| Value | 50 cents (0.50 US dollars) |
|---|---|
| Mass | 12.50 g |
| Diameter | 30.6 mm |
| Thickness | 1.8 mm |
| Edge | reeded |
| Composition |
|
| Silver | 0.36169 troy oz |
| Years of minting | 1926 |
| Mint marks | None. All pieces struck at Philadelphia Mint without mint mark. |
| Obverse | |
| Design | Jugate heads of George Washington and Calvin Coolidge |
| Designer | Modeled by John R. Sinnock from designs by John Frederick Lewis |
| Design date | 1926 |
| Reverse | |
| Design | The Liberty Bell |
| Designer | Modeled by John R. Sinnock from designs by John Frederick Lewis |
| Design date | 1926 |
United States | |
| Value | 2.5 United States dollars |
|---|---|
| Mass | 4.18 g |
| Diameter | 18 mm |
| Edge | reeded |
| Composition | .900 gold, .100 copper |
| Gold | .12094 troy oz |
| Years of minting | 1926 |
| Mint marks | None. All pieces struck at Philadelphia Mint without mint mark. |
| Obverse | |
| Design | Liberty, bearing a scroll representing the United States Declaration of Independence and a torch |
| Designer | John R. Sinnock |
| Design date | 1926 |
| Reverse | |
| Design | Independence Hall, with a rising Sun behind it |
| Designer | John R. Sinnock |
| Design date | 1926 |
The United States Sesquicentennial coin issue consisted of a commemorative half dollar and quarter eagle (gold $2.50 piece) struck in 1926 at the Philadelphia Mint for the 150th anniversary of American independence. The obverse of the half dollar features portraits of the first president, George Washington, and the president in 1926, Calvin Coolidge, making it the only American coin to depict a president in his lifetime.[a]
By the March 1925 Act of Congress, by which the National Sesquicentennial Exhibition Commission was chartered, Congress also allowed it to purchase 1,000,000 specially designed half dollars and 200,000 quarter eagles, which could be sold to the public at a premium. The Commission had trouble agreeing on a design with Mint Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock, and asked Philadelphia attorney, arts patron and numismatist John Frederick Lewis (1860–1932) to submit sketches.[1] These were adapted by Sinnock, without giving credit to Lewis, whose involvement would not be generally known for forty years.
Both the quarter eagle, designed by Sinnock, and the half dollar were struck in the maximum number authorized, but many were returned to the Mint for melting when they failed to sell. The Liberty Bell reverse for the half dollar was later reused by Sinnock, again without giving Lewis credit, on the Chief Engraver's Franklin half dollar, which was first minted in 1948.
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