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The 1925 Fort Vancouver Half Dollar is a scarce coin in all grades thanks to a low net mintage of fewer than 15,000. Click image to enlarge.

The U.S. Mint issued four commemorative half dollars issued for 1925 that include the California, Lexington, Stone Mountain, and Fort Vancouver coins. All reach their centennial anniversary in 2025, and all are desirable coins for collectors. But the miniscule distribution of only 14,966 total coins for the Fort Vancouver Half Dollar explains much in regard to the current scarcity and price of the issue.

History of the 1925 Fort Vancouver Half Dollar

Originally Washington Congressman Albert Johnson wanted a coin for the centennial celebration honoring Fort Vancouver, which was built in 1825 by the Hudson Bay Company. When Johnson and Senator Wesley Jones, also of Washington, introduced legislation for the coin their bill wasn’t given a hearing. He was nearly persuaded to settle for a medal by Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures Chair Albert Vestal.

Instead after learning another congressman had been successful gaining authorization for the California Diamond Jubilee Half Dollar by amending a coinage bill, Johnson further amended the bill authorizing the Vancouver coin at the last moment. Interestingly legislation for the Vermont Half Dollar had just passed the Senate. Vestal’s motion to block the amendments failed. The bill authorizing the California, Fort Vancouver, and Vermont Half Dollars was enacted on February 24, 1925.

A centennial corporation submitted plaster models by an unknown artist to the Commission of Fine Arts. The commission rejected the models. The question wasn’t subject matter, but quality of work. The commission recommended Chester Beach, but he was unavailable. Their second choice, Laura Gardner Fraser, accepted the commission on June 15, 1925, and completed her models by July 1. Louis Ayres, a Fine Arts Commission member, viewed the models and wrote to commission chairman Charles Moore that, “The whole coin looks very interesting to me, and I think it is mighty good.” The models were approved by the commission and United States Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon shortly after. Dies were prepared at the Philadelphia Mint, then shipped to San Francisco, where the coins were to be struck.

The obverse of the 1925 Fort Vancouver Half Dollar features Hudson Bay Company Chief Factor and Superintendent John McLoughlin, who was in charge of Fort Vancouver from its construction in 1825 through 1846. The reverse depicts an armed frontiersman standing in front of the fort. Although all the coins were struck at San Francisco, the mint mark was inadvertently omitted.

The centennial celebration for Fort Vancouver was a big deal in the Northwest, but few individuals from other areas of the country knew about the event. Thus, sales of the coin to folks outside of the region were sparse, save for collectors who were aware of and interested in buying the coin. Fifty-thousand coins were struck. As a publicity stunt, the entire mintage of 50,000 coins, weighing 1,462 pounds, was flown to Vancouver by U.S. Army Air Corps Lt. Oakley G. Kelly. Donald Sterling, managing editor of The Oregon Sunday Journal, accompanied Kelly on the flight.

In a small ceremony, the coins were received by Herbert Campbell, head of the Centennial Committee. Campbell gave the first coin to Lt. Kelly, with other coins given to Sterling and Vancouver Mayor N.E. Allen.

The coins were sold at the centennial festivities in Vancouver held one week from August 17-23, 1925, for $1 each, with sales handled by the Fort Vancouver Centennial Commission. The coins were actually owned by the Vancouver National Bank that had advanced funds for the coins.

Of the original mintage, several hundred were gilded. But the vast majority were sold to individuals who carried them away as pocket pieces. There is no verifiable original packaging for the Fort Vancouver Half Dollar. The Vancouver National Bank had released the coins only as they were sold. Many individuals local to Vancouver purchased the coin at its issue price of $1. When sales fizzled out in late October, famous Texas coin dealer B. Max Mehl offered to buy the remaining 35,304 unsold at face value, totaling $17,652. Mehl’s offer was rejected, and the unsold coins were returned to the U.S. Mint where they were melted.

A Stolen Hoard

The vast majority of the 15,000 or so distributed pieces was sold to individuals. But one large group of 1,000 was sold to an executive of Hudson Bay’s Company and placed in the Archives of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. In 1982 a caretaker at the archives stole the Vancouver hoard. He sold some, spent some, and redeemed 568 others at a bank. The theft was discovered after an 1983 inventory.

Interestingly, the bank employee redeemed the coins for $284 in Canadian currency. With permission from her supervisor, she then immediately purchased the Vancouver hoard. The number of coins was verified using a counting machine, possibly impairing some of those coins. The bank employee later sold the entire hoard to a Canadian dealer for $37,500.

When the theft was discovered in 1983, the Province of Manitoba filed suit to recover the remaining coins. Eventually a settlement was reached allowing the Canadian dealer to keep the 46 remaining unsold coins from the 568-piece hoard. Coins sold in the U.S. and elsewhere were not pursued.

Scarce and Desirable Issue Today

The design of this coin has often been praised for both the historically relevant subject matter and display of those elements on the coin. While some might consider the reverse of the coin “a touch busy,” Fort Vancouver and Mount Hood are essential in the overall theme of the coin.

McLoughlin was instrumental in the growth of the Northwestern United States through the building of Fort Vancouver and his remarkable stewardship. His visage on the obverse of the coin is strong and resolute. The frontiersman on the reverse of the coin epitomizes the drive westward and the success of the growing United States through the efforts of these individuals.

The Fort Vancouver Half Dollar is cataloged under PCGS Spec Number 9399. To date, PCGS has graded 3,779 total coins in all grades versus an original mintage of 14,966. One could parlay these figures and find that PCGS has graded approximately 26% of the total mintage. Perhaps more intriguing is the number of PCGS-holdered coins in the lower grade range of MS62 or lower and those in the MS67 and better range.

For many classic U.S. commemorative coins, the MS63-MS66 range is the most commonly encountered state of preservation, and the Vancouver Half Dollar poses no exception. Of the 3,779 specimens graded by PCGS, 3,131 fall into that range. What else do the numbers illustrate? The Fort Vancouver Half Dollar wasn’t sold or distributed in any kind of protective packaging or even a small envelope, and a great many of the coins sold were therefore most likely placed in a pocket or purse almost immediately after purchase. PCGS has graded 472 examples in the FR02 to MS62+ range, representing 13 percent of the total that PCGS has graded for this issue.

On the flip side, PCGS has graded 138 total coins in MS67, MS67+, and MS68. There is nothing scientific about this comparison, but it potentially illustrates the early “mishandling” factor. There are more lower-grade examples graded by PCGS most likely because so many examples were mishandled soon after they were originally purchased.

Regardless of condition, the 1925 Fort Vancouver Half Dollar issue is highly sought after as part of both the 50-piece type classic U.S. commemorative silver set as well as the complete 144-piece U.S. commemorative silver set. Mostly because of the limited distribution (and only one documented hoard), Fort Vancouver Half Dollars are scarce in all grades.

AU58 specimens have been fetching between $215 and $300, while MS63s are garnering in the range of $312 and $372. In MS65, prices jump to the range of $634 and $900, while in MS67 prices hover between $1,560 and $4,320 – all prices depend not just on the categorical grade of the coin but also the individual merits of eye appeal for each individual specimen.

Lastly let’s look at the handful of MS67+ and MS68 Fort Vancouver Half Dollars that PCGS has graded. The relatively few MS67+ pieces, numbering just 28, are taking over $4,000 these days, with the last publicly traded specimen hammering for $4,320 in a January 2024 Heritage Auctions sale. There are just four PCGS-graded specimens in MS68, with the most recent public sale occurring in 2011, when the coin took $14,950 in a Heritage Auctions sale.