| Slot: |
Delaware Tercentenary Half Dollar |
| Origin/Country: |
United States |
| Design Description: |
SILVER COMMEMORATIVES Delaware |
| Item Description: |
Silver 50C 1936 DELAWARE |
| Grade: |
PCGS MS 65 |
| Research: |
View Coin |
Owner Comments
Nice warm golden toning around the edge, good luster and strike.
In 1935, the Delaware Swedish Tercentenary Commission was created to make plans to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the landing of the Swedes. To help pay for the celebrations, a commemorative half dollar was to be minted and sold to collectors at a price of $1.75 each. In 1936, after Congress authorized the coin, a contest was announced for artists to submit their designs and win $500. The contest, which was published in the Delaware paper The News Journal, required that the obverse needed to be a ship modeled after the Kalmar Nyckel, the dates 1638 and 1938, and a diamond to represent the state’s other nickname of The Diamond State. The reverse needed to depict Old Swedes Church, the nation’s oldest church building in continuous use since it was consecrated in 1699.
Of the 40 submissions, judges John Sinnock, the Mint’s Chief Engraver, and sculptor Dr. Robert Tait McKenzie selected artist Carl L. Schmitz’s designs. 25,015 coins were minted in Philadelphia, but only 20,993 were distributed. The remaining were returned to be melted.
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| Slot: |
Swedish 300th Anniversary of Delaware Settlement |
| Origin/Country: |
SWEDEN - 1855 TO DATE |
| Design Description: |
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| Item Description: |
2K 1938 G DELAWARE SETTLEMENT 300TH ANNIVERSARY |
| Grade: |
MS Select Prooflike |
Owner Comments
Sweden also celebrated the 300th anniversary with a commemorative coin of their own. The reverse also features a depiction of the Kalmar Nyckel, a crown, and the dates 1638 and 1938.
The Kalmar Nyckel was built in 1627 in Amsterdam. She was purchased by the Swedish Skeppskompaniet (Ship Company) with tax revenue from the strategic harbor town of Kalmar, on Sweden’s southeast coast, and renamed Kalmar Nyckel (“Key of Kalmar”).
After four successful trans-Atlantic trips, she rejoined the Swedish Navy in a war against Denmark. In 1651, a Dutch merchant purchased her and leased the ship to the Dutch navy. She was sunk in battle in 1652 during the initial battle of the First Anglo-Dutch War.
The Latin inscription on the reverse “Novae Sueciae Suecia Memor”, translates as “Sweden Remembers New Sweden”. New Sweden was the name given to the colony.
Sweden’s King Gustav V is featured on the obverse.
These were available in the US from the Swedish-American Tercentenary Association in New York for $1.00 per coin.
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| Slot: |
Delaware State Quarter, Business Strike |
| Origin/Country: |
United States |
| Design Description: |
QUARTER DOLLARS - STATES & TERRITORIES |
| Item Description: |
25C 1999 D DELAWARE |
| Grade: |
NGC MS 67 |
| Research: |
View Coin |
Owner Comments
This was the first coin of the US Mint’s new 50 State Quarters Series, released on Jan. 4, 1999. The legislation that authorized the state quarter program in 1997 was introduced by Delaware Representative Mike Castle. Each state’s governor was responsible for submitting concepts to the mint, but they had leeway on how they came to those selections. Delaware’s Governor asked residents to submit ideas to the Delaware Arts Council for review.
Once the US Mint finalized three potential designs for the reverse, Delawareans were asked to vote on their favorites. Of the 1,519 votes cast, the Caesar Rodney reverse, engraved by William Cousins and based on artist Eddy Seger’s submission, received 948. Both the final design and the original submission were based on James Edward Kelly’s sculpture of Caesar Rodney that stood in Wilmington’s Rodney Square between 1923 until 2020.
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| Slot: |
Delaware State Quarter, Clad Proof |
| Origin/Country: |
United States |
| Design Description: |
QUARTER DOLLARS - STATES & TERRITORIES - PROOF |
| Item Description: |
25C 1999 S CLAD DELAWARE |
| Grade: |
NGC PF 70 ULTRA CAMEO |
| Research: |
View Coin |
Owner Comments
The artist that served as inspiration for William Cousins design, Eddy Seger, taught at art at Caesar Rodney High School in Camden, DE at the time of the contest to design the state's coin. When he learned that Delawareans were being asked to submit ideas for the new coin, he made it an art project. Of the 340 submissions to the Arts Council, 39 came from his students.
The ceremonial first strike of the new series took place at the Philadelphia Mint on Dec. 7, 1998, the anniversary of the state’s ratification of the Constitution.
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| Slot: |
Delaware State Quarter, Silver Proof |
| Origin/Country: |
United States |
| Design Description: |
QUARTER DOLLARS - STATES & TERRITORIES - PROOF |
| Item Description: |
25C 1999 S SILVER DELAWARE |
| Grade: |
PCGS PF 69 UC |
| Research: |
View Coin |
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| Slot: |
Bombay Hook National Park Quarter, Silver Proof |
| Origin/Country: |
United States |
| Design Description: |
QUARTER DOLLARS - AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, PROOF |
| Item Description: |
25C 2015 S SILVER BOMBAY HOOK |
| Grade: |
PCGS PF 70 UC |
| Research: |
View Coin |
Owner Comments
The America the Beautiful Quarters program, introduced in 2010, depicted national parks or sites through 2021. Five designs were released each year in the order that the parks were established. The decision to feature Bombay Hook was made in 2010, five years before the quarters were issued.
The Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, one of the largest tidal salt marshes in the mid-Atlantic, was established in 1937. It received its name from the Dutch phrase "Boompjes Hoeck”, which sounds like Bombay Hook, meaning "little-tree point. A Blue Heron and a Great Egret are featured on the reverse, which are common birds in the summer. It was designed by Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill.
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| Slot: |
Bombay Hook National Park Quarter, Clad Proof |
| Origin/Country: |
United States |
| Design Description: |
QUARTER DOLLARS - AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, PROOF |
| Item Description: |
25C 2015 S CLAD BOMBAY HOOK |
| Grade: |
PCGS PF 70 UC |
| Research: |
View Coin |
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| Slot: |
Bombay Hook National Park Quarter, Business Strike |
| Origin/Country: |
United States |
| Design Description: |
QUARTER DOLLARS - AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL |
| Item Description: |
25C 2015 D BOMBAY HOOK |
| Grade: |
PCGS MS 68 |
| Research: |
View Coin |
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| Slot: |
American Innovation Dollar, Proof |
| Origin/Country: |
United States |
| Design Description: |
DOLLARS - AMERICAN INNOVATION, PROOF |
| Item Description: |
$1 2019 S - DE Classifying the Stars |
| Grade: |
NGC PF 69 ULTRA CAMEO |
| Research: |
View Coin |
Owner Comments
Released in the same order as the State Quarters series, Delaware was the first state featured in the US Mint’s American Innovation Series that will run until 2032. These coins are issued for numismatic sales only and not distributed for circulation. In fact, no dollar coins have been issued for circulation since 2011.
On May 9, 1922, the International Astronomical Union passed a resolution to formally adopt Annie Jump Cannon's stellar classification system, the Harvard Classification Scheme, which was the first serious attempt to organize and classify stars based on their temperatures and spectral types. With minor changes, it is still being used for classifying stars today. In 1925, she became the first woman to receive an honorary doctorate of science from Oxford University. The reverse honors her achievements with a silhouette of Annie Jump Cannon against a field of stars. It was designed by Donna Weaver and sculpted by Chief Engraver Joseph Menna.
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| Slot: |
American Innovation Dollar, Reverse Proof |
| Origin/Country: |
United States |
| Design Description: |
DOLLARS - AMERICAN INNOVATION, PROOF |
| Item Description: |
$1 2019 S - DE Classifying the Stars Early Releases |
| Grade: |
NGC RP 69 |
| Research: |
View Coin |
Owner Comments
The Reverse Proof more make Annie Jump Cannon's silhouette more pronounced than the standard proof. Overall a beautiful coin.
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| Slot: |
American Innovation Dollar, Business Strike |
| Origin/Country: |
United States |
| Design Description: |
DOLLARS - AMERICAN INNOVATION |
| Item Description: |
$1 2019 D - DE Classifying the Stars First Releases |
| Grade: |
NGC MS 67 PL |
| Research: |
View Coin |
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| Slot: |
Swedish 350th Anniversary of Delaware Settlement - Silver (Small Head) |
| Origin/Country: |
SWEDEN - 1855 TO DATE |
| Design Description: |
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| Item Description: |
S100K 1988 E D DELAWARE ANNIVERSARY SMALL HEAD |
| Grade: |
MS Select |
Owner Comments
Sweden issued a 100 Kronor commemorative in 1988, engraved by Bo Thorén, that celebrates the 350th anniversary of the landing of the the Kalmar Nyckel on the reverse, along with a depiction of the Delmarva Peninsula.
NYA SVERIGE translates to “New Sweden” in Swedish.
The CRS monogram refers to Christina, Queen of Sweden (Christina Regina Sueciae). While she was Sweden’s queen at the time of the landing, she was twelve when the settlement was established and she didn’t begin ruling until 1644 at the age of eighteen.
The CRS monogram was used on copper coins during her reign
Fort Christina, the Delaware town Christiana, and the Christina river, are all named in her honor
The obverse features Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf. He is the great grandson of Gustaf V, who is featured on the obverse of the 1938 commemorative coin.
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| Slot: |
1635 1/4 Öre with CRS Monogram |
| Origin/Country: |
SWEDEN 1601-1855 |
| Design Description: |
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| Item Description: |
1/4O 1635 ROSE |
| Grade: |
MS Select Brown |
Owner Comments
Not a Delaware coin, but an example of the CRS monogram used on a 1635 copper coin. The monogram is the one used on the 1988 Swedish 100 Kronor.
These copper coins were issued during the time of the Kalmar Nyckel’s journey across the Atlantic.
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| Slot: |
Australian Kookaburra with Delaware Quarter Privy Mark |
| Origin/Country: |
AUSTRALIA - KOOKABURRA |
| Design Description: |
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| Item Description: |
S$1 1999 KOOKABURRA DELAWARE PRIVY |
| Grade: |
MS Select |
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