The Stone Mountain Memorial Half Dollars was minted in 1925 to raise funds to build a Confederate memorial at the site of Stone Mountain in Georgia. The coin obverse shows General Robert E. Lee and Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson on horseback. The reverse depicts an eagle perched upon a craggy outcrop and the inscription "Memorial to the Valor of the soldiers of the South." Gutzum Borglum designed the coin and was to sculpt the monument but after beginning the project he was dismissed after having a squabble with some members of the Stone Mountain Confederate Monument Association. Due to the exhaustion of funds and the oncoming depression the project was not finished until 1970. The completed carving shows, Lee, Jackson, and Davis on Horseback. The monument is 90 feet high, 190 feet wide, as well as 400 feet above the base of the mountain. The coins sold for $1.00 apiece with unsold pieces being given away at various promotions. Over one million coins were sent back to the mint for melting.
Today the coins are some of the most common and least expensive of all commemoratives. A double die obverse variety exists, with doubling exhibited on "Stone Mountain" and on the "1925". The double die is scare and worth a premium.
Stone Mountain memorial Half Dollar
Date.............................1925
Mintage........................2,314,709
Quantity Melted...........1,000,000
Net Distributed............1,314,709
Grade..........................PCGS MS65
Designer......................Gutzon Borglum
Composition................90% silver, 10%copper
Mint.............................Philadelphia
Population report.........MS65-1167/higher346
Info from Rob's United States Coins website.
Submitted by: "Confidential"
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