1936 50C Elgin MS65 Certification #08334997, PCGS #9303

David Hall

The Elgin was one of the many commemoratives struck in the 1934-1939 "commemorative boom" era. The original mintage for the Elgin was 25,015 coins. The entire mintage was well distributed at the original issue price of $1.75. Today, Elgins are fairly easily obtained as most of the original mintage was saved and the majority of the survivors grade in the MS63 to MS67 range. Of the coins of this period with similar mintages, the Elgin is not as rare as the Robinson, Connecticut, Lynchburg, Maryland, Gettysberg, Albany, New Rochelle, or Antietam. It is similar in rarity to the Roanoke, and rarer than the Norfolk, Wisconsin, and York.

The design of the Elgin is pretty flat, so marks and abraisions are commonplace. But a good number of relatively mark-free Gems do exist, so with a little patience you'll have no trouble at all finding a Gem for your collection. The typical Elgin has white frosty luster that looks a little matte-like. There are of course Elgins with varying degrees of toning.