America's 150th anniversary of declared independence was celebrated in 1926 with the issuance of two commemorative coins: a silver half dollar and a gold quarter eagle. For me, however, the half dollar piece is the more interesting as it gives me an opportunity to stir up a bit of debate!

The obverse of the half dollar features the conjoined busts of Presidents George Washington and Calvin Coolidge. The reverse depicts the Liberty Bell, one of our country's most famous symbols of liberty. The coin was sold for $1.00 back in 1926, with the profit from each sale going to its sponsor, the National Sesquicentennial Exhibition Association, to help find the international exposition held that year in Philadelphia. A total of 1,000,528 were minted but an incredible 859,408 were later melted leaving just 141,120 coins for collectors.

The "first president, current president" design motif was a logical design choice for a coin celebrating 150 years of American independence and history, and was likely central to the thinking of John Frederick Lewis, the coin's designer. It met with some resistance, however, as it was illegal for a U.S. coin to bear the portrait of a living person.

This, of course, was considered a minor issue and one that had already proven to be little more than a nuisance. The "problem" was first encountered in 1921 with the Alabama half dollar commemorative. That coin featured the first Governor of Alabama (William W. Bibb) as well as its current Governor (Thomas E. Kilby). With the Alabama commemorative setting a strong precedent, the Lewis design survived the arguments against it and was struck at the Philadelphia Mint.

And now it's tune for a bit of controversy. If Lewis was attempting to create a "first-current" design following the model of the Alabama coins, why didn't he choose to put John Hanson alongside Calvin Coolidge on the coin. Hanson was, after all, our nation's first President!

What's that you say? Hanson? Our first president? Well, in a word, Yes!

After we declared our independence in 1776, we still had ahead of us a little thing called the War for Independence. During this time, Washington was serving as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army - he was very far from a politician's life. However, though at war, our young nation was moving ahead and laying the foundation for an independent democratic republic.

In 1781, the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, our nation's "first constitution." This was six years before the U.S. Constitution was written and ten years before it was ratified by the requisite number of states. The Constitution is the governing document under which Washington was the first to be elected president in 1789. But our "first' president under our "first" constitution was John Hanson of Maryland. (If you don't believe me, you can look it up!)

So, who knows? Maybe if John Frederick Lewis was a different type of student of American history, Coolidge would be sharing space with Hanson instead of Washington on our Sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar and I'd be writing about something else entirely - though I guess it would have something to do with commemoratives!

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