Q. David Bowers
Collecting Stone Mountain Memorial Halves
From the time of issue onward, 1925 Stone Mountain Memorial commemorative half dollars have been plentiful on the collectors' market. B. Max Mehl commented on the issue over a decade later in 1937: "I well recall the extensive campaign made throughout the South, and I believe that there are quite a few hoards of these coins in the hands of patriotic Southerners. At any rate this coin has one distinction, which will probably never be equalled by any other issue of commemorative, in that it is today and will ever be the least rare of our commemorative half dollars-with the possible exception of the 1893 Columbian."
As recently as the 1970s the Stone Mountain Memorial and the 1892-1893 Columbian Exposition issues were the least expensive coins in the early commemorative half dollar series (issues made prior to the 1930s). Today examples are still plentiful. Stone Mountain Memorial half dollars are readily obtainable in all grades from about EF-40 to Mint State including MS-64 and MS-65, although the higher grade levels are somewhat scarcer. Most surviving coins fall into the grade range of AU-55 to MS-63. A number of hoards and groups were set aside at the time of issue, and occasionally these come on the market.
Despite the controversies that the Stone Mountain Memorial half dollar engendered
in its time, today most collectors consider the design to be attractive. Certainly there has been no lack of popularity of Stone Mountain half dollars among numismatists.
GRADING SUMMARY: Check the high points of the figures of the generals on the obverse and the eagle's breast on the reverse for friction and/or evidence of contact marks. The typical coin has very lustrous and frosty surfaces, although the reverse field may be somewhat satiny.
Commemorating: The work being done to carve a memorial to the soldiers of the South on Stone Mountain, and the memory of Warren G. Harding
Obverse motif: Generals Lee and Jackson on horseback
Reverse motif: Eagle perched on cliff
Authorization date: March 17, 1924
Date on coins: 1925
Date when coins were actually minted: 1925
Mint used: Philadelphia
Maximum quantity authorized: 5,000,000
Total quantity minted (including assay coins): 2,314,709
Assay coins (included in above): 4,709
Quantity melted: 1,000,000
Net number distributed (including assay coins): 1,314,709
Issued by: Stone Mountain Confederate Monumental Association through many outlets
Standard original packaging: Various holders were used by the Association, all of which are rare today. Included are the following: wooden box, similar to that used for Lexington Concord halves, but with a 15/16" silver and blue star on the sliding cover;
Christmas card printed on heavy stock, with coin insert, depicting the "Gigantic Stone Mountain Memorial Frieze" and Augustus Lukeman, this issued in an envelope; five-coin insert-type cardboard holder; the first 1,000 coins produced in a ceremonial striking were placed in sequentially numbered paper envelopes (see text); in addition there were many unofficial boxes and holders issued by various banks, businesses, and others.
Official sale price: $1
Designer of obverse and reverse: Gutzon Borglum
Interesting facts: The memory of Harding, mentioned in the original legislation, was not mentioned on the coin; the vast quantity of 5,000,000 authorized was the largest since the Columbian Exposition coins of 1892-1893.
(average market prices)
1930 MS-63 85¢
1935 MS-63 $1
1936 (summer) MS-63 $1
1940 MS-63 75¢
1945 MS-63 $1.25
1950 MS-63 $1.25
1955 MS-63 $2.50
1960 MS-63 $4
1965 MS-63 $9
1970 MS-63 $12
1975 MS-63 $24
1980 MS-63 $95
1985 MS-63 $60
1986 MS-60 $50, MS-63 $125, MS-64 $340, MS-65 $750
1990 (spring) MS-60 $40 MS-63 $65, MS-64 $210, MS-65 $650
1990 (December) MS-60 $40, MS-63 $58, MS-64 $90, MS-65 $275
The Continuing Story of Commemoratives
If the aspirations of proponents of certain bills in Congress had been fulfilled, then numismatists would have had the opportunity to acquire such unusual commemorative coins as a group of two and one-half cent pieces individually honoring presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Warren G. Harding (bill of February 16, 1925), and/or a seven and one-half cent coin in Harding's memory (bill of May 27, 1925). As it was, by the end of 1925 a complete collection of United States commemorative coins embraced over a dozen half dollars plus over a dozen coins of other denominations.
There were no commercial albums or holders on the market to display such coins, a situation which definitely limited collector demand. It would only be a few years hence when M.L. Beistle of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, a manufacturer of cardboard boxes and paper goods, would devise album pages with celluloid slides and revolutionize the hobby. The technology was licensed to Wayte Raymond, who in the 1930s created his famous Raymond and National holders. The wide availability of such holders spurred commemorative collecting to new highs. However, that was a decade away from 1925, and at the time the Stone Mountain half dollars were issued the commemorative collecting scene was relatively tranquil.