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1925 Stone Mountain Half Dollar |
1925 Stone Mountain Memorial Half Dollar
Mintage 1,314,709
The U.S. Civil War was six decades removed, yet a residue of regional hostility remained. Thus, it seems surprising that Congress gave its blessing to the Stone Mountain half dollar, a coin issued to help finance the construction of a monument to “the valor of the soldier of the south.” The monument was to be a huge granite carving on the side of Stone Mountain in northwest Georgia. And the man who was directing that massive operation-sculptor Gutzon Borglum-also got the job of designing the coin. Borgium encountered resistance with both the granite carving and the coin, and though he completed the coin, he quit the main project at a fairly early stage. He's better remembered now for his carvings of four U.S. presidents on the side of Mount Rushmore. The Stone Mountain coin, like the monument itself, features a portrait of the two greatest military leaders of the Confederacy, Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, conferring while on horseback. Its reverse depicts an eagle along with an inscription paying homage to the soldiers of the South. Congress authorized an exceptionally large mintage of 5 million pieces. As things turned out, the Mint made slightly more than 2.3 million examples. And 1 million of those were melted, leaving a net mintage of 1,314,709. Even that, however, is a very high figure-one of the very highest in the series. Many thousands were spent for face value during the Depression, and the great majority encountered today are in circulated condition. Though gem examples are scarce, they're reasonably priced. This, plus its subject, has made the Stone Mountain half dollar a highly popular coin-both in this country and abroad. Value $28-$293 |
