Alaskan Statehood Medal (1959)

In 1954 the United States Mint ceased producing commemorative half dollars.  In 1959, Robert McNamara, of Cleveland decided to start his own series.  The medals were produced by his company, the Heraldic Art Company, from 1959 until 1968 with a total of sixty issues.  The first issue was the Alaskan Statehood Medal and Rebeck was chosen as the sculptor.  The medals were struck in Silver, about 5000 were produced.  In addition to these were 24 medals struck in gold.

REFERENCES:

Johnson, D. Wayne.  “Heraldic Art Medal Series.”  Unpublished article.

Sanfilippo, Gino.  “So Called Half Dollars” TAMS Journal. January 1997, p. 17-21.

http://www.heraldicartmedals.com