1938 US Silver Commemorative 50C NEW ROCHELLE - NGC MS 67

1938 US Silver Commemorative 50C NEW ROCHELLE

Certified NGC MS 67

Photos are of the actual coin you will receive.

About New Rochelle Silver Half Dollars
The 1938 New Rochelle Half Dollar was one of several early commemorative issues that celebrated an event of primarily local significance with the issuance of a coin on a national scale. These coins were conceived and planned by the Westchester County Coin Club of New Rochelle, New York.

Initially, Lorrilard Wise was engaged to prepare the designs for the coin. Her first models featured a Native American crouching in the grass and watching a boat carry settlers to the shore on the obverse and the city seal on the reverse. The Commission of Fine Arts rejected the designs, recommending changes which were executed and also rejected.

Eventually, Gertrude Lathrop was engaged to prepare new designs for the New Rochelle Half Dollar. Her obverse design would depict John Pell and a fatted calf which recalls the sale of the original land upon which the city now stands. One of the conditions of the sale was for Pell or his heirs to receive a fatted calf each year on June 24. Inscriptions SETTLED 1688, INCORPORATED 1899 and NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK surround the border.

The reverse design features the fleur-de-lis taken from the seal of the city. Similar to the obverse, the single design element is presented in a flat and open field with sharply contrasted lettering. The inscriptions read UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, HALF DOLLAR, E PLURIBUS UNUM, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and 1938.

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.