Horses
USA - Delaware State Quarter


Obverse
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Reverse
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Coin Details

  

Set Details
Coin Description:
Grade: NGC MEDAL MS 68
Owner: brg5658
 
Set Category: Thematic & Topical Coins
Set Name: Horses
Slot Name: USA - Delaware State Quarter
Research: Currently not available

Owner's Description

Purchased on 9/18/2011. This medal has special meaning to me as Kansas is the state where I was born and spent the first 24 years of my life. This is a beautiful medal from the Heraldic Art Medal series. There are a few other designs from this series included in my horses themed set, and this is a great addition and very high grade (MS68) example. Kansas is a state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind," although this was probably not the term's original meaning. Residents of Kansas are called "Kansans." Historically, the area was home to large numbers of nomadic Native Americans who hunted bison. It was first settled by European Americans in the 1830s, but the pace of settlement accelerated in the 1850s, in the midst of political wars over the slavery issue. When officially opened to settlement by the U.S. government in 1854, abolitionist Free-Staters from New England and pro-slavery settlers from neighboring Missouri rushed to the territory to determine if Kansas would become a free state or a slave state. Thus, the area was a hotbed of violence and chaos in its early days as these forces collided, and was known as Bleeding Kansas. The abolitionists eventually prevailed and on January 29, 1861 Kansas entered the Union as a free state. After the Civil War, the population of Kansas exploded when waves of immigrants turned the prairie into productive farmland. Today, Kansas is one of the most productive agricultural states, producing many crops, and leading the nation in wheat, sorghum and sunflower production most years. In 1954 the U.S. ceased making commemorative coins. Robert McNamara recognized the dilemma that this policy produced as there were many events in our history that were worthy of being recognized and celebrated within the scope of our national commemorative coin program. In 1959, Robert began the issuance of commemorative medals, the size and weight of our half-dollar and with reeded edges and exact weight (192 grains) but a higher fineness (.925 silver as opposed to .900 fine), to replicate as close as possible, the U.S. half-dollar. The U.S. treasury was alerted to this effort and informed Bob that he would have to make some change to his medals so that they would not pass as half dollars in machines. His answer was to add 70 extra grains of sterling silver to the weight of each medal. Without the encumbrances of Congressional legislation, he did not have to include a denomination, “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”, “IN GOD WE TRUST”, “LIBERTY” or “E PLURIBUS UNUM” on any of his medals. He proceeded to strike three different medals each year and continued the program through 1978, designing and striking 60 different medals over the 20-year period. Most of these medals are thought to have been struck in less than 6,000 pieces.

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