1946 Booker T. Washington Memorial Commemorative Half Dollar
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About This Coin
The 1946 Booker T. Washington Memorial Commemorative Half Dollar is a United States commemorative half dollar. Authorized in 1946 to honor Booker T. Washington, the first African American to appear on a U.S. coin. Born into slavery in 1856, Washington became one of America's most influential educators, founding the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in 1881. The coin was produced from 1946 through 1951 at multiple mints. The obverse features a bust of Booker T. Washington facing right, the renowned African American educator and founder of the Tuskegee Institute, while the reverse displays the Hall of Fame for Great Americans at New York University, with a log cabin below representing Washington's birth as a slave in 1856. Designed by Isaac Scott Hathaway. The first year of issue, produced at Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco with relatively high mintages. Struck in 90% silver, 10% copper, weighing 12.5 grams, 30.6 mm in diameter, with a reeded edge. The Booker T. Washington Half Dollar is historically significant as the first U.S. coin to honor an African American. It was designed by Isaac Scott Hathaway, who was himself African American — a first for a U.S. Mint coin designer.
