California Diamond Jubilee half dollar
The California Diamond Jubilee half dollar was a United States commemorative silver fifty-cent piece struck at the San Francisco Mint in 1925. It was issued to celebrate the 75th anniversary of California statehood. Only some 150,000 of the authorized mintage of 300,000 were ever struck, and of that, nearly half went unsold and were melted. The coin is catalogued at between USD 200 and USD 1,300, though exceptional specimens have sold for more.
About California Diamond Jubilee half dollar in brief
The California Diamond Jubilee half dollar was a United States commemorative silver fifty-cent piece struck at the San Francisco Mint in 1925. It was issued to celebrate the 75th anniversary of California statehood. The San Francisco Citizens’ Committee wished to issue a commemorative coin as a fundraiser for a celebration of the statehood diamond jubilee. Designs by sculptor Jo Mora met a hostile reception at the Commission of Fine Arts, but they were approved. The coins were struck in August 1925 in San Francisco, and were sold the following month. They did not sell as well as hoped: only some 150,000 of the authorized mintage of 300,000 were ever struck, and of that, nearly half went unsold and were melted. The coin is catalogued at between USD 200 and USD 1,300, though exceptional specimens have sold for more. The land that is now the state of California was first visited by Europeans when Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo visited there in 1542. In 1846, American settlers revolted against Mexican rule, founding the Bear Flag Republic; its flag featured a grizzly bear. The California Gold Rush followed, as did statehood for California in 1850.
In 1923, the U.S. Mint distributed the Monroe Centennial half dollar, which had been distributed in 1923 in accordance with the Monroe Doctrine. In 1925, a bill was introduced in the Senate for a silver half dollar and gold dollar commemorating the Battle of Bennington and the American Revolutionary War-period independence of Vermont. The bill passed the Senate after an amendment removed the gold dollar. In February 1925, President Calvin Coolidge signed the Act of 1925, authorizing all three commemorative coins. This was the first time that legislation covered more than one commemorative Coin, and it was authorized for the total of more than 1,000 coins. The first coin was the California piece, which was issued on May 4, 1925, with the face value of $1,000. The second was the Fort Vancouver Centennial dollar, issued on June 1, 1925. The third was the New Mexico Centennial coin, issued in June 1925, and the fourth was the Washington Centennial coins, which were issued on July 1, 1926, and August 1, 1927.
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This page is based on the article California Diamond Jubilee half dollar published in Wikipedia (as of Oct. 31, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
