "The long expected Columbian half dollar has made its appearance .... As a work of art it certainly is a great disappointment. The relief is very low; the broad cheek and the long and flowing hair occupy a large space on the obverse and give a kind of breadth to the design that should satisfy the desires of the promoters of the Columbian Exposition for liberality on the part of the government .... The flatness of the devices runs in the same monotonous line that marks all our coinage. We are well aware of the arguments that necessitate this low relief so far as coins are concerned, but they seem to apply with far less force to an issue of this character, designed first of all to find its way into collections as a souvenir."

This is a reflection that the designs of commemorative coins have sparked a wide diversity of opinion ever since the first half dollars of this genre were issued in 1892. In recent times in the 1980s and early 1990s, no sooner would the Mint release sketches of a proposed design for a new commemorative, than readers of Coin World and Numismatic News would rush letters to the editors to offer criticisms. Designs will probably continue to create debate a century from now. Perhaps this is part of the commemorative idiom. Everyone can be an expert. Commemoratives afford a healthy outlet for freedom of expression.

From the standpoint of attractiveness I consider the reverse of the 1918 Illinois Centennial half dollar to be the best thing that Mint engraver John Sinnock ever did, whereas someone else might think that his regular-issue 1946 Roosevelt dime or 1948 Franklin half dollar are more worthwhile. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," it has been said.

Among the many designs produced in 1936-a year which set a record for new motifs-I like the Cincinnati, Elgin, York County, and several others. Among modern issues I believe that the 1986 Statue of Liberty and the 1988 Olympic $5 coins are among the nicest commemoratives ever made. The new 1991 Mount Rushmore $5 gold motif is attractive to my eyes, depicting as it does an eagle with a hammer and chisel in its talons, but I can't help but wonder if it would have looked nicer on a silver dollar, a coin of much larger diameter.

Arlie Slabaugh considered the 1926 Oregon Trail half dollar to be the most beautiful coin in the commemorative series (a sentiment echoed by the majority of members of the Society for U.S. Commemorative Coins, according to a 1985 poll of the group), and David M. Bullowa called the 1925-S California Diamond jubilee design "a very virile and well executed half dollar. " B. Max Mehl felt that the whole idea of the New Rochelle half dollar was a joke, and Cornelius Vermeule felt that the 1935 Old Spanish Trail half dollar motif was wretched. Yesterday, today, and probably tomorrow, numismatists do indeed have their opinions.

Art in commemorative coinage has always been controversial, just as it has been with pattern and regular issue coins. In my career as a professional numismatist I have spent a great deal of time studying coin designs and their backgrounds. Along the way I have recognized many as favorites. Among pattern United States coins I like the 1872 silver Amazonian coins, several of the 1877 half dollar designs, the 1879 "Schoolgirl" silver dollar, and the 1882 "Shield Earring" silver set. Among regular issue U.S. coins I like large cents, especially of the 1816-1839 years (although few others would consider them to be beautiful), Saint-Gaudens' magnificent MCMVII High Relief double eagle, and, of course (doesn't everyone like them?), the new silver designs of 1916: the "Mercury" dime, the Standing liberty quarter, and the Liberty Walking half dollar. I also like the 1921 Peace silver dollar; that is, I like exceptional specimens that are well struck, but most aren't. Let me also mention the 1883 Liberty nickel, a great improvement over its Shield design (1866-1883) predecessor. Incidentally, the study of pattern coins in particular provides clues for the source of certain commemorative designs. For example, an element of the reverse motif of the 1915-S Panama-Pacific quarter eagle was taken from a silver pattern of the 1870s.

The list I have just given of pattern and regular-issue coin designs is personal, and your list might contain some of the same issues, but it would not be identical. I have heard many collectors state that the 1878-1921 Morgan silver dollar is very beautiful, and for all I know this may be among your favorites as well. One highly admired coin is an issue which is little known to the numismatic community at large, for the piece is of an early date and is extremely rare. Known as the Myddelton token, and struck in 1796 the coin attracted the attention of Sylvester S. Crosby, who in his magnum opus, Early Coins of America, wrote in 1875 that this design was the most beautiful of the American series, an opinion reiterated years later by Richard S. Yeoman in A Guide Book of US. Coins.

A survey of numismatic literature from the 1860s onward reveals that, of the many designs of regular issue coins produced, only the following were widely acclaimed at the time of release: 1907 Indian $10, MCMVII (1907) $20, 1909 cent, and the 1916 dime, quarter, and half dollar. The same survey shows that the following regular issues were strongly condemned: 1866 Shield nickel, 1878 Morgan dollar (in particular; no one liked it), 1892 Barber dime, quarter, and half dollar (intensely disliked by nearly all numismatic writers), 1908 $5 and $10, and just about everything after 1916.

The purpose of this commentary is to illustrate that debate about designs has not been limited just to commemoratives over the years. If anything, collectors and the public have had even stronger opinions on circulating coinage motifs, possibly because they are enduring and must be tolerated (or enjoyed) for many years in pocket change, whereas commemoratives are ephemeral. Art in American coinage, commemorative and otherwise, provides a very enjoyable aspect for contemplation by the numismatist.

Among commemorative coins nearly all designs of the early 1892-1954 period were criticized in their time. It fell to a later generation of numismatists to find beauty in such things as a 1920 Maine or 1924 Huguenot Walloon half dollar, and I have never heard anyone say anything nice about the motif of a 1936 Robinson-Arkansas half dollar, except for Cornelius Vermeule, who liked the way the portrait on the obverse was done. Vermeule was among those who expressed disdain for the 1920 Maine half dollar, likening it to a medal intended for a school athletic day or a county fair and reflecting for a moment whether a potato would have made a better motif on the reverse than a wreath.

In modern times, in the new series of issues made since 1982, the design of commemorative coins has sparked much controversy, as designs did years earlier. What to one observer is bold, brilliant, and beautiful, may to another be dull, drab, and detestable. As noted, comments on the subject make interesting reading in numismatic periodicals.

My answer (but not necessarily yours) to creating beautiful commemorative coins in the modern era is simple: Make the designs elegant in a classic way, taking inspiration from the attractive motifs of years earlier. Yet it was the classicism of the 1915-S $50 gold coin, sporting on one side the image of Minerva and on the other her owl, that brought forth strong criticism from a reviewer in the American Journal of Numismatics at the time, who stated his preference for a motif specifically related to San Francisco or the Panama Canal. perhaps to this long-ago observer a design showing an open ditch would have been ideal. Oh, well, you can't please everyone.

Beginning with the 1915 Panama-Pacific issues the Commission of Fine Arts gave opinions concerning designs submitted for commemoratives or, in instances in which no designs were submitted, recommended sculptors and artists to perform the work. Often, the Commission's advice was ignored. Minutes of Commission meetings and correspondence are preserved in the National Archives and make fascinating reading. ¹

Among commemoratives of our own time, I believe that Elizabeth Jones's beautiful head of Victory (modeled after a classical Nike) on the obverse of the 1988 Olympic $5 gold coin is one of the most stunning designs ever to be created for American coinage, an appreciation shared by the editor of Numismatic News, who proffered the opinion that Jones even outdid the enthusiastically acclaimed MCMVII $20 double eagle by Augustus SaintGaudens, which has been held up as a yardstick of artistic quality ever since it first appeared in 1907. The beauty of the 1988 Olympic $5 is contrasted, in my opinion, by the unattractive obverse of the 1984 Olympic silver dollar featuring two headless figures on a pedestal in front of the Los Angeles Coliseum entrance. It is a free country, as they say, and quite possibly there are those who think Elizabeth Jones's 1988 $5 is unattractive and the 1984 Olympic dollar is gorgeous (actually, the eagle on the reverse of the Olympic dollar is not bad; it is the obverse that bothers me). Indeed, the Prealpino Numismatic Cultural Center of Varese (Italy) designated the Olympic dollar as the "outstanding issue of 1984," an honor said by Consul General Robert D. Collins to be "the Oscar of the numismatic world."²

A new generation of readers now comments on the merits or, more likely, the demerits of one new design or another. Giving praise is not easy for some people, and it is far easier to condemn. The critic often has a louder voice than the admirer, and it has always been so. No sooner had the U.S. Mint announced the winning designs for 1991 Mt. Rushmore commemoratives, than a reader of Numismatic News rushed a long letter to the editor to complain about the motifs.

As you peruse the pages to follow, you can complain about or praise, as you see fit, the parade of designs presented. You will be in good company. Others before you have not hesitated to express their opinions on both sides of the question (and coin). Just as literary criticism is a field for many scholars, perhaps coin design criticism should be recognized as a specialty within numismatics!

Each commemorative coin is different, and each has its own history to tell. Some are even quite romantic.

The parade of American commemorative issues from 1892 to date chronicles many events of national importance, and others that are so trivial that they are best forgotten except by local historical societies. Several great fairs saw the issuance of coins: the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition (the St. Louis World's Fair), the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, and the 1926 Sesquicentennial (of American Independence) Exposition. Others not so great are also related to commemoratives, possibly the most obscure being the First Annual American Historical Revue and Motion Picture Industry Exposition, an event of which even the most dedicated historians know little (you can read what little I know about it under the heading for the 1923-S Monroe Doctrine Centennial half dollar).

Commemorative coins run into trouble when it comes to anniversaries. At this point there are many confusing situations. For example, the 200th anniversary of the 1734 birth of Daniel Boone was observed by the 1934 Boone Bicentennial half dollar, but what connection does it have with Boone "bicentennial" half dollars issued as late as 1938? What about the 300th anniversary of the settling of Swedes in Delaware, 1638-1938, which was celebrated with a commemorative half dollar dated 1936? And then there are some anniversaries scarcely worth celebrating at all, at least not on the national scene, with a typical example being the 200th anniversary in 1936 of implementation of the borough form of government for the already established municipality of Norfolk, Virginia, an occasion which apparently called for the minting of 25, 013 half dollars. However, even this was better than the nonexistent 50th anniversary in 1936 of Cincinnati as a musical center of America, duly commemorated on not one but three different varieties of half dollars.

Then there are people on coins: George Washington is the preeminent figure in American history, and his visage can be found on several commemorative coins including the 1900 Lafayette dollar (which depicts Lafayette and Washington), the 1926 Sesquicentennial of American Independence half dollar (which shows him with President Coolidge), and the 1982 Washington half dollar. Abraham Lincoln, arguably the best president of all time (or at least since Washington), commands the obverse of the 1918 Illinois Centennial half dollar.

The parade of individuals depicted on commemoratives is a long one and comprises names familiar as well as obscure including William McKinley, Carter Glass, Moses Cleaveland, Stephen Collins Foster, Booker T. Washington, Robert E. Lee, George Washington Carver, Calvin Coolidge, Sir Walter Raleigh (we learn that his name is spelled incorrectly on the coin and, further, that the portrait may be that of Errol Flynn!), Ira Allen, William Bradford, and Ulysses S. Grant, to give just a short list.

Daniel Boone, renowned for his trapping, and Phineas T. Barnum, famous for taking money from people's pockets ("every crowd has a silver lining"), were pictured on commemorative half dollars, a fact some cynical observers have considered significant. Walter Breen once referred to Barnum as "the patron saint of coin collectors."

Then there are personifications including the goddess of justice (1936 Columbia, South Carolina half dollar), Minerva (1915-S Panama-Pacific $50), a typical pioneer (1936 Elgin half dollar), the goddess Columbia (1915-S Panama-Pacific half dollar), a mermaid (1935 Hudson half dollar), and Miss Liberty (1935-1939 Arkansas half dollars).

Buildings on commemorative coins are numerous and include the old Iowa State Capitol (1946 Iowa half dollar), Independence Hall (1926 Sesquicentennial $2.50), Brown's Garrison (1936 York County half dollar), Fort Vancouver (shown on a 1925 half dollar of the same name), a log cabin (1946-1951 Booker T. Washington half dollars), and the Old Swedes Church (1936 Delaware half dollar).

There may have been too many ships on coins; at least Cornelius Vermeule expressed this opinion. Other methods of conveyance are also found, including the Conestoga wagon (1926-1939 Oregon Trail half dollars) and several horses (including those supporting Lafayette, Washington, and Robert E. Lee), not to overlook ocean liners steaming in or out of San Francisco Bay and New York Harbor. Maps include two hemispheres (1892-1893 Columbian half dollars), the New World (1923-S Monroe Doctrine half dollar), the United States (1926-1939 Oregon Trail and 1951-1954 Carver-Washington half dollars), the Great Lakes region (1936 Cleveland half dollar), and the Southeastern United States area (1935 Old Spanish Trail half dollar).

Commemorative coins were not issued for numerous events which most historians agree are important. We have no coins honoring the sacrifices and victories of World War I or II (although the Civil War is represented by several coin issues), nor is the civil rights movement honored, and nowhere on a United States commemorative coin is there anything about such American technological achievements as computers or space exploration or of discoveries in medicine. Thomas E. Kilby is pictured on the obverse of a commemorative half dollar, but what about Thomas A. Edison? Stephen Foster adorns another, but why not George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, or Duke Ellington? Similarly, while perusing a collection of commemorative coins, we can contemplate the visages of William Wyatt Bibb, John Pell, Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, Peter Schuyler, John McLoughlin, and Joseph T. Robinson, none of whom the average Ph.D. could identify, but where are Jonas Salk, Martin Luther King, Benjamin Franklin, the Wright brothers, or, for that matter, all but a few presidents? Have our priorities been misplaced? Next question.

When it comes to raising money-and most commemoratives were issued to raise money-nothing beats the all-American worthy cause. Among commemoratives some causes were more worthy than others. Funds from the sale of the 1936 Elgin half dollar were to go toward the erection of the Pioneer Memorial statuary group in that city, but to this day, over a half century later, it has not been constructed. Similarly, all of the good things promised by those who sold 1922 Grant half dollars and gold dollars to raise funds to build a highway five miles in length and to create buildings never came to pass. On the other hand, the overwhelming response to the 1986 Statue of Liberty Centennial commemoratives produced profits that were effectively used toward the restoration of the Statue and of nearby Ellis Island. No one can dispute that reduction of the national debt is a worthy cause, and the proceeds from several modern commemoratives have been tossed into this seemingly bottomless pit, but I guess that every little bit helps.

I personally feel that the best way to identify with the history and romance of various commemorative issues is to study the designs, either in photographs or by viewing actual coins, and then to read about them. I certainly didn't know who Thomas E. Kilby or John McLoughlin were until I started learning about commemoratives. If I were not a numismatist, I still might be in the dark about these men. Of course, I am making the perhaps unsupportable contention that such things are worth knowing.

¹Established by Congress on May 17, 1910, The Commission of Fine Ants in 1920 was located at 1729 New York Avenue, Washington, D.C. Charles Moore served as chairman, Col. C.S. Ridley as secretary, and other members intended Charles A. Platt, Wm. Mitchell Kendall, John Russell Pope, James L Greenleaf, Wm. Sergeant Kendall, and James E. Fraser, the last-named individual was a sculptor well known in numismatic circles and was the creator of the 1913 Indian ("Buffalo") nickel design. Don Taxay's valuable book. An Illustrated History of U.S. Commemorative Coinage, is largely composed of correspondence to and from the Commission.
²As related by Walter Breen in the 1990 supplement to The Encyclopedia of US Silver & Gold Commemorative Coins, p. 364.

Q. David Bowers has been in the rare coin business since 1953 when he was a teenager. The author has served as president of the American Numismatic Association (1983-1985) and president of the Professional Numismatists Guild (1977-1979), is a recipient of the highest honor bestowed by the ANA (the Farran Zerbe Award), was the first ANA member to be named Numismatist of the Year (1995), has been inducted into the Numismatic Hall of Fame (at the ANA Headquarter in Colorado Springs), is a recipient of the highest honor bestowed by the Professional Numismatists Guild (The Founders' Award), and has received more "Book of the Year Award" and "Best Columnist" honors given by the Numismatic Literary Guild than any other writer. He has has written over 40 books, hundreds of auction and other catalogues, and several thousand articles.

Cincinnati Music Center Half Dollar

Columbian Exposition Half Dollar