An Illinois Centennial half dollar of 1918, one of the 100,058 struck by the U.S. at the Philadelphia mint. (The odd 58 were struck for assay purposes.) As was the case with other American commemorative half dollars of the time, these coins were struck to the same standard as the regular issue coins, and like many other American “classic” commems, Illinois halves did some time in circulation. (A hoard of about 30,000 Illinois halves are said to have been found in a bank vault during the Great Depression, with an unknown—but considerable—quantity of them being dumped into circulation at face value.)
This particular coin may have circulated, or its surfaces may have been worn down by time spent as a souvenir in someone’s pocket. The subject is a popular one, after all. “Illinois Centennial” may be the coin’s formal name, but many folks actually see this as a Lincoln commemorative.
The portrait is of the clean-shaven Lincoln, although he is perhaps better known with his beard. (A young girl named Grace Bedell [she was 11] had written him a letter in October 1860—just before the presidential election in November—suggesting that he might look better with whiskers.)
The sadness in the coin’s portrait of Lincoln is palpable, and (although he had his new beard at the time) the portrait seems instantly to evoke Lincoln’s Farewell Address, spoken in Springfield, Illinois in February 1861 as he departed for the White House and the presidency of a country that was breaking apart....
“My friends—no one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe every thing. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of the Divine Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him...I bid you an affectionate farewell.”
Two months later the United States of America was at war with itself.
But Abraham Lincoln did succeed in keeping the Union together, and peace finally arrived four terrible years later, in April 1865.
Mr. Lincoln’s funeral train started home from Washington soon thereafter, and arrived in Springfield early in May, 1865. Abraham Lincoln was carried to his grave and laid to rest. The crowd departed, slowly, perhaps, and as the quiet settled in among the springtime flowers and the graveyard’s marble headstones, it was true—just as Edwin Stanton had said at Lincoln’s deathbed: “Now he belongs to the ages.”
Grace Bedell (the girl who had written to Lincoln about growing a beard) lived until November 1936. I wonder sometimes if she ever owned one of these 1918 commemorative half dollars.
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