½ Dollar - San Diego (California-Pacific Exposition)

The San Diego Half Dollar — a world's fair coin most people refused to buy

In 1935 San Diego threw a world's fair and minted a silver half dollar to pay for it. The coin was lovely. The sales were dismal. Tens of thousands were melted, re-struck with a new date, and offered again — and flopped a second time. The survivors are some of the most affordable classic commemoratives a newcomer can own.