1935/1934 D US Silver Commemorative 50C BOONE - NGC MS 67

About Daniel Boone Bicentennial Half Dollars
The Daniel Boone Half Dollar was minted to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of the famous frontiersman, explorer and folk hero. Originally, the coins were struck at the Philadelphia Mint to coincide with the bicentennial year. During the next four years the coins would continue to be struck across three different mint facilities.

On the obverse of the coin is a portrait of Daniel Boone. Since no known portraits of him exist, this is an artists conception created by Augustus Lukemann. The likeness looks decidedly different than the portrait of Boone, which had appeared on the previous 1921 Missouri Centennial Half Dollar. The inscriptions surrounding the portrait include UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and HALF DOLLAR.

The reverse of the coin features a scene of the frontiersman holding a chart of Kentucky and a musket, facing an American Indian holding a tomahawk. In the background a blockhouse stockade and a sun with rays appear. This was also designed by Augustus Lukemann. The inscriptions read IN GOD WE TRUST, E PLURIBUS UNUM, DANIEL BOONE BICENTENNIAL PIONEER YEAR and the date of issue.

Out of the maximum authorized mintage of 600,000 coins, there were only 10,007 of the 1934 Daniel Boone Half Dollars produced and sold at a price of $1.60 each. In the following year, additional coins were struck at the Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco Mints carrying the 1935 date. Subsequent to the initial distribution, legislation was passed in Congress stipulating that the original design should be supplemented by adding the bicentennial year "1934" to the reverse of the coin. A smaller number of coins were minted with the "small 1934 on reverse" and came to represent a scarce variety.

More coins continued to be minted and issued in 1936, 1937 and 1938. The final two years would have smaller net distribution levels as collectors began to grow weary of the endless string of varieties of the commemorative coin, issued years after the actual bicentennial.

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.