United States | |
| Value | 50 cents (0.50 US dollars) |
|---|---|
| Mass | 12.5 g |
| Diameter | 30.61 mm (1.20 in) |
| Thickness | 2.15 mm (0.08 in) |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Composition |
|
| Silver | 0.36169 troy oz |
| Years of minting | 1921 |
| Mintage | Without "2X2": 64,038 including 38 pieces for the Assay Commission With "2X2": 6,006 including 6 assay pieces |
| Mint marks | None, all pieces struck at the Philadelphia Mint without mint mark |
| Obverse | |
 | |
| Design | Thomas Kilby and William Bibb |
| Designer | Laura Gardin Fraser |
| Design date | 1921 |
| Reverse | |
 | |
| Design | Adaptation of the State Seal of Alabama. |
| Designer | Laura Gardin Fraser |
| Design date | 1921 |
The Alabama Centennial half dollar, or Alabama half dollar, was a commemorative fifty-cent coin struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1921 as a belated acknowledgement of the 100th anniversary of Alabama's admission to the Union in 1819. The coin was created by Laura Gardin Fraser, the first woman credited with designing a coin.
Alabama Congressman Lilius Bratton Rainey introduced legislation for a commemorative coin at the request of the state's centennial commission. The bill originally provided for commemorative quarters but was amended to provide for halves instead. The bill moved quickly through the legislative process and became the Act of May 10, 1920, with the signature of President Woodrow Wilson.
The half dollars were not issued until October 1921, apparently because the initial decision to depict President Wilson, a Democrat, on the coin might be reversed depending on the results of the 1920 presidential election. After Republican Warren G. Harding won the presidency, the sponsors of the issue chose to depict William Bibb, the State of Alabama's first governor, and Thomas Kilby, its governor at the time of the centennial, thus making Governor Kilby the first living person to appear on a U.S. coin.[a] To boost sales, a symbol, 2X2 (recognizing Alabama as the 22nd state) was included in the design for a minority of the coins; these are generally more expensive today.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).