50 Cents - Hudson Champlain Celebrations

Issued by the Greater Albany Chamber of Commerce to mark the 1959 Hudson-Champlain Celebration, which commemorated the 350th anniversary of Henry Hudson's 1609 voyage up the river bearing his name and Samuel de Champlain's exploration of the lake to the north in the same year. These civic so-called dollars — technically fractional scrip pieces like this 50-cent denomination — were sold to the public as souvenirs and used as local trade currency during the festivities, a fundraising mechanism that Albany-area chambers had employed since at least the 1930s.