1920 US Silver Commemorative 50C MAINE - NGC MS 67

About Maine Centennial Silver Half Dollar
The Maine Centennial Half Dollar was authorized by Congress to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the formation of the state of Maine. At the time of release there was a fair amount of criticism leveled at the design which was based on the state arms.

The maximum authorized mintage for the coins was 100,000 pieces. Initially the coins were intended to be issued into circulation at face value, but ultimately the coins were sold by the Maine Centennial Commission to the public for $1 each. The Philadelphia Mint produced 50,028 coins with the unsold quantity retained by the Maine State Treasurer, rather than melted.

Designs for the coins were prepared by Anthony Di Francisci, designer of the Peace Dollar. He was enlisted by the Commission of Fine Arts to prepare models based on sketches from by Harry H. Cochrane. The obverse features the state arms with the Latin word "DIRIGO" meaning "I direct" and "MAINE". Surrounding inscriptions read "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" and "HALF DOLLAR".

The reverse of the coin contains a pine wreath with the inscriptions "MAINE CENTENNIAL 1820-1920", "E PLURIBUS UNUM", "LIBERTY" and "IN GOD WE TRUST".

About Early Commemorative Coins
Early Commemorative Coins were issued between the years 1892 and 1954 and have included primarily silver half dollars and gold dollars. Over the years additional denominations have been used including the silver quarter, silver dollar, several gold quarter eagles and one $50 gold piece. In total there were 50 different Silver Commemorative coin designs and 9 different Gold Commemorative coin designs. Each issue was typically authorized by an act of Congress which provided a specific maximum or minimum mintage requirement. Because legislation often did not specify otherwise, some Commemorative coin issues were produced in multiple years or struck at multiple mints.