Monroe Doctrine Centennial half dollar
The Monroe Doctrine Centennial half dollar was a fifty-cent piece struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint. Bearing portraits of former U.S. Presidents James Monroe and John Quincy Adams, the coin was issued in commemoration of the centennial of the Monroe Doctrine and was produced at the San Francisco Mint in 1923. Sculptor Chester Beach is credited with the design, although the reverse closely resembles an earlier work by Raphael Beck.

In 1922, the motion picture industry was faced with a number of scandals, including manslaughter charges against star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. Although Arbuckle was eventually acquitted, motion picture executives sought ways of getting good publicity for Hollywood. One means was an exposition, to be held in Los Angeles in mid-1923. To induce Congress to issue a commemorative coin as a fundraiser for the fair, organizers associated the exposition with the 100th anniversary of the Monroe Doctrine, and legislation for a commemorative half dollar for the centennial was passed.

The exposition was a financial failure. The coins did not sell well, and the bulk of the mintage of over 270,000 was released into circulation. Beach faced accusations of plagiarism because of the similarity of the reverse design to a work by Beck, though he and fellow sculptor James Earle Fraser denied any impropriety. Many of the pieces that had been sold at a premium and saved were spent during the Depression; most surviving coins show evidence of wear.
Q201833
fifty-cent piece
Concept
Q1141049
United States Bureau of the Mint
ORG
Q11815
James Monroe
PER
Q11816
John Quincy Adams
PER
Q181026
Monroe Doctrine
Concept
Q3109253
San Francisco Mint
LOC
Q5093468
Chester Beach
PER
Q20725526
reverse
UNK
Q15452887
Raphael Beck
PER
Q315202
Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle
PER
Q4134287
James Earle Fraser
PER
Q8698
the Depression
Concept
Q6902181
Monroe Doctrine Centennial half dollar
Concept
1923-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1923
DATE
1922-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1922
DATE
-1923^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
-1923
NUMBER
+270.000^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
270,000
NUMBER
subclass of
depicts
location of creation
designed by