United States 1925-S half dollar KM-155 - Revision history

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LatinKing2020: Text replacement - " .900 fine" to " 0.900 fine"

2023-12-04T21:23:37Z

Text replacement - " .900 fine" to " 0.900 fine"

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2021-03-27T05:59:21Z

LatinKing2020: Created page with "1925-S half dollar, California jubilee == Authorization == San Francisco Citizen's Committee, chaired by future mayor Ange..."

2021-03-27T05:53:25Z

Created page with "thumb|400px|1925-S half dollar, California jubilee == Authorization == San Francisco Citizen's Committee, chaired by future mayor Ange..."

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[[Image:US 1925-S 50C California 1.jpg|thumb|400px|1925-S half dollar, California jubilee]]
== Authorization ==
San Francisco Citizen's Committee, chaired by future mayor Angelo J. Rossi, decided to commemorate 75 years of statehood with a specially designed half dollar. The proposal might have died aborning but for a similar measure undertaken on behalf of Vermont's Sesquicentennial that, fortunately, was endorsed by President Calvin Coolidge. The California coin became part of the [[PUBLIC—NO. 452—68TH CONGRESS|Act]] of February 24, 1925, which not only included a coin for Vermont, but one commemorating the 100th anniversary of the founding of Fort Vancouver in the state of Washington. Groups in Los Angeles and San Francisco distributed the California halves for $1 apiece, but 63,606 pieces eventually remained unsold and were melted, leaving a net mintage of 86,394.

== Obverse ==
[[Image:Jo Mora (1876-1947).jpg|thumb|180px|Jo Mora (1876-1947)]]
The San Francisco Citizen's Committee asked noted local sculptor [[Sculptors Engravers of the United States Mint#Jo Mora|Jo Mora]] to design a coin that would capture the spirit of the state's diamond jubilee. Born in Uruguay in 1876, Mora had emigrated to California and was a popular artist living in Carmel. Fashioning both the obverse and rreverse of the coin, Mora sought to embody the essence of California during the 1850s. He employed two symbolic motifs: a "Gold Rush" prospector and a grizzly bear. Mora's artistic obverse design depicts a "Forty-Niner" panning for gold, with the inscriptions LIBERTY above, IN GOD WE TRUST to the left and CALIFORNIA DIAMOND JUBILEE and the date, 1925, below.

== Reverse ==
The reverse features California's state emblem: a grizzly bear adapted from the flag used in the so-called Bear Flag Revolt of 1846. Above the bear is the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM, while below are the legends UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and HALF DOLLAR. Mora added an interesting touch to the design of the California half: the fields were left unpolished, appearing as boldly textured on the finished coin as they did on the sculptor's model.

== Mintage ==
Authorized, 300,000 maximum; coined August 1-26, 1925, [150,000 + 20 assay] 63,606 melted, [Net 86,394] not including assay.

The Congressional Act authorizing the California Diamond Jubilee half dollar specified a maximum mintage of 300,000 coins, but only 150,200 coins were actually struck, with 200 pieces reserved for assay purposes. Production began at the San Francisco Mint on August 12, 1925, and that first day saw 100 special pieces struck at the request of Committee Chairman Rossi. These pieces are not true proofs, but rather are business strikes that have a bright, chrome-like surface, the result of being struck with polished dies. The S-mintmark appearing on all of the coins made at the western mint is on the lower reverse beneath the D in DOLLAR.

''Specification:'' 192.9 grains = 12.50 grams; .900 fine silver, .36169 troy oz ASW, 30.61 mm (1.205 in) diameter, thickness: 2.15 mm (0.085 in), Edge: 150 reeds.

''Catalog reference:'' KM 155.

''Link to:''
* [[United States 1925 dime|1925 dime]]
* [[United States 1925 half dollar KM-156|1925 half dollar, Lexington-Concord sesquicentennial]]
* [[United States 1925 half dollar KM-158|1925 half dollar, Vancouver centennial]]
* [[Coins and currency dated 1925]]
* return to [[United States Commemorative Coins, 1892-1954]]

[[Bibliography|Source:]]
* Breen, Walter H., ''Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U. S. and Colonial Coins,'' New York: Doubleday, 1987.
* Slabaugh, Arlie R., ''United States Commemorative Coinage, 2nd Ed.," Racine, WI: Whitman Publishing, 1975.

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
Image:The Serra Cenotaph.jpg|The Serra Cenotaph - Jo Mora, Sculptor
Image:California Diamond Jubilee Pin-Back Button -1925.jpg|California Diamond Jubilee Pin-Back Button -1925
</gallery>

[[Category:Coinage of the United States]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[Image:US 1925-S 50C California 1.jpg|thumb|400px|1925-S half dollar, California jubilee]]
+[[Image:US 1925-S 50C California 1.jpg|thumb|550px|1925-S half dollar, California jubilee]]
 == Authorization ==
 San Francisco Citizen's Committee, chaired by future mayor Angelo J. Rossi, decided to commemorate 75 years of statehood with a specially designed half dollar. The proposal might have died aborning but for a similar measure undertaken on behalf of Vermont's Sesquicentennial that, fortunately, was endorsed by President Calvin Coolidge. The California coin became part of the [[PUBLIC—NO. 452—68TH CONGRESS|Act]] of February 24, 1925, which not only included a coin for Vermont, but one commemorating the 100th anniversary of the founding of Fort Vancouver in the state of Washington. Groups in Los Angeles and San Francisco distributed the California halves for a dollar apiece, but 63,606 pieces remained unsold and were melted, leaving a net mintage of 86,394.
@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 * [[United States 1925 half dollar KM-157|1925 half dollar, Stone Mountain]]
 * [[United States 1925 half dollar KM-158|1925 half dollar, Vancouver centennial]]
 * [[Coins and currency dated 1925]]
 * return to [[United States Commemorative Coins, 1892-1954]]
@@ Line 30: / Line 31: @@
 * Breen, Walter H., ''Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U. S. and Colonial Coins,'' New York: Doubleday, 1987.
 * Slabaugh, Arlie R., ''United States Commemorative Coinage, 2nd Ed.," Racine, WI: Whitman Publishing, 1975.
 == Gallery ==

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 The Congressional Act authorizing the California Diamond Jubilee half dollar specified a maximum mintage of 300,000 coins, but only 150,200 coins were actually struck, with 200 pieces reserved for assay purposes. Production began at the San Francisco Mint on August 12, 1925, and that first day saw 100 special pieces struck at the request of Committee Chairman Rossi. These pieces are not true proofs, but rather are business strikes that have a bright, chrome-like surface, the result of being struck with polished dies. The S-mintmark appearing on all of the coins made at the western mint is on the lower reverse beneath the D in DOLLAR.
-''Specification:'' 192.9 grains = 12.50 grams; .900 fine silver, .36169 troy oz ASW, 30.61 mm  (1.205 in) diameter, thickness: 2.15 mm  (0.085 in), Edge: 150 reeds.
+''Specification:'' 192.9 grains = 12.50 grams; 0.900 fine silver, .36169 troy oz ASW, 30.61 mm  (1.205 in) diameter, thickness: 2.15 mm  (0.085 in), Edge: 150 reeds.
 ''Catalog reference:'' KM 155.

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 * [[United States 1925 dime|1925 dime]]
 * [[United States 1925 half dollar KM-156|1925 half dollar, Lexington-Concord sesquicentennial]]
 * [[United States 1925 half dollar KM-158|1925 half dollar, Vancouver centennial]]
 * [[Coins and currency dated 1925]]