1921 Missouri Centennial Banner

1921 Missouri Centennial Half Dollar

 

 1921 Missouri Centennial Obverse     1921 Missouri Centennial Obverse

Click the images above for enhanced view.

Purpose:

 

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Missouri statehood and help defray the costs of the centennial celebration and state fair.

 

Maximum Number Authorized: 250,000 pieces.

 

Sale Price: $1.00

 

Designs:

 

    Obverse – Robert Aitken

Bust of Daniel Boone facing left wearing a coonskin cap and a deerskin jacket. There is a low mintage variety that includes an incused 2*4, indicating Missouri as the 24th state to enter the Union.

 

Online Resource: https://historicmissourians.shsmo.org/historicmissourians/name/b/booned/ 

 

   Reverse – Robert Aitken

Daniel Boone, wearing a powder horn and holding a rifle with his right hand. He is pointing westward with his left hand towards Sedalia. Next to Boone stands a Native American wearing a war bonnet with pipe and shield. 24 stars appear in the field. “SEDALIA” appears at the bottom. Sedalia is the city in Missouri where the centennial celebration took place. The designer’s initials are located in the lower right field close to the rifle stock.

 

Popularity:

 

50,000 Missouri Centennial half dollars were produced for the public. 5,000 strikes were minted showing the 2*4 inscription while 45,000 of the plain variety were created. 29,600 of the second (plain) variety were returned to the Mint and melted. 

 

Missouri Centennial Exposition Online Resource: https://digital.shsmo.org/digital/collection/p17228coll11  

 

Trivia:

 

  • While Daniel Boone is shown wearing the famous coonskin cap, he much preferred wearing a broad brimmed hat to protect his eyes from the sun. 

  • The 2*4 variety was minted first. The 2*4 was polished off of the first working die to save costs in the minting of the second variety. 

  • The Missouri Centennial half dollar is the second United States commemorative coin in which an individual appears on both the obverse and reverse. The Lafayette dollar was the first.

  • The mottos IN GOD WE TRUST, E PLURIBUS UNUM and LIBERTY do not appear on the coin.

 

For more information:

 

Encyclopedia of the Commemorative Coins of the United States by Anthony J. Swiatek 

KWS Publishers (2012)

 

Commemorative Coins of the United States Identification and Price Guide by Anthony J. Swiatek Amos Press Publishers (2001)

 

https://digital.shsmo.org/digital/collection/p17228coll11

 

https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/commemorative-coins/missouri-centennial-half 

 

References:

 

Encyclopedia of the Commemorative Coins of the United States by Anthony J. Swiatek

KWS Publishers (2012)

 

The Encyclopedia of United States Silver & Gold Commemorative Coins 1892 to 1954 by Anthony Swiatek and Walter Breen

Arco Publishing, Inc. (1981)

 

 
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