½ Dollar (Stone Mountain Memorial) 1925 front ½ Dollar (Stone Mountain Memorial) 1925 back
½ Dollar (Stone Mountain Memorial) 1925 photo
© T0r (CC BY-NC-SA)

½ Dollar Stone Mountain Memorial

1925 year
Silver (.900) 12.5 g 30.61 mm
Description
Issuer
United States
Period
Federal republic (1776-date)
Type
Non-circulating coin
Year
1925
Value
½ Dollar = 50 Cents (½&nbspUSD)
Currency
Dollar (1785-date)
Composition
Silver (.900)
Weight
12.5 g
Diameter
30.61 mm
Shape
Round
Technique
Milled
Updated
2024-10-09
References
Numista
N#4399
Rarity index
15%

Reverse

An eagle poised on a mountain crag with stars visible in the background and the denomination at the bottom

Script: Latin

Lettering:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
MEMORIAL TO THE VALOR OF THE SOLDIER OF THE SOUTH
LIBERTY
HALF DOLLAR

Engraver: Gutzon Borglum

Edge

Reeded

Comment

The 1925 Stone Mountain Memorial Half Dollar was one of four different commemorative coins issued for the year. The coins were authorized to commemorate the soldiers of the south and recently passed President Warren G. Harding. Ultimately, the former president did not appear on the coin, which instead took focus on two heroes of the south.

Gutzon Borglum was the designer of both the obverse and reverse of the coin. He had been commissioned by the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial Association to create a monument to the leaders of the south on the large deposit of visible solid granite. His initial plans were for a carving 200 feet high and 1,300 feet wide. Completion of the monument would not take place until 1970 by a different sculptor and on a smaller scale.

The 1925 Stone Mountain Half Dollars had a maximum authorized mintage of 5 million coins in order to raise funds for the project. This represented the highest authorized mintage since the 1892 Columbian Half Dollar. Despite a large number of enthusiastic supporters, sales were ultimately 1,314,709.

Authorization: Public Law 68-46
Maximum Authorized Mintage: 5,000,000

A different design was ultimately used for the actual sculpture on Stone Mountain.

Interesting fact

The Stone Mountain Memorial Half Dollar was minted in 1925 to commemorate the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial Association's efforts to build a monument to the Confederate dead. The coin features a portrait of President Calvin Coolidge on the obverse and a depiction of the Stone Mountain monument on the reverse. Interestingly, the coin was minted in a non-circulating format, meaning it was not intended for everyday use and was instead produced as a collector's item.

Price

Date Mintage VG F VF XF AU UNC
1925  1314709 - - - - - -

Values in the table are based on evaluations by sales realized on Internet platforms. They serve as an indication only for ½ Dollar (Stone Mountain Memorial) 1925 coin.