Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1/2 Dollar Wisconsin Territorial Centennial
| Issuer | United States Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1936 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Coin alignment ↑↓ |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | At center, a muscular arm emerges from the left holding a pickaxe aloft above a horizontal badger burrow or mine entrance, with a pile of ore or earth to the right, referencing Wisconsin's early lead-mining heritage and its nickname 'The Badger State.' The circumferential legend WISCONSIN TERRITORIAL CENTENNIAL arcs around the upper field, while the lower field bears the inscriptions 4th DAY OF JULY / ANNO DOMINI / 1836 in three lines, commemorating the date Wisconsin was established as a territory. Two five-pointed stars flank the date 1936 along the lower rim, marking the centennial year of issue. The design is rendered in bold, high-relief sculptural style characteristic of American commemorative coinage of the 1930s. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Wisconsin's territorial centennial fell in 1936, a year Congress had already glutted with commemorative half dollar authorizations — Arkansas, Oregon Trail, Rhode Island, and others all competed for collector dollars simultaneously. The Wisconsin issue was organized by the Wisconsin Centennial Coin Committee and struck exclusively at Philadelphia, with a mintage of just over 25,000 pieces. Distribution was handled locally rather than through the usual numismatic syndicate channels, which kept prices closer to face value but also meant less aggressive promotion.
The single-mint, single-year issue avoided the artificial mintmark variants that plagued other 1930s commemoratives and drew congressional scrutiny toward the entire commemorative program.