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The Missouri Centennial half dollar is a commemorative fifty-cent piece struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1921. It was designed by Robert Ingersoll Aitken. The U.S. state of Missouri wanted a commemorative coin to mark its centennial that year. Authorizing legislation passed through Congress without opposition, and was signed on March 4, 1921, by President Warren G. Harding on his inauguration day. The federal Commission of Fine Arts hired Aitken to design the coin, which depicted Daniel Boone on both sides. The reverse design, showing Boone with a Native American, was likely intended to symbolize the displacement of the Indians by white settlers. To increase sales, a portion of the issue was produced with the mark "2★4", symbolic of Missouri being the 24th state. Although admired for the design, the coins did not sell as well as hoped, and almost 60 percent were returned to the Philadelphia Mint for melting. (Full article...)