Tracking American History with Commemorative Coins

Those interested in numismatics will know that the world of coins can be fascinating, fun, and profitable, too! For as long as human civilization has existed, some form of currency exchange has always been a part of it. Currency is a way to understand the society of the times, and how it might have worked. Modern and early American commemorative coins may not exactly be ancient, but they celebrate some of the most important instances in the journey of our country, and offer a wonderful insight into the history of the nation.

So let’s look at some of the most important commemorative coins in the USA and see if we can track some of America’s history with them.

The first commemorative coin in the US is often considered to be the coin that celebrated the discovery of gold in California. This 2 ½ dollar gold piece minted in 1848 has the word ‘CAL’ stamped on it to celebrate the Californian gold rush. The next commemorative coin is more widely accepted to be the first commemorative coin in US history.

This is the half dollar coin minted in 1892, for the Columbian exposition held in Chicago in 1893, which celebrated the anniversary of Columbus’s epic journey to North America. Ever since then, several important moments in the evolution of the nation are seen reflected in commemorative coins minted down the times.

For instance, in 1932 a commemorative coin celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of George Washington, known as the Washington Quarter was minted. This coin was made a regular issue design for a quarter later on, but in fact began by being minted as a special edition commemorative coin. The design of this truly epic coin founded the way for other modern American commemorative coins. It showed George Washington on horseback, with a grand view of the president’s iconic Mount Vernon home on the back side.
This coin was also circulated as a commemorative coin for the United States Bicentennial in the mid-1970’s, celebrating the events that led to the creation of the independent nation of the United States of America. 

Celebratory coins during the Bicentennial also included the Eisenhower Dollar and the Kennedy half Dollar. All the commemorative coins minted during the 1970’s United States Bicentennial were dated 1775 – 1976, which added a great sense of occasion to the coins. More recently, the State Quarters program began minting five commemorative coins every year – with each of the states in the order of admission to the union.

These are simply some examples of how commemorative coins track back the history of America and how they imbibe many relevant parts of the journey of the nation. Commemorative coin enthusiasts understand the fascination of putting together a chronological collection, or perhaps starting a collection of a single commemorative issue and charting its journey through the times. These coins are not only wonderful objects to own, but rare commemorative coins also make for a very sound investment.