United States 1952 half dollar KM-200
Harry S Truman, who approved the Iowa bill on August 7, 1946, also authorized the Booker T. Washington commemorative half dollar at the same time. Another law, also signed by Harry S Truman, authorized the melting of over a million unsold Booker T Washington commemoratives for recoining into this Washington-Carver type. Despite spreading the mintage over four years, this sold as poorly as the preceding. Washington's and Carver's many accomplishments were ill-served by the ugly design and revelations that profits from the sale were to be used "to oppose the spread of communism among Negroes in the interest of national defense." No further commemoratives were approved until 1982.
Recorded Mintage: 1,106,292, the most common date.
Specification: 12.5 g, 0.900 fine silver, .361 troy oz ASW, 30.6 mm diameter, reeded edge, designed by Isaac Scott Hathaway.
Catalog reference: KM 200.
- Yeoman, R. S., and Kenneth Bressett (ed.), A Guide Book of United States Coins, 65th Ed., Atlanta, GA: Whitman Publishing, 2011.
- Alexander, David T., Coin World Comprehensive Catalog & Encyclopedia of United States Coins, Sidney, OH: Amos Press, 1995.
- Breen, Walter H., Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U. S. and Colonial Coins, New York: Doubleday, 1987.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
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