Modern Commemoratives

Collectors had been asking for the resumption of commemorative coins for so many years that most in the hobby believed the subject to be hopeless. The long series of commemorative coins, mostly half dollars, had begun in 1892 and came to a quiet end in 1954. Then on December 23, 1981 Congress did something it hadn’t done in more than thirty years—it approved a new issue of commemorative coins. The silver half dollar honoring the 250th anniversary of George Washington’s birth was to be coined in 1982, the first purely commemorative coin minted by the United States since 1954 and the first new design since 1951.

Much of the energy driving the market for the modern commemorative coins struck since 1982 may be attributed to the popularity of certified registry collecting. The major grading services permit collectors to register their coins as part of either specific or customized sets, the former being scored and placed in competition against the same sets registered by other collectors. Scored for their relative rarity in each grade, the coins are thus desired by collectors in the highest grades available.

• • Years Minted: 1982-Date