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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. 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 artist John Frederick Lewis to submit sketches. 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. == Inception == Legislation for a commemorative coin to mark the 150th anniversary of American independence was introduced on behalf of the United States National Sesquicentennial Exhibition Commission, which was charged with organizing what became known as the Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia. In the Act of March 3, 1925, Congress both authorized the Commission and allowed one million half dollars and 200,000 quarter eagles to be struck in commemoration of the Sesquicentennial of American Independence. These coins would be sold only to the Commission, at face value; it could then retail them to the public at a premium. Profits would go to financing the Exposition. The original version of the bill, introduced in the House of Representatives on February 16, 1925 by Pennsylvania Congressman George P. Darrow and in the Senate by that state's George W. Pepper, called for a $1.50 gold coin for the 150th anniversary, for commemorative half dollars, and for a $1 bill honoring the Declaration of Independence.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=United States House of Representatives )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=United States Senate )〕 A hearing was held before the House Committee on Industrial Arts and Expositions two days later, at which Congressman Darrow predicted that the $1.50 gold pieces would not be opposed by either the Treasury or the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures, but he was incorrect; Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon would not support them. The Commission also hoped to have commemoratives depicting the enlargement of the country through acquisitions such as the Louisiana Purchase and the Annexation of Texas, but these were not included in the final version of the bill. Nevertheless, the Commission continued to pursue congressional approval of the $1.50 piece and the other proposed commemoratives at least through August 1925. In May, H. P. Caemmerer, secretary of the Commission of Fine Arts, a body charged with making recommendations on the approval of coinage design, wrote to the Sesquicentennial Commission, asking what they proposed to do about the coins. Having received no reply, he wrote again in late August, this time to Milton Medary, a member of the Fine Arts Commission, asking what progress had been made. Medary replied that the Sesquicentennial Commission was in touch with the new Chief Engraver at the Philadelphia Mint, John R. Sinnock (his predecessor, George T. Morgan, had died in January), but that Sinnock had not yet submitted satisfactory designs. Apparently dissatisfied with Sinnock's work, the Sesquicentennial Commission hired John Frederick Lewis to create designs. Lewis, an attorney and well-known local patron of the arts, was president of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. On December 8, 1925, Sesquicentennial Commission director Asher C. Baker submitted Lewis's sketches, which appear much like the present half dollar, to Fine Arts Commission chairman Charles Moore. Baker referred to Lewis's "designs for the coins", which may mean that he submitted sketches for the quarter eagle as well, but if so, they are not extant and were not acted upon by the Fine Arts Commission. The half dollar designs were approved by the Fine Arts Commission, on condition the sketches were converted into models by a competent sculptor, and Moore sent them on December 11 to Mint Director Robert J. Grant. The resultant plaster models, made by Sinnock, were submitted to the Fine Arts Commission on March 13, 1926, and were undoubtedly endorsed, but the approval letter is lost. Sinnock's sketches for the quarter eagle were sent to the Fine Arts Commission on February 27, 1926, and were forwarded to sculptor member Lorado Taft for his views. Moore sent his commission's approval to Grant on March 26, with several recommendations, including that the motto ''E Pluribus Unum'', present on the obverse in Sinnock's sketches, and the sun's rays on the reverse, be omitted. The rays were not removed, and the motto was moved to the reverse. Approval of the models followed in April, again with minor suggestions. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「United States Sesquicentennial coinage」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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