Rovelstad’s Work to Celebrate Elgin’s 100th Anniversary
1936 was the year when the people of Elgin, Illinois, planned to celebrate their city’s centennial. Like other groups in the 1930s, they had hoped a commemorative coin would help defray the expenses of the celebration. They also wanted to raise funds to erect a monument to the pioneers who originally settled Elgin.
Trygve A. Rovelstad was a local sculptor and a trained artist with prior commissioned work, and he had watched other cities get commemorative coins authorized. So in 1935, Rovelstad himself actively lobbied for the coin and worked through Illinois congressional representatives. It stalled in Congress until 1936. In the interim, Texas Coin Dealer, Lyman W. Hoffecker, reached out to the Elgin Centennial Monumental Committee with some helpful tips on how to garner support for the legislation in Congress and how to make the minting and issuance of these coins a success. Hoffecker had successfully designed and handled the distribution of the 1935 Old Spanish Trail Half Dollar just a year earlier.
The bill passed Congress, but it was amended to authorize 25,000 coins all dated 1936 to be struck at a single mint to prevent multiple dates and mintmarks. Hoffecker served as the exclusive distributor, selling the coins on behalf of the Elgin Centennial Monumental Committee.
1936 Elgin Illinois Centennial Silver Half Dollar Design Details
Rovelstad designed the obverse and reverse of this coin. The obverse of the 1936 Elgin Illinois Centennial Silver Half Dollar depicts the head of a bearded Pioneer, in profile, facing left. The word “PIONEER” is on the upper periphery above his head. His neck breaks up the motto “IN GOD WE TRUST.” Below the bust are the dates “1673” and “1936.”
The reverse depicts a group of pioneers, including a mother with a baby in her arms. This was the statue that Rovelstad wanted to create and place in Elgin. “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” adorned the upper periphery. Under the base on which the group stood were “E PLURIBUS UNUM” and the denomination “HALF DOLLAR.” On the left side was “PIONEER MEMORIAL” in two lines, and on the right was “ELGIN, ILLINOIS” also in two lines.
Distribution Details
Hoffecker was able to sell 20,000 of the 25,000 coins struck, and were sent in envelopes. The unsold coins were returned to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. These coins were initially offered at $1.50, then $1.35, and later at $1.25.
Rovelstad used the proceeds from the sale of commemorative half dollars to continue his work on the Pioneer statuary group. He attempted to secure federal funding to complete the grouping but was ultimately unsuccessful. A friend of Rovelstad established a foundation to raise money, and many people in Elgin donated to the group, ultimately raising more than enough to complete Rovelstad’s dream.
Although Trygve A. Rovelstad died in 1990, the statue was completed in his honor in 2001 and stands today in Elgin, Illinois. Find this coin and others to add to your collection of U.S. classic silver commemorative coins today.
