Today, the U.S. mint issues commemorative coins on a regular basis. At the mints in West Point and San Francisco silver proofs, gold proofs, and proof and mint sets are cut and stamped to perfection for a fresh wave of collectors inspired by the State Quarter program, and the Walking Liberty silver dollars. Like many other "firsts" introduced at the Columbian Exposition, the Columbus half dollar was the original, government struck, commemorative coin. Unlike the thousands of tokens and "so called" dollars, and medals produced for the fair by third-parth entrepreneurs, the Columbus half was legal tender, a spendable half dollar.

The fair's run stretched from 1892 into 1893, and there were two mintings of the Columbus Half, the original in 1892, and the second in '93. The coins from each minting were identical save for the date years stamped along the bottoms of the reverses. The total for both mintages was around 2 million, with an additional 100 brilliant proofs struck for each date. C.E. Barber, famous for the "Barber" series of coin designs used in the 19th century, engraved the obverse bust of Columbus, and G.T. Morgan engraved the reverse, which displayed a likeness of Columbus' flagship, the Santa Maria, above two hemispheres.

In this section you will find both graded and raw halfs in a wide range of prices. We will offer an opinion of the quality on the raw coins, but each example should be decided on by its photo and any discriptive comments on its condition.

Ungraded gray-toned example with darker toning around the rim on both obverse and reverse. No major problems. Nice! 1892

VF

$25.00, plus $4 S/H.

ANACS GRADED AU

High grade example with a touch of rim toning front and back!           1893

AU 50

$80.00, plus $4 S/H.

Unform color obverse and reverse. 1893

EF

$29.00, plus $4 S/H.

Coin shows a bit darker than the photo. No Problems!

VF

$25.00, plus $4 S/H.

NNC Graded

An Uncirculated example with a faint touch of rim gold.

1893

MS 63

$129.00, plus $4 S/H.