Isabella quarter

Congress authorized the piece at the request of the Board of Lady Managers of the World’s Columbian Exposition. It is the only U.S. commemorative of that denomination that was not intended for circulation. The coin did not sell well at the Exposition; its price of USD 1 was the same as for the Columbian half dollar, and the quarter was seen as the worse deal.

About Isabella quarter in brief

Congress authorized the piece at the request of the Board of Lady Managers of the World’s Columbian Exposition. The quarter depicts the Spanish queen Isabella I of Castile, who sponsored Columbus’s voyages to the New World. It is the only U.S. commemorative of that denomination that was not intended for circulation. The coin did not sell well at the Exposition; its price of USD 1 was the same as for the Columbian half dollar, and the quarter was seen as the worse deal. Nearly half of the authorized issue was returned to the Mint to be melted; thousands more were purchased at face value by theLady Managers and entered the coin market in the early 20th century. Today, they are popular with collectors and are valued in the hundreds to thousands of dollars, depending on condition. The reverse design, showing a kneeling woman spinning flax, symbolizes women’s industry and was based on a sketch by Assistant Engraver George T. Morgan. It was the first United States commemorative coin to be sold at a premium by the managers of the fair. The board was headed by Chicago socialite Bertha Palmer, whose husband Potter owned the Palmer House, the leading hotel in Chicago. In August 1892, Congress passed an act authorizing the first half dollar to be issued by the federal government. The Board wanted a coin to sell in competition with the commemorative half dollar. In January 1893, Palmer approached the House Appropriations Committee, asking that USD 10,000 of the funds already designated to be paid over to the Lord Managers be in the form of souvenir quarters.

On March 3, 1893, Congress duly passed anAct authorising the souvenir coin, which was to be to the specifications of the quarter struck for circulation, and with a design to be approved by the Secretary of the Treasury. Total mintage of the special quarter would be limited to 40,000 specimens. The design was by Philadelphia-based sculptor Caroline Peddle, who was already engaged to produce an exhibit by Tiffany’s. After Congress authorized the quarter, the Director of the Bureau of the Mint, Edward Oech, wrote to Palmer, urging her to keep the design in the process. Although he expressed a willingness to have a woman design the coin, Palmer agreed to have the design done by Peddlle. She was, however, determined to have an artist who was also a major art collector. She also consulted with Sara Hallowell, the secretary to the fair’s Director of Fine Arts and was helping the Palmers manage both the fair and the art collection. The sculptor left the project after disagreements with Mint officials, who then decided to have Charles E. Barber do the work. The half dollar appeared in November 1892 and was considered inartistic and determined to do better. The Lady Man managers wanted to have credit of being the authors of the first really beautiful and artistic coin that has ever been issued by the government of the United States.

Related posts:

Columbian half dollar California Pacific International Exposition half dollar Louisiana Purchase Exposition gold dollar Isabella Beeton