US Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Half Dollar 1892 and 1893

This is the first commemorative coin issued by the United States. There have been oodles more afterwards. Like all US silver half dollars, these coins contain 0.3617 troy ounces of silver, so they can never be worth less than their silver value. If silver is selling, say, at $15 US dollars per troy ounce, the silver value of one of these coins is 0.3617 x 15 = $5.40. Be sure to look up the price of silver. It changes every day.

That is none other than Christopher Columbus on the obverse (heads side) and his flag ship, the Santa Maria, on the reverse. The coins were sold at $1 each at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago during 1893. The sales did not go well, as most people were unwilling to spend one dollar on a coin worth 50 cents!

Catalog values for these pieces, both the 1892 and 1893 dates, are:

worn: $15 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulted: $18
well preserved: $20
fully uncirculated: $75

Once in a while you see these coins in superb numismatic condition mounted in a sealed numismatic holder called a 'slab.' Values can go through the roof if the slab says, say MS-65. But be careful, slab annotations are not always reliable, and not all slabs are worth the same. Don't spend a lot of money unless you know precisely what you are doing.

Be sure you understand what 'catalog' means. See our Terminology page for an explanation.
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