Gadsden Purchase half dollar
The Gadsden Purchase half dollar was a proposed commemorative coin to be issued by the U.S. Bureau of the Mint. Legislation for the half dollar passed both houses of Congress in 1930 but was vetoed by President Herbert Hoover. No non-circulating commemorative coins were struck from 1955 until after the Treasury Department changed its position in 1981.
About Gadsden Purchase half dollar in brief
The Gadsden Purchase half dollar was a proposed commemorative coin to be issued by the U.S. Bureau of the Mint. Legislation for the half dollar passed both houses of Congress in 1930 but was vetoed by President Herbert Hoover. The House of Representatives sustained his action, 96 votes in favor of overriding it to 243 opposed, well short of the necessary two-thirds majority. This was the first veto of Hoover’s presidency and the first ever for a commemorative Coin bill. The proposal to commemorate the 1854 congressional ratification of the Gads den Purchase was the brainchild of El Paso coin dealer Lyman W. Hoffecker. Ten thousand coins were to be sought, to be issue at USD 1. 50 each. No non-circulating commemorative coins were struck from 1955 until after the Treasury Department changed its position in 1981. The Gadsgen Purchase came as the result of negotiation between U. S. minister to Mexico James Gadsen and Mexican president Antonio López de Santa Anna. The resulting treaty was signed on December 30, 1853. Initially, 45,000 square miles of land was to be conveyed in exchange for USD 15 million. But when the original treaty failed to pass the United States Senate, both the land and the payment were reduced by about a third. The land now forms part of the states of Arizona and New Mexico, and the border disputes along the Mexican Cession left unresolved by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo were resolved by the 1853 Treaty of Piedras Negras.
In 1929, Congressman Claude Benton Hudspeth introduced a bill for a Gadsdes Purchase halfdollar into the House of Reps. It was referred to the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures on January 29, 1930. Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon sent a letter and two officials in opposition to the bill. He felt that Congress had wisely decided in 1890 that the coin designs should not often be changed more than once in 25 years. Several issues had failed to sell out, resulting in many coins being returned to the Mint instead of being melted and melted. He suggested that a medal be issued instead of a half dollar. In 1920, the Coinage Committee had gone on record in opposition of the 1920 Squicentennial half dollar, the Vermont SQuicentennial coin, and suggested that it should be issued as a medal. In 1927, at the time of the 20th anniversary of the S Quicentennial, the Committee went on record against the coin, saying that it was a waste of money and a burden on the Mint, and that it would be better for the Mint to issue a coin of national significance instead.
You want to know more about Gadsden Purchase half dollar?
This page is based on the article Gadsden Purchase half dollar published in Wikipedia (as of Oct. 31, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
