Honoring Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver
The George Washington Carver National Monument Foundation, after the success of the Booker T. Washington commemorative half dollar, wanted a commemorative half dollar that honored both Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver. One of the other reasons for creating another commemorative coin was to oppose the spread of Communism among the African-American community.
They gathered strong support for introducing a bill. On September 21, 1951, the legislation passed both houses of Congress and was signed into law by President Truman. It was unusual in that the bill authorized a maximum mintage of 3,415,631 coins, which took into consideration the 1,834,000 un-minted Booker T Washington half dollars.
Like the Booker T. Washington coin, the Booker T. Washington – George Washington Carver commemorative half dollar was designed by Isaac Scott Hathaway. The obverse of the coin had its conjoined busts facing right. There are two concentric circles of text around the busts. The inner-circle states “GEORGE W. CARVER – LIBERTY – BOOKER T. WASHINGTON – HALF DOLLAR.” The outer ring states “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – E PLURIBUS UNUM – IN GOD WE TRUST.”
The reverse design has an outline of the continental United States with “U. S. A. “superimposed across the country. Around the periphery is “FREEDOM AND OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL – AMERICANISM.”
While the series was struck for four years (1951 through 1954), the coins were generally sold in 3-coin P-D-S sets. The 1951-P, 1952-P, 1953-S and 1954-S coins were struck in sufficient quantities so sales of single coins were made. The sets were popular and started at $9 per set and eventually the price was raised to $12 per set.
But by now, having started in 1892, the demand by the public for yet another commemorative half dollar had waned. The coins sold slowly and the coins held by a number of banks were sold to speculators at $.10 over face value!
The coins sold as singles were usually delivered in preprinted paper holders.
| Date | Type | Mintage | AU Value | Unc Value |
| 1951 | Washington-Carver | 20,018 | $25 | $150 |
| 1951-D | Washington-Carver | 10,004 | $25 | $150 |
| 1951-S | Washington-Carver | 10,004 | $25 | $150 |
| 1952 | Washington-Carver | 1,106,292 | $30 | $100 |
| 1952-D | Washington-Carver | 8,006 | $30 | $100 |
| 1952-S | Washington-Carver | 8,006 | $30 | $100 |
| 1953 | Washington-Carver | 8,003 | $40 | $125 |
| 1953-D | Washington-Carver | 8,003 | $40 | $125 |
| Date | Type | Mintage | AU Value | Unc Value |
| 1953-S | Washington-Carver | 88,020 | $40 | $125 |
| 1954 | Washington-Carver | 12,006 | $30 | $100 |
| 1954-D | Washington-Carver | 12,006 | $30 | $100 |
| 1954-S | Washington-Carver | 42,024 | $30 | $100 |
Take advantage of the opportunity to shop our collection of rare coins.
