1920 Pilgrim Silver Half Dollar - UNC - Defender Holder

Yesterday, October 3rd, was a very special day in American history, it is the anniversary of Lincoln declaring Thanksgiving as a national holiday back in 1863.

The tradition of Thanksgiving started as a time in which people were thankful just to have lived another year and see another harvest… and now it has evolved into a celebration of friends and family, the things which we should truly be grateful for.

In honor of this holiday rooted in the benevolence of the human spirit, the United States Mint decided in 1920 to produce a special commemorative silver coin… The Pilgrim Tercentenary Half Dollar.

In honor of the holiday's 159th anniversary, we searched high and low so we could bring back these 100+ year old pieces of American history for the first time in three years.

The primary half dollar created for circulation in 1920 was the Walking Liberty. The United States Mint struck in excess of 12 million Walking Liberty half dollars at the Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco Mints... Yet this special Pilgrim half dollar is almost 10 times rarer with an official mintage of just 152,112.

But wait, it gets even better.

One of the main reasons it is so difficult to find these special half dollars is because at the end of 1921, the U.S. Mint destroyed over 128,000 of the commemorative coins -- that left just over 24,000 left for collectors nationwide.

P.S. Did you know that one of our nation’s greatest leaders actually wanted EVERY coin made by the U.S. Mint to be a Thanksgiving-themed coin? Benjamin Franklin, one of our nation's most iconic and impactful founding fathers, wanted to name the turkey as the official bird of the United States, not our beloved bald eagle.

This special silver half dollar was issued by the United States Mint to commemorate the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, in 1620. The obverse of the coin bears the image of Governor William Bradford, while the reverse boasts an image of the iconic pilgrim ship: the Mayflower.

Each of our coins are hand selected and in collector's quality uncirculated condition. Each will arrive encapsulated and in a black collector's pouch.