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1925 Stone Mountain Memorial Half Dollar

 

 1925 Stone Mountain Obverse       1925 Stone Mountain Reverse

 

Click the images above for enhanced view.

Purpose:

 

To fund the completion of the Stone Mountain Memorial and in memory of the recently deceased president, Warren Harding.

 

Maximum Number Authorized: 5,000,000 pieces.

 

Sale Price: $1.00

 

Designs:

 

    Obverse – Gutzon Borglum

Equestrian figures of General Robert E. Lee and General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. General Jackson is facing the viewer. There are 13 stars in the upper field and the words “STONE MOUNTAIN” in the lower left field above the date. The designer’s initials are found near the horse’s tail.

 

Online Resource: https://www.stonemountainpark.com/Activities/History-Nature/Confederate-Memorial-Carving

 

   Reverse – Gutzon Borglum

An eagle perched on a mountain precipice with wings outstretched. In the left field appear the words “MEMORIAL TO THE VALOR OF THE SOLDIER OF THE SOUTH.” There are 35 faint stars throughout the field.   

 

Popularity:

 

Of the 5,000,000 half dollars authorized, 2,310,000 coins were minted for sale. Approximately 1,310,000 sold and the remaining 1,000,000 were returned to be melted.

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Trivia:

 

  • Recently deceased President Warren Harding was to be memorialized on the coin, but no portrait reference to him appears.

  • The first 1,000 half dollars were minted at the Philadelphia Mint on January 21, 1925, the 101st anniversary of Stonewall Jackson’s birth.

  • A public presentation was planned by the Stone Mountain Confederate Monumental Association, giving the first coin minted to President Calvin Coolidge. The White House declined the presentation due to the controversial subject on the coin.

  • Work on the Stone Mountain Memorial began in 1923. The project was not completed until 1970.

  • After a dispute, Gutzon Borglum abandoned the Stone Mountain Memorial project and soon began work on the memorial at Mount Rushmore. 

For more information:

 

Encyclopedia of the Commemorative Coins of the United States by Anthony J. Swiatek 

KWS Publishers (2012)

 

Commemorative Coins of the United States Identification and Price Guide by Anthony J. Swiatek

Amos Press Publishers (2001)

 

Carved in Stone The History of Stone Mountain by David B. Freeman

Published by Mercer University Press (1997)

 

References:

 

Encyclopedia of the Commemorative Coins of the United States by Anthony J. Swiatek

KWS Publishers (2012)

 

The Encyclopedia of United States Silver & Gold Commemorative Coins 1892 to 1954 by Anthony Swiatek and Walter Breen

 

Arco Publishing, Inc. (1981)

 

 

 
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