Q. David Bowers
A "News" Article
The following account of the excitement that prevailed at the time of release of the coins, reprinted from an unnamed Rhode Island newspaper, was sent by Horace Grant to his customers in 1936, to promote the price of large numbers of unsold half dollars in his possession (although this reason was not stated):
"R.L Tercentenary Half Dollars Sold Out in Six Hours at $1 Each. Most of 45,000 Disposed of Before Noon in 30 Banks Throughout State.-Other 5,000 Held Out to Fill Advance Orders. Officials Astonished.
"Rhode Islanders flocked to banks in such numbers yesterday to buy souvenir Tercentenary half dollars-at $1 apiece that the entire available supply was exhausted within six hours, a preliminary checkup revealed last night. Approximately 45,000 of the congressionally authorized issue of 50,000 coins were disposed of in 30 banks throughout the state, most of them being sold before noon, according to Arthur L. Philbrick, who, as treasurer of the Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Tercentenary Committee, Inc., was in charge of the distribution.
"'The remainder of the issue, reserved to care for orders placed in advance, will not be placed on sale generally,' Mr. Philbrick said. In the absence of complete records from banks outside Providence, Mr. Philbrick could not say last night whether any coins remained unsold in any community where the demand may not have been as great as in other sections of the state. The Rhode Island Hospital National Bank, however, acting as the depository and banking distributor of the coins, had exhausted its supply and was unable to fill repeat orders from the other banks at noon yesterday, Mr. Philbrick reported.
"From the numismatic standpoint the Rhode Island half dollars are of exceptional value in that they probably will be the last special coins struck off in commemoration of any local or state observance. Following the passage of the bill, sponsored by United States Senator Jesse H. Metcalf, authorizing the minting of the Rhode Island half dollars, Congress adopted a law prohibiting the minting of any more coins of this nature. (A patently false statement! Many new commemorative issues were authorized after the Rhode Island coins.)
"Expressing astonishment that virtually the entire issue had been sold within a few hours, when it had been estimated that three months would be required to sell the 50,000 coins, Mr. Philbrick declared the sale one of the most encouraging features of the Tercentenary observance thus far, indicating, he said, 'a far greater interest in the celebration than anyone had suspected. We certainly didn't expect to see the whole issue snapped up in a few hours,' said Mr. Philbrick, 'particularly inasmuch as Connecticut, with a population twice that of Rhode Island, had 20,000 coins minted last year and after two months so many remained unsold that they were turned back to the Treasury and melted down for other coinage uses.' (Not true on two counts: (1) There were 25,018 Connecticut Tercentenary half dollars minted in 1935. (2) All were distributed.)
"Indications that the new Rhode Island half dollars will be selling at a premium in the very near future is seen by Mr. Philbrick in the fact that a Kansas collector advertised a month ago that the price of the pieces would be $4 each. It is not considered likely, however, Mr. Philbrick said, that the few thousand reserved coins will be sold at more than the established price of $1, although this point has not been decided. 'We placed the coins on general sale within Rhode Island before we filled mail orders,' said Mr. Philbrick, 'in order that native Rhode Islanders would have an opportunity to get them. Now we expect we will have to scale down advance orders we have received and accepted payment for. Persons who ordered and forwarded remittances for four, six, eight, or 10 coins will be given a smaller number, and the balance of their money returned, because we want to spread the distribution of the coins as widely as possible.'
"Before the coins went on sale yesterday morning, it had been planned to allow any one person to purchase any number of them up to 10. On Wednesday evening, however, it was apparent that the demand would be great, and the maximum was cut to three, and many banks, on their own initiative, limited the sale to but one coin to anyone person. The Rhode Island Hospital National Bank reserved only 680 coins for general sale in its own downtown rooms, where 20 people were waiting to purchase the pieces before the bank opened. The first purchaser was Ethelbert A. Rusden, 522 Angell Street. Less than an hour after the banks opened, the Hospital National Bank received calls for additional shipments. A Woonsocket bank wanted 100 more coins and did not get them. At the Industrial Trust Company, which had received 1,600 advance orders, an allotment of 4,800 coins was disposed of in a little more than three hours. Other banks reported similar experiences with eager buyers. It had been expected before the sale opened that three months would be required to sell all the coins.
"Collectors and others sought the coins, and many, before the one-to-a-customer rule was enforced, bought them in sets of three, one of each mintage. Twenty thousand of the coins were minted in Philadelphia, and 15,000 each at Denver and San Francisco, coins from the last two mints being distinguished by a tiny D or S on the half dollars. Coins from the Philadelphia Mint have no distinguishing letter. Mr. Philbrick last night expressed appreciation of the cooperation shown the Tercentenary group by Rhode Island banks in distributing the coins."
Hype such as this was widely criticized by the coin fraternity, especially after it was learned that favored insiders still had undistributed supplies of Rhode Island half dollars on hand.
Correspondence on the Subject
A letter from A.L. Philbrick, treasurer of the distributing commission, dated April 8, 1936, informed coin dealer Walter P. Nichols as follows:
"These coins were placed on sale in thirty Rhode Island banks in order to pro-vide a wide distribution. After this demand was satisfied, the Committee intended to comply with as many requests as possible outside of the state. However, almost the entire issue was sold in 48 hours, hence we had to reduce the number to be sent to any one person outside of the state, which explains the mailing to you of only one set of these coins. We regret very much indeed that we could not send you all the coins you desired. You may be able to secure a few more, but we cannot promise anything."
Correspondence from L.W. Hoffecker (distributor of the 1935 Old Spanish Trail and 1936 Elgin commemorative half dollars) to Walter P. Nichols (distributor of the 1936 York County half dollars), dated August 7, 1936, commented on the distribution of Rhode Island pieces as well as other matters:
"I received your kind letter this morning, and it is not any more than I expected from you, for I told my wife after your last letter that you wrote like a businessman, and I thought this issue [the York County half dollars] was going to be handled in a manner that was open and above-board.