1936 Cleveland Centennial Commemorative Half Dollar
When it comes to commemoratives from 1936, there are so many different designs and that’s why I think it’s such a cool year. There were 21 U.S commemoratives minted that year and 16 of those designs were only minted in 1936. The reason there were so many commemoratives that year is because in the 1930’s the commemorative market was really hot and we’re in high demand. Of course the mint wanted to make some money so they minted the most commemoratives they have ever minted in one year.
Another commemorative from this year that I like is the 1936 Cleveland Centennial Half Dollar, commemorating 100 years since Cleveland, Ohio was founded and was commemorating the Great Lakes Exposition. The obverse shows Moses Cleavland was the founder of the city and was a brigadier general in the U.S. army. In 1796 he came to Ohio and became a farmer. His name is spelled Cleaveland with “a” in the beginning while the name of the city is spelled with no “a” at the beginning. This is because a newspaper came out at the time called the Cleveland Advertiser and the name was too long for the form so the editor cut out the letter “a” at the beginning. I thought that was an interesting story. The reverse features a map of the Great Lakes and a compass. The coin was designed by Brenda Putnam.
50,000 of these half dollars were minted, including 30 assay coins making it a total of 50,030 coins. They were sold at 1 for $1.65, 2 for $1.60 each, 3 for $1.58 each, 5 for $1.56 each, 10 for $1.55 each, 20 at $1.54 each, 50 for $1.53 each, and 100 for $1.52 each. Every cent counts I guess! The coins were distributed by the Cleveland Centennial Commemorative Coin Association (Thomas G. Melsih.) Thomas G. Melish lived in Cincinnati which was weird since he was part of that committee. He wanted the coins to have low mintages so they could be rare and valuable but that didn’t work. He also tried to get the coins to have a small 1937 date along with the 1936 the next year to make more coins but that also failed. Today the coins can be worth around $110 in AU-50 to $250 in MS-66.
Thanks for reading my blog and have a great day!
CheerioCoins
Comments
AC coin$
Level 6
Great coin and information.
Mike
Level 7
You picked the classic of coin collecting. These will never be made again. Not with the tools they had. They didn't have lasers machine to polish them.They made the die from a sculpture. Not today everything is machines. Machines should make perfect coins but they don't because were not perfect. Love these blogs my friend!
Longstrider
Level 6
These "classic" commemoratives are the best. Like Mike says no problems. That is a lot of coins for one year. That could make a great set. I want that toned one. Good luck CC. Great blog.
Kepi
Level 6
Old Commemoratives are the best! They tone really pretty too. I had no idea that the Mint produced so many in 1936... Great blog!
Mike
Level 7
My favorite con s! I love the old commens. Those were made the best. Never saw any with milk stains or black marks. They made these well. Thanks for the blog!!
TCHTrove
Level 4
Very good blog. I have 5 commemoratives in my 20th century type set. None from the 1930’s though. Two ‘20’s, two ‘40’s & one’50’s. Wish I could have bought some of those back in the’30’s.