Did you know that due to the Commemorative Coin Craze of 1936, there were 21 different Commemorative Coins released in that calendar year, and they were all half dollars?
Did you know that a lot MORE were proposed as well, many of which passed at least one of the houses of Congress.
Did you know that 1936 was effectively the year that killed the first commemorative coin program due to all of the coins.
Did you know that the Antietam, Bay Bridge and Norfolk, in that order, are my favorites from 1936? Chris
Did you know that the 1936 Cincinnati half dollar was probably the biggest scam in the entire classic commemorative haf dollar series?
I remember that being discussed once before (at NGC?), but I've forgotten the details. Would you please refresh my memory? (When your memory goes, sex ain't too far behind!) Chris
Well it was issued to mark the fiftieth anniversary of an event that never occurred (Cincinnati did have a music festival, but it's fifty year anniversary was 13 years earlier and since it was only held in odd numbered years there wasn't even a festival in 1936.). It was issued on behalf of the Cincinnati Musical Center, an organization that did not exist, or rather existed on paper only and was created for the sole purpose of selling the half dollars. It pictures Steven Foster "America's Troubadour", but Foster's only connection to the city was he worked there as a bookkeeper for two years and left long before he began writing music. It was sold by reservation, no more than one set per person, unless you happened to have friends on the committee in which case you could get many more reservation slips (See The Walter P Nichols Files by Q David Bowers.) The sets were priced at $7.75 each, much higher than any other set had been sold for. But all the reservations were returned because the issue was "oversubscribed". However members of the commission did just happen to have some sets that could be had for $45 a set, later $75 a set. The only people who managed to get any sets for $7.75 were those people who had friends on the committee. The people who were given multiple "one per person reservation slips". Every one else paid through the nose and the committee members kept the money (after paying the government fifty cents apiece for the coins.) After all there was no organization to pay the profits to. This coin was issued solely to enrich a small handful of Cincinnati coin collectors and dealers. (How do I get rid of my memory? I could use the sex, and just how far behind is it? )
Thanks for the info, Conder. It still amazes me how greedy some people can get even over the smallest sums of money. FYI - I meant that when you lose your memory, it's not long before you lose the sex. You should hope to hang on to your memory for as long as possible. Chris
In 1936 $45 and later $75 was NOT a small amount of money. And then multiply it by 5,000 sets And I know what you meant, it's just the the statement could be interpreted the other way as well. And frankly I like that interpretation better. Kinda makes up for the memory loss.
