Log in or Sign up
Coin Talk
Home
Forums
>
Coin Forums
>
US Coins Forum
>
1923-S Monroe Doctrine Half Dollar
>
Reply to Thread
Message:
<p>[QUOTE="leeg, post: 3447742, member: 17073"]“SOME OF THE EXCUSES Congressman have given to promote a memorial coin are amusing. For example, on December 18, 1922, when California representative Lineberger introduced a bill to authorize a Monroe Doctrine half dollar, he dilated on how the manifesto had prevented France, England and Russia from trying to acquire California prior to its annexation. For this oblique association, he asked that the Los Angeles Clearinghouse be made sole distributor of the issue.</p><p><br /></p><p>The clause was retained despite vigorous opposition from Mr. Cramton of Michigan. Speaking against commemorative coinage in general, Vermont representative Greene declared: ‘It seems to me the question is not one of selling a coin at a particular value or at a particular place. The question is whether the United States Government is going to go on from year to year submitting its coinage to this-well-harlotry.’ In tacit reply, Congress approved the Monroe coin on January 24, 1923.</p><p><br /></p><p> On December 7, while the bill was still pending, Charles Moore wrote to Fraser:</p><p><br /></p><p>Dear Mr. Fraser: The Los Angeles people<b>1</b> are planning to celebrate the Monroe Doctrine Centennial. They are going to have a 50-cent piece and have decided that on the obverse shall be the heads of President Monroe and John Quincy Adams; perhaps the two profiles, one above the other. On the reverse will be the western continents from Hudson Bay to Cape Horn with some dots for the West Indies, and some indication of the Panama Canal. The designer will receive $1500, the dies not to exceed $300 additional.</p><p><br /></p><p> I have told them that I thought you could select the sculptor and have the work done for the Mint in six weeks. They are of course in a great hurry for their coinage, so as to sell the coins. It strikes me that the designs having been settled upon, the models could be worked out quite readily and that a pretty sell thing could be made. Cordially yours.</p><p><br /></p><p> Fraser engaged another New York sculptor, Chester Beach, to design the coin, and by the end of January considerable progress had been made. On the 27th, Moore wrote F.B. Davison, Director-General of the sponsoring organization:</p><p><br /></p><p> Dear Mr. Davison: replying to your telegram of January 25th, I am pleased to inform you that the Commission of Fine Arts has recommended that Chester Beach, sculptor, of New York City (a native of California), prepare the design and model for the Monroe Doctrine Centennial Coin. A design, according to suggestions made at the time of your visit in Washington, has been submitted by Mr. Beach, and approved by the Commission of Fine Arts; and pursuant to a request received from the Office of the Director of the Mint, the Commission has requested Mr. Beach to proceed with the making of the model. The obverse design will be as suggested, namely the heads of Monroe and Adams; but on the reverse, instead of showing the continents in relief, Mr. Beach and the sculptor member of the Commission, Mr. Fraser, have thought it would be better to have the map of North and South America in the form of draped figures. The sculptor’s description of the reverse is as follows:</p><p><br /></p><p> Map of North and South America. North America is in the form of a draped figure carrying the laurel of Peace, reaching to South America, also a draped figure carrying a Horn of Plenty. Their hands to touch at the Panama Canal. The West Indies are indicated. The current of the oceans are lightly shown. Between the dates 1823-1923 are a scroll and a quill pen, symbolizing the ‘Treaty.’ Monroe’s Administration was called the ‘Era of Goodfeeling and Understanding.’</p><p><br /></p><p><b>1. The American Historical Revue and Motion Picture Industrial Exposition. Taxay, p. 63.</b></p><p><br /></p><p> The Commission of Fine Arts concurs in this suggestion of the sculptor for the design for the reverse of the coin, and believes it will be promising of much better results than the ordinary relief.</p><p><br /></p><p> The sculptor has been requested to complete the model as soon as possible, so as to avoid any delay in the production of the coins. Sincerely yours.</p><p><br /></p><p> A comparison of Beach’s preliminary obverse with the adopted design shows differences in the position of the conjoined heads, motto and presidents’ names. The reverses are nearly identical. In the large sketch of the reverse the beautiful allegorical figures are worked out in detail.</p><p><br /></p><p> On February 26, Commission of Fine Arts secretary, H.R. Caemmerer wrote to Fraser:</p><p><br /></p><p>Dear Mr. Fraser: I showed the photographs of the model for the Monroe Doctrine Centennial coin to Miss O’Reilly of the Bureau of the Mint on Saturday, and she was much pleased with them.</p><p><br /></p><p> Miss O’Reilly said she thought a photograph of the obverse and reverse of the completed model would be satisfactory, to save sending the model, with the understanding that the sculptor would make no <i>further change</i> in the model. Would you therefore please have Mr. Beach give you a photograph of the obverse and reverse (two sets if possible) of the completed model as soon as it is finished and send here to the Office of the Commission, together with a brief letter from you saying the model has your approval, so that the photographs can be transmitted to the Director of the Mint with an official letter. Miss O’Reilly said the model would be reduced in Philadelphia, but that the coining would be done in San Francisco. Cordially yours.</p><p><br /></p><p> In a letter of March 8, Moore submitted a photograph of the completed models to Mint Director Scobey, adding that they had been approved by the Commission of Fine Arts. The prints were further approved the same day by Secretary of the Treasury Mellon. On the 12th, acting Mint Director Mary O’Reilly wrote to Beach:</p><p><br /></p><p> Dear Mr. Beach: It gives me much pleasure to advise you that on March 8 the Secretary of the Treasury approved the design submitted by you through the Fine Arts Commission for the Monroe Doctrine Centennial Coin.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a195/leeg1957/Book%20Project%20Images/Monroe%20Doctrine/Beck%20Medal.png" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><b>1901 Raphael Beck Pan-American medal.</b></p><p><br /></p><p>It is requested that you forward to the Mint a satisfactory model from which the Master Die will be made at the Mint.</p><p><br /></p><p> It is understood that the Mint is to be paid by the Los Angeles Clearing House for the cost of reducing the model and that the working dies will be supplied at the Mint for coinage.</p><p><br /></p><p> A copy of this letter is being forwarded to the Fine Arts Commission. Respectfully.</p><p><br /></p><p> In an unusual outburst of enthusiasm, Moore wrote to F.B. Davison on March 21:</p><p><br /></p><p> My dear Mr. Davison: Personally I feel great exultation over the way the model of the Monroe Doctrine Centennial coin, designed and completed by Mr. Chester Beach, has turned out. I cautioned Mr. Beach that he must see it through the United States Mint, so that none of the beauty and charm which he has put into the work shall disappear in the process of minting.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>He consulted Mr. Fraser, the sculptor member of the Commission, who has been through the mill many times, and having secured all the pointers necessary, Mr. Beach- went to the Mint and is supervising the production there. I do not know of a memorial coin which for sheer beauty equals this, and I am advising collectors to lose no time in securing copies of it. Will you please give me the name of your agent to handle the coins so that I may direct inquirers where to apply. I enclose a check for $10.00 for ten of the first lot. Sincerely yours.</p><p><br /></p><p> An interesting addendum to the history of the Monroe Doctrine coin is given in the following correspondence which deals with the origin of the reverse design. On July 23, 1923, Ralph [<i>sic</i>] Beck, designer of the Pan-American Exposition seal, wrote to the Director of the Mint:</p><p><br /></p><p> Dear Sir: May I call to your attention to the fact that the new silver Monroe Doctrine Centennial half dollar has on its reverse side a design and idea which was originated by myself, and which was awarded the prize offered for an emblem by the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, 1901. It was used by the Exposition and its Exhibitors in countless forms, and since by a steamship lines and other enterprises in touch with the two Americas.</p><p><br /></p><p> The <i>Times</i>, Los Angeles, of June 30 ult. attributes this design to one Chester Beach, and the coin bears his initials.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is such a flagrant and unwarranted assumption of my idea, that you will understand when I protest against any further credit being given him for it.</p><p><br /></p><p> You will note from the enclosed cut that he has somewhat varied the lines of the figures, but is nonetheless a copy, and I claim credit for whatever merit there may be in it. Very truly yours.</p><p><br /></p><p> Beck’s letter was forwarded for comment to the Commission of Fine Arts, and prompted the following reply, on October 17, from Fraser:</p><p><br /></p><p> My dear Mr. Moore: Very likely you will recall our conversation in regard to the Monroe Doctrine coin. When I saw the preliminary idea, viz. the maps of the Western Hemisphere, I mentioned the fact that they seemed flat and did not seem to convey the idea of richness which I thought would be better, and suggested the use of figures to represent the continents. I spoke to Mr. Beach about it and he carried out the suggestion, but as a matter of fact, I did not think there was anything particularly new or original in using symbolic figures of continents, winds, places, etc. At any rate, I had never seen Mr. Beck’s suggestion until the design was sent to me by the Director of the Mint. Faithfully yours.”<b>11</b></p><p><br /></p><p><b>11 <b><i>An Illustrated History of Commemorative Coinage</i>, Don Taxay, ARCO Press, New York City, 1967, p. 62, 63, 67, 68.</b></b>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="leeg, post: 3447742, member: 17073"]“SOME OF THE EXCUSES Congressman have given to promote a memorial coin are amusing. For example, on December 18, 1922, when California representative Lineberger introduced a bill to authorize a Monroe Doctrine half dollar, he dilated on how the manifesto had prevented France, England and Russia from trying to acquire California prior to its annexation. For this oblique association, he asked that the Los Angeles Clearinghouse be made sole distributor of the issue. The clause was retained despite vigorous opposition from Mr. Cramton of Michigan. Speaking against commemorative coinage in general, Vermont representative Greene declared: ‘It seems to me the question is not one of selling a coin at a particular value or at a particular place. The question is whether the United States Government is going to go on from year to year submitting its coinage to this-well-harlotry.’ In tacit reply, Congress approved the Monroe coin on January 24, 1923. On December 7, while the bill was still pending, Charles Moore wrote to Fraser: Dear Mr. Fraser: The Los Angeles people[B]1[/B] are planning to celebrate the Monroe Doctrine Centennial. They are going to have a 50-cent piece and have decided that on the obverse shall be the heads of President Monroe and John Quincy Adams; perhaps the two profiles, one above the other. On the reverse will be the western continents from Hudson Bay to Cape Horn with some dots for the West Indies, and some indication of the Panama Canal. The designer will receive $1500, the dies not to exceed $300 additional. I have told them that I thought you could select the sculptor and have the work done for the Mint in six weeks. They are of course in a great hurry for their coinage, so as to sell the coins. It strikes me that the designs having been settled upon, the models could be worked out quite readily and that a pretty sell thing could be made. Cordially yours. Fraser engaged another New York sculptor, Chester Beach, to design the coin, and by the end of January considerable progress had been made. On the 27th, Moore wrote F.B. Davison, Director-General of the sponsoring organization: Dear Mr. Davison: replying to your telegram of January 25th, I am pleased to inform you that the Commission of Fine Arts has recommended that Chester Beach, sculptor, of New York City (a native of California), prepare the design and model for the Monroe Doctrine Centennial Coin. A design, according to suggestions made at the time of your visit in Washington, has been submitted by Mr. Beach, and approved by the Commission of Fine Arts; and pursuant to a request received from the Office of the Director of the Mint, the Commission has requested Mr. Beach to proceed with the making of the model. The obverse design will be as suggested, namely the heads of Monroe and Adams; but on the reverse, instead of showing the continents in relief, Mr. Beach and the sculptor member of the Commission, Mr. Fraser, have thought it would be better to have the map of North and South America in the form of draped figures. The sculptor’s description of the reverse is as follows: Map of North and South America. North America is in the form of a draped figure carrying the laurel of Peace, reaching to South America, also a draped figure carrying a Horn of Plenty. Their hands to touch at the Panama Canal. The West Indies are indicated. The current of the oceans are lightly shown. Between the dates 1823-1923 are a scroll and a quill pen, symbolizing the ‘Treaty.’ Monroe’s Administration was called the ‘Era of Goodfeeling and Understanding.’ [B]1. The American Historical Revue and Motion Picture Industrial Exposition. Taxay, p. 63.[/B] The Commission of Fine Arts concurs in this suggestion of the sculptor for the design for the reverse of the coin, and believes it will be promising of much better results than the ordinary relief. The sculptor has been requested to complete the model as soon as possible, so as to avoid any delay in the production of the coins. Sincerely yours. A comparison of Beach’s preliminary obverse with the adopted design shows differences in the position of the conjoined heads, motto and presidents’ names. The reverses are nearly identical. In the large sketch of the reverse the beautiful allegorical figures are worked out in detail. On February 26, Commission of Fine Arts secretary, H.R. Caemmerer wrote to Fraser: Dear Mr. Fraser: I showed the photographs of the model for the Monroe Doctrine Centennial coin to Miss O’Reilly of the Bureau of the Mint on Saturday, and she was much pleased with them. Miss O’Reilly said she thought a photograph of the obverse and reverse of the completed model would be satisfactory, to save sending the model, with the understanding that the sculptor would make no [I]further change[/I] in the model. Would you therefore please have Mr. Beach give you a photograph of the obverse and reverse (two sets if possible) of the completed model as soon as it is finished and send here to the Office of the Commission, together with a brief letter from you saying the model has your approval, so that the photographs can be transmitted to the Director of the Mint with an official letter. Miss O’Reilly said the model would be reduced in Philadelphia, but that the coining would be done in San Francisco. Cordially yours. In a letter of March 8, Moore submitted a photograph of the completed models to Mint Director Scobey, adding that they had been approved by the Commission of Fine Arts. The prints were further approved the same day by Secretary of the Treasury Mellon. On the 12th, acting Mint Director Mary O’Reilly wrote to Beach: Dear Mr. Beach: It gives me much pleasure to advise you that on March 8 the Secretary of the Treasury approved the design submitted by you through the Fine Arts Commission for the Monroe Doctrine Centennial Coin. [IMG]https://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a195/leeg1957/Book%20Project%20Images/Monroe%20Doctrine/Beck%20Medal.png[/IMG] [B]1901 Raphael Beck Pan-American medal.[/B] It is requested that you forward to the Mint a satisfactory model from which the Master Die will be made at the Mint. It is understood that the Mint is to be paid by the Los Angeles Clearing House for the cost of reducing the model and that the working dies will be supplied at the Mint for coinage. A copy of this letter is being forwarded to the Fine Arts Commission. Respectfully. In an unusual outburst of enthusiasm, Moore wrote to F.B. Davison on March 21: My dear Mr. Davison: Personally I feel great exultation over the way the model of the Monroe Doctrine Centennial coin, designed and completed by Mr. Chester Beach, has turned out. I cautioned Mr. Beach that he must see it through the United States Mint, so that none of the beauty and charm which he has put into the work shall disappear in the process of minting. He consulted Mr. Fraser, the sculptor member of the Commission, who has been through the mill many times, and having secured all the pointers necessary, Mr. Beach- went to the Mint and is supervising the production there. I do not know of a memorial coin which for sheer beauty equals this, and I am advising collectors to lose no time in securing copies of it. Will you please give me the name of your agent to handle the coins so that I may direct inquirers where to apply. I enclose a check for $10.00 for ten of the first lot. Sincerely yours. An interesting addendum to the history of the Monroe Doctrine coin is given in the following correspondence which deals with the origin of the reverse design. On July 23, 1923, Ralph [[I]sic[/I]] Beck, designer of the Pan-American Exposition seal, wrote to the Director of the Mint: Dear Sir: May I call to your attention to the fact that the new silver Monroe Doctrine Centennial half dollar has on its reverse side a design and idea which was originated by myself, and which was awarded the prize offered for an emblem by the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, 1901. It was used by the Exposition and its Exhibitors in countless forms, and since by a steamship lines and other enterprises in touch with the two Americas. The [I]Times[/I], Los Angeles, of June 30 ult. attributes this design to one Chester Beach, and the coin bears his initials. This is such a flagrant and unwarranted assumption of my idea, that you will understand when I protest against any further credit being given him for it. You will note from the enclosed cut that he has somewhat varied the lines of the figures, but is nonetheless a copy, and I claim credit for whatever merit there may be in it. Very truly yours. Beck’s letter was forwarded for comment to the Commission of Fine Arts, and prompted the following reply, on October 17, from Fraser: My dear Mr. Moore: Very likely you will recall our conversation in regard to the Monroe Doctrine coin. When I saw the preliminary idea, viz. the maps of the Western Hemisphere, I mentioned the fact that they seemed flat and did not seem to convey the idea of richness which I thought would be better, and suggested the use of figures to represent the continents. I spoke to Mr. Beach about it and he carried out the suggestion, but as a matter of fact, I did not think there was anything particularly new or original in using symbolic figures of continents, winds, places, etc. At any rate, I had never seen Mr. Beck’s suggestion until the design was sent to me by the Director of the Mint. Faithfully yours.”[B]11[/B] [B]11 [B][I]An Illustrated History of Commemorative Coinage[/I], Don Taxay, ARCO Press, New York City, 1967, p. 62, 63, 67, 68.[/B][/B][/QUOTE]
Your name or email address:
Do you already have an account?
No, create an account now.
Yes, my password is:
Forgot your password?
Stay logged in
Coin Talk
Home
Forums
>
Coin Forums
>
US Coins Forum
>
1923-S Monroe Doctrine Half Dollar
>
Home
Home
Quick Links
Search Forums
Recent Activity
Recent Posts
Forums
Forums
Quick Links
Search Forums
Recent Posts
Competitions
Competitions
Quick Links
Competition Index
Rules, Terms & Conditions
Gallery
Gallery
Quick Links
Search Media
New Media
Showcase
Showcase
Quick Links
Search Items
Most Active Members
New Items
Directory
Directory
Quick Links
Directory Home
New Listings
Members
Members
Quick Links
Notable Members
Current Visitors
Recent Activity
New Profile Posts
Sponsors
Menu
Search
Search titles only
Posted by Member:
Separate names with a comma.
Newer Than:
Search this thread only
Search this forum only
Display results as threads
Useful Searches
Recent Posts
More...