Cleveland Centennial – Great Lakes Expo – 1936

Learn About the 1936 Cleveland Centennial – Great Lakes Expo

1936 was shaping up to be an important year for the city of Cleveland. The city would celebrate the 100^th Anniversary of its founding by Moses Cleaveland and it would also host the Great Lakes Exposition. Like other locales having a major celebration, they, too, wanted a commemorative half dollar to help defray some of the expenses of honoring the city and hosting the Exposition. The Cleveland Centennial Committee was formed to manage the celebrations and to manage the distribution of the coins.

A bill was written authorizing a coin honoring both events and it passed through Congress and was signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt. But because so many coinage bills were authorized in 1936 and a majority of them passed Congress, amendments were not unusual. The amended bill required the Committee to purchase a minimum of 25,000 coins at one time. This would ensure that it would not be a low mintage (5,000 coins) issue.

The Committee engaged Brenda Putnam, a well-known and accomplished sculptor, to design the coin. The obverse depicts a portrait of Moses Cleaveland, facing left. Surmounting the portrait are the words “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” the word “LIBERTY” and 3 5-pointed stars are joined by the founder’s name “MOSES CLEAVELAND.” The bottom periphery has the denomination “HALF DOLLAR.”

The reverse of the coin displays a central vignette of the five Great Lakes and a large compass, the point of which is on a five-pointed star that represents the city of Cleveland. The other eight major Great Lakes cities that are represented by smaller stars are Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo, Toronto, Duluth, Milwaukee, Toledo, and Rochester. Around the periphery are: “GREAT LAKES EXPOSITION – 1836 CLEVELAND CENTENNIAL – 1936” and “IN GOD WE TRUST” and “E PLURIBUS UNUM” are in the open fields.

Cincinnati businessman, Thomas G. Melish, became the sole distributor of the Cleveland Centennial commemorative half dollar. Melish distributed the coins through the exposition, at local banks across Cleveland, and by mail order from his office. Sales were good, and the full authorized mintage of 50,000 was struck.

As treasurer of the Cleveland Centennial Committee, Melish ordered 25,000 pieces in July 1936. They were shipped from the Philadelphia Mint. At Melish’s direction, the Philadelphia Mint was instructed to place the first 201 struck into individually numbered envelopes; these were later placed in special cardboard holders, the first by itself and each two thereafter together, with a notarized statement.

The Great Lakes Exposition opened on June 27, 1936, and before it closed approximately four million people passed through its gates. The coins were sold at the fairgrounds, at Ohio banks, and by mail order from Melish.

Melish sent form letters to collectors warning that his committee had received offers from speculators to buy the entire issue and suggesting they act quickly to get their orders in. By the end of July, Melish wrote that 24,000 pieces had been distributed and that the remaining thousand soon would be. Sales were good strong enough that Melish ordered the 25,000 pieces which remained from the authorized quantity.

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