Texas Centennial half dollar

Texas Centennial half dollar

United States
Value	50 cents (0.50 U.S. dollars)
Mass	12.5 g
Diameter	30.61 mm (1.20 in)
Thickness	2.15 mm (0.08 in)
Edge	Reeded
Composition	90.0% Ag 10.0% Cu
Silver	0.36169 troy oz
Years of minting	1934–1938
Mint marks	D, S. To the right of Victory's foot on the reverse. Philadelphia Mint coins struck without mint marks.
Obverse
Design	An eagle perched atop an oak branch in front of the Lone Star of Texas.
Designer	Pompeo Coppini
Reverse
Design	The goddess Victory spreading her wings over the Alamo. Portraits of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin embedded within clouds to the sides. The Six Flags of Texas fly above her head, alongside the banner "Liberty".
Designer	Pompeo Coppini

The Texas Centennial half dollar was a commemorative fifty-cent piece struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint for collectors from 1934 to 1938. It features an eagle and the Lone Star of Texas on the obverse, while the reverse is a complex scene incorporating the winged goddess Victory, the Alamo Mission, and portraits of Texan founding fathers Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin, together with the six flags over Texas. Proposed by the American Legion's Texas Centennial Committee as a fundraising measure for the 100th anniversary of Texas independence from Mexico, the coin's issue was approved by Congress in 1933, ending a multi-year pause on new commemorative issues under the Hoover administration. It was designed by sculptor Pompeo Coppini, previously the designer of several Texan public monuments. Rough models of the coin were approved by the committee in May 1934, but rejected by the United States Commission of Fine Arts, who viewed the design as crowded and overly-complicated. A compromise was reached, and the coin entered production at the Philadelphia Mint in October 1934.

The Centennial Committee intended the coins to help finance the Texas Memorial Museum in Austin, and vended them through the American Legion and banks across Texas. The vast majority of this initial, 1934-dated, issue went unsold and was sent back to the Mint to be melted down for its silver. Smaller issues were produced at the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco mints for the next four years, even beyond the centennial itself in 1936. The Texas Centennial Committee ceased sales of the coin in November 1938. Despite their relative lack of sales, the issue has proven popular with collectors, and have gradually appreciated in value.