York County, Maine, Tercentenary half dollar.
The York County, Maine, Tercentenary half dollar is a fifty-cent piece minted in 1936 as a commemorative coin to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the founding of York County, the southernmost county in Maine and the first to be organized. The obverse shows Brown's Garrison, a fort around which York County developed, while the reverse depicts the county's arms. A commemorative coin craze in 1936 saw some coins authorized by the United States Congress that were of mainly local significance; the York County issue was one of these, passing Congress without opposition in the first half of 1936. Maine artist Walter H. Rich designed the issue; his work has garnered mixed praise and dislike from numismatic authors. The Philadelphia Mint struck 25,000 for public sale. Less than 19,000 sold by 1937, more than half to Mainers; the rest were sold in the 1950s. As of 2021, the York County half dollar catalogs for around $200, depending on condition.
