Owner Comments:
This coin, my favorite of the three, is the last of the 24-karat gold coins the US Mint issued in 2016 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of three classic coin designs first issued in 1916.
The coin’s obverse, Adolph A. Weinman's 1916 second winning design chosen by The Commission of Fine Arts was again actually inspired by a real person named Elsie K Stevens. Weinman sculpted a bust of her 3 years earlier in 1913. Mrs. Stevens was a tenant of Mr. Weinman in New York City which is how they met. The new half dollar presents Mrs. Stevens full figure striding left towards the sun carrying branches of laurel and oak in her arms to symbolize both civil and military glory. As Liberty she wears a Phrygian cap on her head and an armored plate on her chest over her gown, with the American flag behind her. Obverse inscriptions are “LIBERTY,” “IN GOD WE TRUST,” and “2016.”
Elsie K. Stevens unimaginable and amazing legacy in US coinage.
By chance while looking for an apartment in New York City, Elsie and her husband, poet Wallace Stevens, meet Adolph A Weinman and become tenants above Adolph's studio at 441 W. 21st Street, in New York City. In 1913 Mr. Weinman chooses Elsie as a model for a sculpture and creates a bust of her. The sculpture becomes his inspiration for the obverse design of the 1916 Mercury Dime and her full figure for the 1916 Walking Liberty Half Dollar. In 1986 Elsie's image from the half dollar is chosen for the obverse of the American Eagle Silver proof and bullion coin program. Then in 2017 Mrs. Stevens image from the Mercury Dime is chosen for the obverse of the American Eagle One Once Palladium Coin program available from the US Mint in 2017 to dealers only, than open for purchase in 2018 to the public.
She has been minted on the dime, the half dollar, the dollar and a $25 dollar bullion coin. Her image has been struck in the precious metals of silver, gold, and palladium. For more than 100 years Mrs. Stevens has been minted in every finish including high relief gracing the obverse of 3.8 billion coins to date and still counting. Surpassing 4 billion is not that far off as Elsie's likeness on the Silver American Eagle remains for the newly redesigned coin.
Also designed by Weinman, the coin’s reverse in compliance with the Coinage Act of 1792 features an eagle rising from its mountaintop perch. Additional inscriptions to the original design include “AU,” “24K,” and “1/2 OZ.”
The US Mint released the 24k Centennial Gold Half Dollar on November 17, 2016. The release day price was $865.00; the price of gold was $1,215.95. Total sales for this very popular half dollar reached 65,509 coins sold as posted in the US Mint sales report dated March 5th, 2018.
Sources; US Mint, USA Gold, NGC Coin Explorer