1934-D 50c Oregon Trail

Coin / United States of America / 1934 / Denver / Silver Commemoratives / 50c

The 1934-D Oregon Trail half dollar hails from the Denver Mint, which produced just more than 7,000 examples of this popular commemorative type that year. The Oregon Trail half dollar, honoring the historic 2,000-mile path cutting through the western United States along which many pioneers died, was designed by the husband-and-wife design team of James Earle Fraser and Laura Gardin Fraser. The obverse showcases a Native American standing before a geographical map of the United States and a line of miniature Conestoga wagons crossing the path of the trail. The reverse shows a cattle-driven wagon rolling over a sun-splashed hill. <BR><BR> The 1934-D Oregon Trail halves were sold for $2 apiece, and most were saved in uncirculated grades. However, relatively few managed to remain in the top Mint State grades. Gems are not terribly uncommon, but the 1934-D is among the scarcest of all Oregon Trail half dollars in the grades of MS66 or higher -- many show marks and other detractions across the faces of the coins, keeping the vast majority of specimens in grades below MS65.