Hudson (NY) Sesquicentennial – 1935

Honoring 150 Years of Hudson and a Unique City Seal

The relatively small city of Hudson, New York, with 14,000 residents, was going to celebrate the Sesquicentennial of its incorporation in 1935. The city was named after the English explorer Henry Hudson, but Hudson had nothing to do with the founding of the city in 1785. Like numerous other celebrations during the mid-1930s, this legislation went through Congress with minor opposition and was later signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt, becoming the Act of May 2, 1935.

The Hudson Sesquicentennial Committee needed to choose a designer and the design was to display Henry Hudson’s portrait on one side and the City Seal on the other.  But since no portrait of Hudson was known, the Committee decided that a representation of Hudson’s ship, the Half Moon, would be appropriate.

Sculptor Chester Beach, who had already designed the 1923-S Monroe Doctrine Centennial and the 1925 Lexington-Concord Commemorative Half Dollars, was selected to design the Hudson Sesquicentennial Half Dollar.

Beach selected a rendition of Henry Hudson’s flagship, the Half Moon, sailing to the right, below a stylized Crescent moon.   Above the ship was “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” in the periphery and just below it was “IN GOD WE TRUST.” Below the ship was the denomination “HALF DOLLAR.”

The reverse displayed the unusual seal of the City of Hudson, NH which encompasses the mythical King Neptune, riding backward on a whale, while a mermaid blows a conch shell. It is a strange design, to say the least. At the top periphery is “CITY OF HUDSON, N.Y.” Below that is a long ribbon on which is the Latin Phrase “ET DECUS ET PRETIUM RECTI” which translates to “Both the honor and the reward of the righteous.” Below the scene are “E PLURIBUS UNUM” and the dates “1785 – 1935.”

Original legislation sought to have 6,000 authorized but before the legislation was passed that was increased to 10,000 coins. A total of 10,008 coins were struck at the Philadelphia Mint, all of which were struck in one day and shipped to the Hudson Sesquicentennial Committee.

While that was a low authorized mintage, it piqued collector interest. But collectors were widely disappointed that the Committee handling the distribution sold nearly all of it to dealers. With 7,500 coins going to one dealer and 1,000 to another, the Committee generated the profits it sought for its celebration, but the fact that less than 1,500 coins were left for collectors to purchase angered the collecting public. And, as expected, prices rose quickly and dramatically.

It remains as one of the scarcer commemorative half-dollar coins minted in the 1930s.

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