Connecticut Tercentennial Half Dollar

The Connecticut Tercentennial Half Dollar is a United States silver commemorative fifty-cent piece struck in 1935 to mark the 300th anniversary of the settlement of the Connecticut colony. It belongs to the "classic" commemorative series that ran from 1892 to 1954, in which Congress authorized special half dollars to honor an event and sold them at a premium to raise funds.

The coin's best-known feature is its reverse, which depicts the Charter Oak — the legendary Hartford tree in which colonists are said to have hidden Connecticut's royal charter in 1687 to keep it from being seized. The obverse shows a standing American eagle. The anniversary dates 1635–1935 accompany the design.

Struck in the standard 90% silver alloy of a regular half dollar, it was never meant for circulation and was distributed to collectors and the public at a premium. Today it is prized as one of the more attractively designed issues in the classic commemorative half dollar series.

Congress authorized the Connecticut Tercentennial Half Dollar to help commemorate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Connecticut colony, whose early English settlement dates to 1635. The coins were struck in 1935 and sold at a premium above face value, following the fundraising pattern used throughout the classic commemorative program.

The design is the work of sculptor Henry Kreis. The reverse renders the Charter Oak, a white oak that stood in Hartford and became an enduring symbol of colonial resistance to royal authority after the charter was reportedly concealed in its hollow trunk in 1687. The tree itself fell in 1856, but its legend made it a natural emblem for the state's tercentennial. The obverse presents a stylized standing eagle in the restrained, modern relief typical of 1930s American medallic art.

The issue was produced only at the Philadelphia Mint and in a single year. Distribution was modest by later standards — on the order of tens of thousands of coins — and, unlike some commemoratives of the era, it was not split into numerous mint-mark varieties, which has helped keep it a straightforward single-coin type for collectors.

Identify the type by its two distinctive designs. The reverse shows a large, spreading oak tree — the Charter Oak — with the anniversary dates 1635 and 1935, plus lettering naming the Connecticut tercentennial. This tree is the single most recognizable diagnostic and does not appear on any circulating half dollar of the period.

The obverse depicts a standing American eagle in profile, wings folded, rendered in shallow modern relief. The coin is a standard-size half dollar: about 30.6 mm in diameter, roughly 12.5 grams, struck in 90% silver with a reeded edge. It was made only in 1935 and only at Philadelphia, so a genuine example carries no mint mark.

Because it is a commemorative rather than a circulating coin, neither side resembles the Walking Liberty half dollar of the same year. The Charter Oak reverse and the standing-eagle obverse, together with the 1635–1935 dates, are the surest identifiers.

As a classic silver commemorative, the Connecticut Tercentennial Half Dollar is worth well above its 50-cent face value and its silver content. It is a single-year, single-mint type, so value is driven mainly by condition and eye appeal rather than by variety.

Circulated and lightly worn examples typically trade from roughly the low hundreds of dollars, with attractive uncirculated coins bringing more and high-grade, sharply struck pieces with original surfaces selling for substantially higher figures. Toning, luster, and third-party grade all strongly affect price.

Because values move with the collector market and the coin's grade, any specific example should be checked against recent auction results and current price guides rather than a single fixed figure.