The Texas Centennial Half Dollar (1934-1938): A Collector's Overview
Short on time? The essentials
- Authorized by an act of Congress signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 16, 1933. The bill allowed up to 1,500,000 coins for issue by the American Legion Texas Centennial Committee at face value for resale to collectors.
- Designed by Italian-American sculptor Pompeo Coppini, who had previously created several Texas public monuments including the Littlefield Fountain at the University of Texas at Austin.
- Struck at Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco between October 1934 and January 1938. Sales to the public ended in November 1938.
- Every coin is 90.0 percent silver and 10.0 percent copper. Mass 12.5 g. Diameter 30.61 mm. Silver content 0.36169 troy ounces per coin.
- The obverse shows an eagle perched on an oak branch in front of the Lone Star of Texas. The reverse combines the winged goddess Victory, the Alamo, portraits of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin, and the six flags over Texas.
- Total mintage across all five years and three mints reached 304,000 coins. Of these, 154,522 were melted by the Treasury as unsold, leaving a documented net of 149,478 distributed to collectors.
- Proceeds funded the Texas Memorial Museum on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. Ground was broken by President Roosevelt on June 11, 1936. The museum opened to the public on August 15, 1938.
- The 1934 Philadelphia issue is by far the most available date. The 1938 issues from all three mints are the lowest net mintages in the set, at 3,775 to 3,808 coins each.
On this page
- The Texas Centennial half at a glance
- How Congress authorized the coin in 1933
- Pompeo Coppini and the design commission
- The Commission of Fine Arts controversy
- The obverse: eagle and Lone Star
- The reverse: Victory, the Alamo, and Six Flags
- Verified physical specifications
- Mintages by year and mint
- Net mintage by date and mint (chart)
- Melt-floor math on a Texas Centennial half
- Qualitative premium tiers by grade and set
- The Texas Memorial Museum in Austin
- Not a "Republic of Texas coin"
- What the record does not show
- Texas Centennial half dollar FAQ
The Texas Centennial half at a glance
The Texas Centennial half dollar is a 50 cent silver commemorative struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint from 1934 to 1938. It was issued to raise funds for the construction of the Texas Memorial Museum on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin.
The coin was proposed by the American Legion Texas Centennial Committee and pushed through Congress in 1933. Design work was awarded to Italian-American sculptor Pompeo Coppini, who was already known in the state for public monument commissions.
Across five years and three mints the Bureau of the Mint struck 304,000 pieces. Sales lagged behind the authorized 1,500,000 by a wide margin. In the end the Treasury melted 154,522 unsold coins, leaving 149,478 net pieces in collector hands, per the Bowers and Swiatek and Breen commemorative catalogs.
How Congress authorized the coin in 1933
The push for a Texas commemorative began with state representative Temple Harris McGregor in March 1932, who proposed 50,000 half dollars at one dollar each. The American Legion Texas Centennial Committee, led by A. Garland Adair, adopted the idea and looked to the earlier Oregon Trail Memorial half dollar as a model.
The bill authorizing "a commemorative half dollar in commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary in 1936 of the independence of Texas" was introduced by Senator Tom Connally of Texas. It was sponsored in the House by Representative Wright Patman. It passed the Senate on June 7, 1933 without recorded debate.
The House took up the bill on June 10, 1933, brought to the floor by Representative Martin Dies Jr. of Texas. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the act into law on June 16, 1933 and gave the pen he used to Senator Connally as a gift for the future museum.
The statute authorized up to 1,500,000 half dollars, to be purchased by the American Legion Texas Centennial Committee at face value and resold to collectors. It permitted issue in multiple years and at multiple mints, which the committee later used to generate a set of thirteen date and mint combinations.
Pompeo Coppini and the design commission
Pompeo Coppini was an Italian-American sculptor active in Texas from the early 1900s onward. He worked from studios in San Antonio and New York City and had previously produced public monuments across the state, including the Littlefield Fountain at the University of Texas at Austin.
The Texas Centennial Commission hired Coppini directly to design the coin. According to Adair, Coppini did not charge for his design services on the commemorative. His biographical entry in the Handbook of Texas Online records him living from 1870 to 1957.
By May 1934 Coppini had completed rough models of both faces of the coin. The models included a large number of design elements that were likely requested by the Centennial Committee itself, which wanted as much Texas iconography as possible on the small canvas of a half dollar.
The Commission of Fine Arts controversy
The May 1934 models went to the United States Commission of Fine Arts for review. The commission's chair, Charles Moore, took an especially negative view. He described the initial submission as a conglomeration of "the whole history of Texas and all its leading personages in a perfect hodgepodge," per the Bowers commemorative encyclopedia.
Sculptor and commission member Lee Lawrie also criticized the design and wrote an extensive request for alterations. Lawrie recommended removing the six flags over Texas and the winged goddess Victory entirely. He wanted a reverse focused on the Alamo alongside Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin.
Coppini responded that the models were rough sketches. Representative William D. McFarlane, a Texas congressman close to the committee, pushed for the original iconography. Lawrie met with Coppini in early June 1934 and they agreed on a set of specific changes.
The revised designs were approved by the Commission of Fine Arts on June 25, 1934. Treasury consent followed shortly after. Production of the first Texas Centennial half dollars began at the Philadelphia Mint in October 1934.
The obverse: eagle and Lone Star
The obverse of the coin shows a bald eagle perched on an oak branch in front of the Lone Star of Texas. An eagle on the obverse of a US coin is unusual, since federal coinage tradition places the eagle on the reverse.
In Coppini's early models the eagle held a laurel wreath in its claws. The final design changed this to an oak branch. Six stars accompany the "Half Dollar" label at the bottom, likely a reference to the six flags over Texas.
The dual mottoes "In God We Trust" and "E pluribus unum" flank the star. The text "United-States-of-America" arcs along the upper edge of the obverse, hyphenated between each word for reasons that were never explained in the surviving record.
The reverse: Victory, the Alamo, and Six Flags
The reverse is a crowded scene that has attracted a hundred years of mixed commentary. The winged goddess Victory, wearing a liberty cap, crouches while holding the Alamo Mission in one arm and an olive branch in the other. Two small tondo busts of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin are set into clouds on either side.
Behind the central figure are the six flags of Texas: Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the United States, and the Confederate States. These are largely indistinct at coin scale. A scroll bearing the word "Liberty" partially obscures them, an addition required by the Coinage Act of 1792.
The motto "Remember The Alamo," a Texian rallying cry from the Revolution, runs along the bottom edge of the reverse. Coppini's initials "P.C." are placed adjacent to the bottom-right corner of the Alamo. When present, the mint mark sits below Victory, to the right of her foot.
Reception was mixed even at the time. Fort Worth coin dealer B. Max Mehl wrote in 1937 that the depiction of Victory detracted from the Alamo motif. Art historian Cornelius Vermeule III later described the reverse as a "classic triumph of how much can be successfully crowded on a coin." Numismatists Anthony Swiatek and Walter Breen called the design "impossibly confusing."
Verified physical specifications
The table below sets out the specifications of the Texas Centennial half dollar as recorded in R. S. Yeoman's A Guide Book of United States Coins and reproduced in the Wikipedia article on the coin. Any piece sold as a Texas Centennial half that fails these numbers is a counterfeit, an altered planchet, or a modern copy.
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Face value | 50 cents (0.50 US dollars) |
| Composition | 90.0 percent silver, 10.0 percent copper |
| Mass | 12.5 grams (0.44 oz avoirdupois) |
| Diameter | 30.61 mm (1.20 inches) |
| Thickness | 2.15 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content per coin | 0.36169 troy ounces |
| Years of minting | 1934 to 1938 (5 dated years) |
| Mints | Philadelphia (no mark), Denver (D), San Francisco (S) |
| Mint mark location | Reverse, below Victory, to the right of her foot |
| Total mintage across series | 304,000 pieces struck; 154,522 melted; 149,478 net |
| Designer | Pompeo Coppini (obverse and reverse) |
Sources: R. S. Yeoman, A Guide Book of United States Coins, 2020 deluxe edition, page 1083; Wikipedia entry Texas Centennial half dollar, drawing on Bureau of the Mint composition and mintage records. Checked August 2026.
Mintages by year and mint
The Bureau of the Mint struck the coin at Philadelphia in 1934 and then at all three mints each year from 1935 through 1938. The table below reproduces the standard mintage figures compiled by Anthony Swiatek and Walter Breen and by Q. David Bowers, showing pieces distributed, assay coins retained by the Mint, coins melted as unsold, and the resulting net figure.
| Date | Mint | Distributed | Assay | Melted | Net mintage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | Philadelphia | 205,000 | 113 | 143,650 | 61,350 |
| 1935 | Philadelphia | 10,000 | 8 | 12 | 9,988 |
| 1935 | Denver | 10,000 | 7 | 0 | 10,000 |
| 1935 | San Francisco | 10,000 | 8 | 0 | 10,000 |
| 1936 | Philadelphia | 10,000 | 8 | 1,097 | 8,903 |
| 1936 | Denver | 10,000 | 7 | 968 | 9,032 |
| 1936 | San Francisco | 10,000 | 8 | 943 | 9,057 |
| 1937 | Philadelphia | 8,000 | 5 | 1,434 | 6,566 |
| 1937 | Denver | 8,000 | 6 | 1,401 | 6,599 |
| 1937 | San Francisco | 8,000 | 7 | 1,370 | 6,630 |
| 1938 | Philadelphia | 5,000 | 5 | 1,225 | 3,775 |
| 1938 | Denver | 5,000 | 5 | 1,230 | 3,770 |
| 1938 | San Francisco | 5,000 | 6 | 1,192 | 3,808 |
Sources: Anthony Swiatek and Walter Breen, Encyclopedia of United States Silver and Gold Commemorative Coins 1892-1954, pages 237 to 238; Q. David Bowers, Commemorative Coins of the United States: A Complete Encyclopedia, pages 268 to 270. Compiled from Bureau of the Mint records. Checked August 2026.
The 1934 Philadelphia issue is by far the most available date. It accounts for 61,350 of the 149,478 net pieces struck across the entire series, or roughly 41 percent of the total.
The 1938 issues from all three mints are the lowest net mintages, at 3,775 for Philadelphia, 3,770 for Denver, and 3,808 for San Francisco. The 1937 issues are the next scarcest as a group, at roughly 6,600 pieces per mint.
Net mintage by date and mint
The chart below plots the net mintage figure for each date and mint after Treasury melting. It makes visible the steep drop after the large 1934 Philadelphia issue and the tight, low production runs of the 1937 and 1938 sets across all three mints.
Melt-floor math on a Texas Centennial half
Qualitative premium tiers by grade and set completeness
All Texas Centennial half dollars carry collector premiums well above their silver melt floor. The size of the premium depends on the date and mint combination, the certified grade, and whether the coin is offered as a single piece or as part of a complete set.
The 2020 deluxe edition of the Yeoman Guide Book of United States Coins lists the coin in a range from 130 dollars to 1,900 dollars, depending on date, mint mark, and condition. That range reflects retail pricing for coins graded across the standard mint-state spectrum by an established third-party grading service.
An exceptional 1936 Philadelphia example sold for 14,100 dollars at auction in 2015, per the Swiatek 2012 encyclopedia. Prices at that level are rare and depend on both the grade assigned by the grading service and the specific eye appeal of the coin.
Below are the qualitative tiers a collector typically encounters in the current market. Actual sale prices vary with silver spot, auction cycle, and the specific coin. Consult live auction records before pricing a specific piece.
| Tier | What it usually covers | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline collector tier | Any date and mint in a circulated grade with honest surfaces | Prices sit well above silver melt because of collector demand for the series. The 1934 Philadelphia is the most available date in this tier. |
| Mid-grade uncirculated | Any date and mint certified in the low to mid mint-state range by an established grading service | Yeoman 2020 records retail values that begin near 130 dollars in the lower mint-state grades and rise across the range as grade increases. |
| High-grade uncirculated | MS-65 and above, well-struck examples with original surfaces | The reverse of this design is prone to poor strike. Sharp examples carry meaningful premiums. Swiatek describes the 1935 Denver as the most appealingly produced in the series. |
| Complete 13-coin date and mint set | All thirteen combinations from 1934 through 1938 | Set collectors have long paid a premium for matched-grade groupings. Original three-coin holders from 1935 through 1938 also carry a small premium. |
| Auction-record tier | Exceptional single pieces certified at the top of the grade scale | The 1936 Philadelphia example that sold for 14,100 dollars in 2015 is the reference point in this tier. |
Sources: Yeoman A Guide Book of United States Coins 2020 deluxe edition, pages 1083 to 1084; Swiatek Encyclopedia of the Commemorative Coins of the United States 2012, pages 236 to 237. Checked August 2026.
The Texas Memorial Museum in Austin
Every dollar of premium above face value on the coins sold by the American Legion was earmarked for the Texas Memorial Museum on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. The museum was proposed by the American Legion as its contribution to the state centennial.
Ground was broken for the museum on June 11, 1936 by President Roosevelt on a visit to Austin. The museum project also received a 225,000 dollar appropriation from the Texas Legislature and a 300,000 dollar appropriation from Congress, per the Bowers commemorative encyclopedia.
The building was dedicated on December 19, 1937, with Governor James V. Allred presiding at the ceremony. It opened to the public on August 15, 1938. United Press reported the building cost at 600,000 dollars, financed in part by two years of half dollar sales.
The museum still operates on the University of Texas at Austin campus as the Texas Memorial Museum of science and natural history. It is a documented, still-visible outcome of the coin program.
Not a "Republic of Texas coin"
The Texas Centennial half dollar is often confused today with a "Republic of Texas coin." It is not one. The Republic of Texas existed from 1836 to 1846 and never operated a mint or contracted for a struck coinage, per the Handbook of Texas Online entry Money of the Republic of Texas by E. T. Miller.
The Centennial half was struck by the US Bureau of the Mint almost a hundred years after the Republic ended. It was minted at Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco between October 1934 and January 1938. It carries the standard US federal legal-tender face value of 50 cents.
Sellers sometimes describe the coin as "a Republic of Texas half dollar" or "the first Texas coin." Neither claim is accurate. The Texas Centennial half is a US federal commemorative that references Republic-era history in its iconography. It is not a coin of the Republic.
What the record does not show
The documentary record on the Texas Centennial half dollar is relatively rich for a 1930s commemorative, but a few things it does not settle deserve honest mention on this page.
It does not record why the "United-States-of-America" text on the obverse is hyphenated between each word. Standard references treat it as an unexplained design choice.
It does not preserve a firm survival estimate for how many of the 149,478 net-mintage pieces still exist in original, uncleaned condition. The 1934 issue in particular was widely handled as a "souvenir," so poorly struck, mishandled, or cleaned examples are common in the market today, per Swiatek and Breen.
It does not support any specific price prediction. Historical auction results and standard catalog values give a range at a given moment in time. What a specific coin sells for on a given day depends on live silver spot, the grade assigned by the third-party grading service, and the appetite of buyers in that sale.
It does not support claims that the coin was ever legal-tender currency of the Republic of Texas, ever circulated in Texas before 1934, or ever contained more than 0.36169 troy ounces of silver. These are documented facts, not open questions.
Texas Centennial half dollar FAQ
Is the Texas Centennial half dollar silver?
Yes. Every Texas Centennial half dollar struck between 1934 and 1938 is 90.0 percent silver and 10.0 percent copper. Each coin weighs 12.5 grams and holds 0.36169 troy ounces of silver, per the Yeoman Guide Book of United States Coins. The date and mint mark do not change the composition rule for the series.
Who designed the Texas Centennial half dollar?
Both faces of the coin were designed by Pompeo Coppini, an Italian-American sculptor who worked in Texas from the early 1900s and also maintained a studio in New York City. Coppini had previously designed several Texas public monuments, including the Littlefield Fountain at the University of Texas at Austin. According to A. Garland Adair of the Centennial Committee, Coppini did not charge for his design work on the coin.
How many Texas Centennial half dollars were made?
The US Bureau of the Mint struck a total of 304,000 pieces across five years and three mints from 1934 through 1938. Of these, 154,522 unsold coins were melted by the Treasury. The net mintage that reached collector hands was 149,478 pieces, distributed across thirteen date and mint combinations. The lowest net figure is the 1938 Denver at 3,770 coins.
Where is the mint mark on a Texas Centennial half dollar?
When a mint mark is present, it sits on the reverse of the coin, below the winged figure of Victory and to the right of her foot. Philadelphia strikes carry no mint mark. Denver strikes carry a D. San Francisco strikes carry an S. The 1934 issue is Philadelphia only; the 1935 through 1938 issues appear from all three mints.
What is a Texas Centennial half dollar worth?
All coins in the series trade well above their silver melt floor because of collector premium. The 2020 deluxe edition of Yeoman's Guide Book of United States Coins lists retail values from 130 dollars to 1,900 dollars, depending on date, mint, and grade. An exceptional 1936 Philadelphia example sold for 14,100 dollars at auction in 2015. Live prices depend on the grade assigned by an established third-party grading service and current market conditions.
Is the Texas Centennial half dollar a Republic of Texas coin?
No. The Republic of Texas existed from 1836 to 1846 and never operated a mint or struck a circulating coin, per the Handbook of Texas Online entry Money of the Republic of Texas by E. T. Miller. The Texas Centennial half dollar was struck by the US Bureau of the Mint from 1934 to 1938, almost a century after the Republic ended. It is a US federal commemorative that references Republic-era history in its design.
What does the reverse of the coin actually show?
The reverse features the winged goddess Victory wearing a liberty cap, crouching while holding the Alamo Mission in one arm and an olive branch in the other. Two small tondo busts of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin are set into clouds on either side.
The six flags of Texas, Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the United States, and the Confederate States, appear behind her. A scroll with the word "Liberty" and the motto "Remember The Alamo" complete the scene.
Is it legal to melt a Texas Centennial half dollar?
Yes, technically. The Treasury melt-prohibition rule at 31 CFR Part 82 covers only one-cent and five-cent coins. Silver half dollars are not on that list, so private melting of a Texas Centennial half is not restricted by that regulation. Melting one destroys a scarce commemorative that trades well above its silver melt value in every grade, so the practice is almost never economically rational.
Where can I see original Texas Centennial half dollars today?
Photographic references and grading population reports are maintained by PCGS CoinFacts and NGC. Original coins circulate widely at coin shows, in dealer inventories, and at major numismatic auctions. The Texas Memorial Museum in Austin, the very institution funded by the coin's sales, is the historically appropriate stop for visitors interested in the state-centennial context of the issue.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Texas Centennial half dollar. Full documented history of the coin, including authorization, Coppini design commission, Commission of Fine Arts controversy, physical specifications, mintage figures across five years and three mints, sales history, and total melting figures. Attributes primary data to Yeoman 2020, Bowers 1991, Swiatek and Breen 1981, Swiatek 2012, and Taxay 1967. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Centennial_half_dollar. Checked August 2026.
- R. S. Yeoman, A Guide Book of United States Coins, 2020 deluxe edition, page 1083. Standard reference for the coin's composition (90.0 percent silver and 10.0 percent copper), mass (12.5 grams), diameter (30.61 mm), edge (reeded), and silver content per coin (0.36169 troy ounces). Also the reference for the retail value range from 130 dollars to 1,900 dollars across dates, mints, and grades.
- Anthony Swiatek and Walter Breen, Encyclopedia of United States Silver and Gold Commemorative Coins 1892-1954, 1981, pages 233 to 238. Standard reference for the CFA design dispute, the mintage table by date and mint including melted totals, and the qualitative reception of Coppini's reverse design.
- Q. David Bowers, Commemorative Coins of the United States: A Complete Encyclopedia, 1991, pages 265 to 275. Source for the initial 1,500,000 authorization, distribution history, the 143,650 melted from the 1934 issue, the eventual 154,522 total melting figure, and the 225,000 dollar Texas Legislature and 300,000 dollar Congressional appropriations to the museum.
- Handbook of Texas Online, Money of the Republic of Texas by E. T. Miller, published 1952 and updated November 1, 1995. Confirms that the Republic of Texas existed from 1836 to 1846 and never minted a circulating coin. Establishes the historical baseline against which the Texas Centennial half is often misdescribed as a "Republic of Texas coin." tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/money-of-the-republic-of-texas. Checked August 2026.
- Handbook of Texas Online, Coppini, Pompeo Luigi (1870-1957) by Caroline Remy, Jean L. Levering, Eldon Stephen Branda, and Kendall Curlee, updated July 19, 2023. Biographical entry on the coin's designer, confirming Coppini's Texas monument portfolio and the 1870 to 1957 life dates. tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/coppini-pompeo-luigi. Checked August 2026.
- Anthony Swiatek, Encyclopedia of the Commemorative Coins of the United States: History, Art, Investment and Collection of America's Memorial Coinage, 2nd edition, 2012, pages 236 to 237. Source for the qualitative assessment that the 1935 Denver was the most appealingly produced coin in the series, and for the auction result of 14,100 dollars for a 1936 Philadelphia example in 2015.
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. 31 CFR Part 82: Prohibition on the Exportation, Melting, or Treatment of 5-Cent and One-Cent Coins. Confirms that the federal melt-prohibition rule covers only one-cent and five-cent coins. Silver half dollars are not covered by the regulation. ecfr.gov/current/title-31/subtitle-B/chapter-I/part-82. Checked August 2026.
- United States Mint, Half Dollar. Institutional reference for the half dollar denomination, historical composition, and commemorative program history. usmint.gov/learn/history-and-artistry/half-dollar-coin. Checked August 2026.