Q. David Bowers
"In 1936 [Arkansas] coined 10,000 from each of the mints. Then it seems they had some difficulty in selling them all, according to the wording of their advertisements, and so they reduced their price to $1.50 from $2. After these were coined, a bill to authorize three new reverses was introduced, which would have meant nine more coins. Fortunately it was amended to only one new reverse [the 1936 Robinson-Arkansas issue]. Twenty-five thousand of these were coined, and distributed only by a New York dealer [Stack's] who set the price at $1.85 plus postage, whereas the commission only charged $1.50. And now, notices are being sent out by this same dealer that they will have shortly a 5,000 set issue from the three mints of 1937. And they have set the price at $8.75. At the same time this coin dealer advertises 'Exclusive distributors of the Arkansas half dollars.' ... The authorization is for 500,000 coins and they can go on until that number is minted unless we repeal the law.
"Thus in the above-mentioned cases, instead of only 4 coins, 36 were issued and only 667,250 out of an authorized 8,650,000. There is nothing to prevent them from issuing the balance of nearly 8,000,000 unless we repeal the laws. Is Congress going to sit quiet and let this racket continue? The commissions are probably out of existence, the celebrations have been held, but there was nothing in the law to prevent the turning over of the additional number to coin dealers who are working the racket and reaping a harvest.
"In 1935 a Hudson, N.Y. issue was authorized for 10,000 pieces. Coined in June 1935, delivered to the commission on June 28, and all sold out July 2 with their advertisement appearing about July 6. They were sold to dealers in large blocks, and it is whispered that one New York dealer [Julius Guttag] secured the most of them. The price was immediately raised by these dealers. The original price was $1; the present price, $7.50.
"Providence, R.I. authorized the coinage of 50,000. Surely this appears plenty for all who wanted them. Yet they were never advertised for sale by the original commission. There was a description of the coin published in [The Numismatist] February of 1936. At the time there was an advertisement by a shop [Horace M. Grant's] in Providence offering to secure the coins for the collectors at $1.50, al-though the collectors who had already written to the commission were informed that they would be available at $1 each. The commission began accepting money from collectors as early as November of 1935. They coined 20,000 from the Philadelphia Mint and 15,000 from each of the branch mints. Then in April it was announced they had sold out in six hours. The astonishing part of it is in the entire state of Rhode Island there were only five members of the American Numismatic Association, which is the largest organization of coin collectors in the United States.
"Where did all the coins go? This Providence dealer immediately raised his price to $7.50 a set, and the next month raised it to $9. He admitted securing 11,500 for orders that he had, then later offered 50 sets to trade and 25 to sell, and I have seen a letter over his signature wherein he admits selling another 500 sets to dealers. A set is two coins [actually three in the instance of Rhode Island coins; one from each mint], one to show the face, the other the back. Here is what happened to the collectors. The commission accepted their money. Then, after all were sold, sent most collectors back their money, saying that they had sold them all to natives, but the money sent back was not the original money orders and checks sent in, but checks from the commission drawn on a Providence national bank. Was the coin collectors' money used to send to the mint to get the coins? I have seen a letter where this commission admits selling a dealer a greater number than was allotted to others, due to the fear that they would be unable to sell the entire 50,000. In December, the Providence dealer criticizes the Columbia, S.C. commission for not properly distributing a small issue. (A reference to dealer Horace M. Grant, who certainly did not have clean hands in the commemorative situation in 1936; the Grant involvement is discussed in the present text under the 1936 Columbia issue.)
"This Columbia, S.C., issue was coined in November to celebrate a one-day exposition held in the previous January. (Actually, the celebration was a week long and was held in March 1936.) The Columbia, S.C., sets, original price $6.45, now $15. Last year the Cincinnati committee had 5,000 coins minted from each mint, or 15,000 in all. What was the result? You have three issues, and a half dollar of anyone of the issues now brings $11.95. The San Diego issue was authorized for 250,000 in 1935. The commission minted 250,000 at San Francisco in 1935 and returned 180,000 to be melted, and in 1936 minted 180,000 at Denver Mint, returning 150,000 to be melted. The price was changed three times. Originally it was $150 for each half dollar, and now the coins are selling for $3 each. After the facts were presented to the committee it was the opinion of the members the repeal of the old laws was justified."
The Act of August 5, 1939
By this time the commemorative situation had gone from the sublime to the ridiculous, and Congress stepped in by passing an act on August 5, 1939, which prohibited the further coinage or release from Treasury stocks of commemoratives authorized prior to March 1, 1939. The prime offenders had been the promoters of the long-lived Arkansas, Boone, Oregon Trail, and Texas issues, but the observation of unimportant local happenings and anniversaries on nationally distributed coins weighed against the continuation of other commemoratives as well. Commemoratives of the 1930s ended not with a bang but with a whimper, and the only issues dated in the last year were the 1939 Arkansas and Oregon Trail sets, distributed to the extent of just 2,100 and 3,000 sets respectively.
The World War II Era
With the involvement of America in World War II, beginning in 1941 and continuing through 1945, citizens turned to other endeavors, and commemoratives were largely forgotten. The market for existing commemoratives continued its drift downward, which had begun in late summer 1936 when the boom peaked, which touched bottom around 1940-41. After that point supply equaled demand, most speculators had sold out, and market levels reflected what collectors were willing to pay.
Apart from commemoratives the coin collecting hobby was alive and well after the commemorative bust in late summer 1936. The remaining years of the 1930s saw expanded distribution of Wayte Raymond's National coin albums and his popular Standard Catalogue, whereas even more important was the large-scale entry into numismatics of the Whitman Publishing Company with distribution at first of cardboard panels for popular series followed by the Handbook of United States Coins (a list of dealers' buying prices) in 1941. In the meantime dealer B. Max Mehl was busy in Fort Worth, Texas selling hundreds of thousands of copies of his Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia to American citizens who heard his radio commercials or read his printed advertisements and who dreamed of finding a rare 1913 Liberty Head nickel or other treasure in pocket change. Many Encyclopedia purchasers went on to become numismatists.