Episode 2117
Wisconsin Territorial Centennial half dollar
Mon, 2023-Feb-20 01:01 UTC
Length - 2:19
Direct Link
Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of the featured Wikipedia article every day.
The featured article for Monday, 20 February 2023 is Wisconsin Territorial Centennial half dollar.
The Wisconsin Territorial Centennial half dollar was a commemorative half dollar designed by David Parsons and Benjamin Hawkins and minted by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1936. The obverse depicts a pick axe and lead ore, referring to the lead mining in early Wisconsin, while the reverse depicts a badger and the territorial seal.
Organizers of the territorial centennial celebration sought a commemorative half dollar as a fundraiser; at this time newly-issued commemorative coins found a ready market from collectors and speculators. Accordingly, legislation was introduced by Senator Robert M. La Follette Jr., which, though it was amended, passed Congress without opposition. When initial designs by Parsons were rejected by the Commission of Fine Arts, Hawkins was hired, and he executed the designs, though Parsons was also given credit.
A total of 25,000 pieces were coined for public sale in July 1936. This did not occur until after the centennial celebrations had closed, and though the coins were promoted during them, sales were weak and the coins were vended by the Wisconsin Historical Society until the supply was exhausted in the late 1950s. The coins catalog for up to $250.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:01 UTC on Monday, 20 February 2023.
For the full current version of the article, see Wisconsin Territorial Centennial half dollar on Wikipedia.
This podcast is produced by Abulsme Productions based on Wikipedia content and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Visit wikioftheday.com for our archives. Please subscribe to never miss an episode. On Mastodon follow us at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.
Abulsme Productions produces the current events podcast Curmudgeon's Corner as well. Check it out in your podcast player of choice.
This has been Joey Standard. Thank you for listening to featured Wiki of the Day.
|
|
Buy WotD Stuff!!
