The 500th Anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ Birth
The very first commemorative coins struck by the United States Mint were 1892 and 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition Half Dollars. The coins were struck to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the landing of Columbus. The coins were not purchased in quantities near their authorized amounts but the coins have been popular with collectors for more than 125 years.
As the 500th anniversary of that same event was approaching in 1992, there would be no major World’s Fair or Exposition to honor this same event, but there were celebrations nonetheless and there would be coins as well. Congress approved and authorized a three-coin set to honor the 500th-anniversary celebration – a clad Half Dollar, a Silver Dollar and a $5 Gold coin.
The new coins focused on Columbus but also more on his “discovery”. The obverse of the clad Half Dollar Columbus and a small party landing in the New World. Behind him is Columbus’ flagship the Santa Maria. On the ground is inscribed “IN GOD WE TRUST” and the dates “1492” and “1992.” The upper periphery has the word “LIBERTY.”
The reverse of the clad Half Dollar depicts all three of Columbus’ ships – the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria in full sail in an inner circle along with the words “500th ANNIVERSARY OF COLUMBUS’ DISCOVERY.” The outer perimeter has “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA in the upper periphery and “HALF DOLLAR” in the lower periphery. Both the obverse and the reverse designs were created by US Mint sculptor T. James Ferrell.
Although Six Million coins were authorized, a backlash against Columbus “discovering” lands already inhabited by native peoples. Less than 10% of the authorized mintage was struck and sold between both the Uncirculated and Proof versions of this clad Half Dollar.
The Proof version sold nearly three times the number of Uncirculated coins.
The Silver Dollar commemorative coin issued for the Quincentenary of Christopher Columbus did only slightly better, exceeding 10% of the 4 million coins authorized.
The obverse of the coin depicted a full figure of Columbus, holding a banner in his right hand and there is a world globe behind him. There are ships and land in the background. To the left is “LIBERTY” and to the right is “IN GOD WE TRUST” and the date “1992” is below it. The lower periphery is inscribed with “COLUMBUS QUINCENTENARY”. It was designed by US Mint Sculptor John Mercanti.
The reverse design is unusual in that it is two half-images next to one another. On the left is a partial Santa Maria ship at sea and on the right is half of the Space Shuttle Discovery, with the moon high in the sky – intended to display a contrast between exploration periods spanning 500 years. The denomination “ONE DOLLAR” is to the right and below it is inscribed “E PLURIBUS UNUM.” The upper periphery has “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” and the lower periphery has both dates “1492” and “1992”. This reverse design was the brainchild of Thomas D. Rogers.
The Uncirculated Silver Dollar was struck at the Denver Mint and bears a “D” mintmark, while the Proof version was struck at the Philadelphia Mint and bears a “P” mintmark.
The maximum authorized mintage was 4 million coins with nearly 500 thousand Uncirculated and Proof coins combined sold.
Completing the set of authorized coins for the Christopher Columbus Quincentenary was a $5.00 Gold coin.
The obverse of this $5.00 gold coin is an inner ring inside of which is a profile of Christopher Columbus, facing left (towards a New World, from the European perspective), with an outline of both North and South America behind his image. The only lettering inside this ring is his name “CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS”. The outer ring has “LIBERTY” at the top, “IN GOD WE TRUST” at the bottom, and is separated by both dates “1492” and “1992”. It was designed by T. James Ferrell.
The reverse depicts the “Crest of the Admiral of the Ocean Sea” as was the title awarded to Columbus. Behind the Crest is a map of the Old World and the date “1492”, with a compass on the map. Above the Crest and map are the words “E PLURIBUS UNUM” and around the upper periphery is “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” and on the lower periphery is the denomination “FIVE DOLLARS”. It was designed by Thomas D. Rogers.
Both the Uncirculated and Proof versions were struck at the West Point minting facility and both bear the “W” mintmark. Although Congress authorized up to 1 million gold coins to be struck, the Mint sold less than 100,000 coins among both the Uncirculated and Proof versions combined.
The set of six coins, two of each design and denomination, an Uncirculated and a Proof, were offered individually, a 2-coin set of the Uncirculated clad Half Dollar and an Uncirculated Silver Dollar, a 2-coin set of the Proof clad Half Dollar and a Proof Silver Dollar, a 3-coin set of Uncirculated Clad Half Dollar, Uncirculated Silver Dollar and Uncirculated $5.00 Gold.
Additionally, a 3-coin set of a Proof Clad Half Dollar, a Proof Silver Dollar and a Proof $5.00 Gold coin, as well as a complete set of one each of the Uncirculated and Proof examples of each of the three denominations.
| Date | Mintmark | Denomination | Type | Mintage | Value |
| 1992 | D | Clad Half Dollar | Uncirculated | 135,702 | $15 |
| 1992 | S | Clad Half Dollar | Proof | 390,154 | $15 |
| 1992 | D | Silver Dollar | Uncirculated | 106,949 | $50 |
| 1992 | P | Silver Dollar | Proof | 385,241 | $50 |
| 1992 | W | $5 Gold | Uncirculated | 24,329 | $550 |
| 1992 | W | $5 Gold | Proof | 79,730 | $550 |
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