Commemorative Coins

Last month's announcement of the latest coin in the commemorative line-the 2007 Little Rock Central High School Desegregation Silver dollar-brought the rare coins into the spotlight once again. Many people know that funds raised from each commemorative coin go to benefit the cause behind the event or person depicted. For example, the surcharges raised from the new Little Rock Nine coin will go to preserve the history surrounding the events at Central High many years ago. What most people don't know is that the coins themselves were in danger of extinction early in the twenty-first century.

The first coin in 1892 was the Colombian Exposition half dollar. It was a tribute to the discoverer of our nation, Christopher Columbus. The coins after that were to depict important points in history, but they instead became a way to tout local achievements. Pretty soon, even the town of Elgin Illinois had its own half dollar. There were also controversial coins such as the Huguenot-Walloon coin which depicted the Calvinists' settlement of what is now New York. Congress decided in 1939 to step in, putting a halt on the production of all commemorative coins.

Thereafter, the process of coining a memory became a more deliberate process. The first coin minted after the congressional shutdown was the 1946 Iowa Centennial half dollar. The last of the coins of that era was the George Washington Carver-Booker T. Washington half dollar minted 1951-54.

Today's coins commemorate events only of national importance, such as the civil rights movement, the first flight, and the Olympics. The first of these was minted in 1982-the George Washington 250^th Anniversary Half Dollar. Today, the appearance of a California Diamond Jubilee half dollar is unthinkable. No one would believe that the coin was actually minted in 1925, and it almost caused the end of the commemorative coin line.

The issuance of the 2007 Little Rock Central High School Desegregation Silver Dollar marks the beginning of the end of educational segregation in the US. Like all of the commemorative coins before it, this silver dollar will bring the events at Central High back to the public psyche, so that we may remember and not repeat. Coins of this nature are not simply a showpiece, they help us remember. The near extinction of the coins early in the twentieth century was truly a close call. Millions were raised in awareness of each coins' representative cause. More will come in the future.