½ Dollar (Old Spanish Trail) obverse½ Dollar (Old Spanish Trail) reverse
United States

½ Dollar (Old Spanish Trail)

United States · Silver

The coin

The story

Old Spanish Trail Half Dollar

In 1935 a single coin dealer in El Paso talked Congress into minting a half dollar for an anniversary that wasn't real, honoring a journey the design got wrong — and put a cow's head on it as a pun. Then he kept the coins for himself. It is one of the rarest and most coveted of all the classic U.S. commemoratives.

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