The 

York County, Maine, Tercentenary half dollar is a 50-centcommemorative

coin minted in 1936 to mark the tercentenary (300th anniversary) of the founding of York
County. The obverse shows Brown's Garrison, the fort around which York County was
formed, while the reverse depicts the county's arms.
Quick Facts Value, Mass ...
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.
Legislation permitting the half dollar passed 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 committee in charge of selling the coins to the public asked that the maximum issue of
30,000 coins be struck, but for uncertain reasons, the Philadelphia Mint struck only 25,000
for public sale. Fewer than 19,000 had been sold by 1937, more than half to Mainers; the rest
were sold in the 1950s. As of 2020, the York County half dollar catalogs for around $200,
depending on condition.
Background and inception
The first European settlement in what is now Maine was at Saco in 1631, where the fortification
known as Brown's Garrison was built. In 1636, York County was formed, the first and
southernmost county in Maine and one of the oldest political units in the United States.
Sparked by low-mintage issues which appreciated in value, the market for United States
commemorative coins spiked in 1936. Until 1954, the entire mintage of such issues was sold at
face value by the government to a group authorized by Congress, who then tried to sell the coins at
a profit to the public. The new pieces then entered the secondary market, and in early 1936 all
earlier commemoratives sold at a premium to their issue prices. The apparently easy profits to be
made by purchasing and holding commemoratives attracted many to numismatics, and they sought
to purchase the new issues. Congress authorized a large number of commemorative coins in 1936; no fewer than fifteen
new issues were struck, each authorized by legislation. At the request of the groups authorized to purchase them, several coins
minted in prior years were produced again dated 1936, longest-lived among them the Oregon Trail Memorial half dollar,
first struck in 1926.

The York County, Maine, Tercentenary half dollar was one of several early
commemoratives issued despite being mostly of local, not national, significance. The
commemorative was approved largely due to the connections that many of the coin's sponsors
had, including numismatist Walter P. Nichols, who was at the time the Treasurer of the
Committee for Commemoration of the Founding of York County. The bill authorizing its
minting passed at the height of the speculative market in commemorative coins. Rick Sear, in a
2011 article, wrote, "By 1936, thanks to enabling legislations put forth by accommodating Congressmen, it was possible—or
nearly so—to get a coin struck to observe a town picnic ... Although there was no paper trail showing payoffs from local
promoters, the fix was in and hardly anyone cared. The national response to and interest in York County's 300th anniversary
could generously be described as, 'Huh?'" According to numismatic author Arlie Slabaugh, "of the many bills introduced in
Congress for half dollars to commemorate 'local' places or events this is one that managed to pass. Important as York County
is to the State of Maine, I regret there is very little that can be said about this commemorative that will have important
significance to someone in a distant state." As Anthony Swiatek and Walter Breen Fort  put it in their volume on commemorative coins, "aside from the 

Vancouver issue , this is probably the most obscure local-pride celebration to be honored by a commemorative coin. York County, Maine, is the oldest and southernmost county in the state, but we know of no event of national significance originating there."