Old Spanish Trail half dollar

Old Spanish Trail half dollar

United States
Value	50 cents (0.50 US dollars)
Mass	12.5 g
Diameter	30.61 mm (1.20 in)
Thickness	2.15 mm (0.08 in)
Edge	Reeded
Composition	90.0% silver 10.0% copper
Silver	0.36169 troy oz
Years of minting	1935
Mintage	10,000 with 8 pieces for the Assay Commission
Mint marks	None, all pieces struck at the Philadelphia Mint without mint mark
Obverse
Design	The head of a cow
Designer	L. W. Hoffecker
Design date	1935
Reverse
Design	Yucca plant superimposed on map of the Gulf Coast states.
Designer	L. W. Hoffecker
Design date	1935

The Old Spanish Trail half dollar is a commemorative coin struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1935. The coin was designed by L. W. Hoffecker, a coin dealer, who also was in charge of its distribution.

In 1930, President Herbert Hoover vetoed the Gadsden Purchase half dollar bill. Hoffecker had been the moving force behind that effort, and he sought another commemorative coin proposal that he could control if authorizing legislation was passed. He chose the travels of Spanish officer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in the early 16th century. Hoffecker took liberties both with the timing of Cabeza de Vaca's travels and their location. For instance, although Hoffecker's hometown of El Paso, Texas, is featured on the coin, Cabeza de Vaca came nowhere near it. All this made little difference to Congress, which passed the Old Spanish Trail coin bill without opposition. It was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Once they were struck, Hoffecker purchased the coins from the government and sold them to collectors, ostensibly on behalf of the local museum, but in fact for his personal profit, something he later denied in testimony before Congress. There were no complaints about the distribution printed in the pages of The Numismatist (a journal on coin collecting) and Hoffecker went on to the presidency of the American Numismatic Association in 1939. Hoffecker's design for the coin, featuring the head of a cow, has brought mixed reviews from numismatic commentators. The fact that only 10,000 of the half dollars were struck has made them prized among those seeking to complete a "type set" of early commemorative coins—that is, one coin of each different design.