Images Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, HA.com
This set is featured in the upcoming January 2025 FUN US Coins Signature® Auction #1380.
From the Heritage auction listing:
1936 Long Island Half Dollar Galvanos and Plaster. A front-page article in the July 8, 2024 issue of Coin World announced an important numismatic discovery: obverse and reverse galvanos, and a reverse plaster, for the 1936 Long Island commemorative half dollar. They were retained by the family of the designer, Howard Kenneth Weinman (1901-1976) prior to their private sale earlier this year.
The present lot includes the obverse and reverse galvanos and reverse plaster, in addition to two original sepia tone photographs of Howard Weinman working on the design in Colchester, Vermont; a letter from the Weinman estate with information about the two galvanos; and two 1936 newspaper articles about Weinman's efforts to design the commemorative.
The obverse and reverse galvanos were prepared by Medallic Art Company circa 1936 from plasters provided by Weinman. The galvanos are 10" in diameter, and each is affixed to a 16" x 16" mahogany plaque, with a 1936 Long Island half dollar in each lower corner, one showing the obverse and the other showing the reverse. The half dollars are affixed to the plaques via a welded nut. Each galvano is affixed to the plaque with three inset nuts. The back of the plaques have loops and a wire attached to enable wall display.
The plaster is 14" in diameter with a 10" inner diameter of the reverse design. The plaster is in excellent condition, without chips. The outer ring has a handwritten inscription between 12:30 and 1:00, "Master model as before second mould."
Medallic Art Company applied an antique silver matte finish to the galvanos, plaster, and four half dollars. A galvano is one-sided, and made by placing a pattern (such as a plaster) in a tank containing an electrolyte solution.
Howard Kenneth Weinman was the son of Adolph Alexander Weinman, who is well-known to numismatists as the designer of the Mercury dime and Walking Liberty half dollar. Father and son shared a studio in Forest Hills, New York, and they worked together on commissions such as the East Wall and West Wall friezes in the courtroom of the Supreme Court.
In 1936, Congress was inundated with proposals for commemorative half dollars. Dozens were authorized, including the Long Island Tercentenary, which was signed into law on April 13, 1936 by President Franklin Roosevelt. The Tercentenary Committee hired the younger Weinman as recommended by the Commission of Fine Arts.
Howard Weinman's models were reduced to coin-sized hubs by the Medallic Art Company. The obverse features jugate busts of an early Dutch settler and an Algonquin Indian. The reverse features a three-masted Dutch sailing ship that delivered European immigrants to the New Land. It was the younger Weinman's only coin design. IN GOD WE TRUST was absent from Weinman's design, but was later added in incuse letters on the waves below the ship by Chief Engraver John Sinnock prior to coinage.
Galvanos for U.S. coins are extremely rare. Only six are known to be privately owned. In addition to the obverse and reverse galvanos for the Long Island half dollar, obverse and reverse galvanos exist for the 1916 Standing Liberty quarter, a reverse galvano is known for the eagle motif of the Judd 1512 half dollar, and a bronze reverse galvano for the 1913 Buffalo nickel has survived. The latter galvano, produced by Medallic Art Company for James Earle Fraser, brought $180,000 in a March 2024 Stack's Bowers auction.
The Long Island galvanos and plaster in the present lot provide a unique and fleeting opportunity for the advanced classic commemorative collector.
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Front Page Coin World!! July 8, 2024 Cover Story:
Copyright story reprinted by permission from
Page 1 and Page 39 of the July 8, 2024 issue
of COIN WORLD, Sidney, OH (coinworld.com)
