The Hudson Sesquicentennial half dollar is a fifty-cent piece struck by the United States Bureau

of the Mint in 1935 as a commemorative coin. The coin was designed by Chester Beach.
Its obverse depicts the Half Moon, flagship of Henry Hudson, after whom the city of Hudson is
named. In addition to showing the ship, the coin displays a version of the Hudson city seal,
with Neptune riding a whale, a design that has drawn commentary. Although the city of Hudson was
a relatively small municipality, legislation to issue a coin in honor of its 150th anniversary went
through Congress without opposition and was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, becoming
the Act of May 2, 1935. Most of the coins were likely bought by coin dealers, leaving few for
collectors, with the result that prices spiked from the $1 cost at the time of issue. This caused
collector anger, but did not lower the coin's value, which has continued to increase in the 80-plus
years since it was struck. (Full article...)
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