By Charles Morgan for CoinWeek…
One hundred and thirty-two years ago, Vance LaRue Wilson, a 40-year-old Iowan, attended the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. For many attendees, the Chicago World’s Fair was their first time seeing a Ferris Wheel, electric lights, automatic dishwashers, moving pictures, or zippers. Wilson, a man of considerable wealth, was captivated by the spectacle and took home numerous souvenirs, including coins, medals, and tokens that would later surprise his heirs with their value.
The Columbian Half Dollar
The Columbian Half Dollar is a significant place in American numismatic history. It was the first commemorative coin produced by the United States Mint. Struck at the Philadelphia branch, the coin was issued in 1892 and 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s voyage to North America and to help fund the exposition. Unlike the standard Barber Half Dollar, the Columbian Half Dollar was not intended for general circulation. Instead, it was sold as a keepsake for $1, double its fifty-cent face value.
The coin’s design was a collaborative effort between prominent engravers. Charles E. Barber created the obverse, which features a portrait of Columbus. (It’s worth noting that no definitive likeness of Columbus exists from his lifetime; artists based their images on written descriptions from his son and contemporaries.) George T. Morgan designed the reverse, which depicts Columbus’s flagship, the Santa Maria, sailing over two globes representing the Western and Eastern hemispheres.
A total of five million coins were authorized, but demand was only about half of that. Ultimately, 950,000 coins were struck in 1892 and 1,550,405 in 1893. To put this massive mintage in perspective, the Philadelphia Mint only struck 934,000 Barber Halves for circulation in 1892 and 1.83 million in 1893.
Discovery of the Wilson Hoard
According to Luke Christopher, a coin dealer who appraised the collection, Vance LaRue Wilson was a man of some means. A traveling salesman born in 1853, Wilson lived until 1943. He traveled the world, going on lengthy cruises and collecting numerous souvenirs, including coins. In addition to a collection of U.S. type coins and the items from the Columbian Exposition, Wilson also picked up foreign coins during a 1900 voyage, keeping detailed notes about each visit and the coins he found.
During his trip to the World’s Columbian Exposition, Wilson bought several items, including pavilion medals, the United States Mint medal, two 1893 Isabella Quarters, and 200 1892 Columbian Half Dollars. The Isabella Quarters were sold for 75¢ each by the Lady Managers of the exposition. The commemorative half dollars sold for $1 each. Given that the average weekly wage for an industrial worker in 1892 was about $12.50, Wilson’s investment of $200 in souvenir coins with a face value of $100 was highly unusual.
When Christopher inspected the coins, he was surprised to see that they had remained brilliant and untoned over the years. “The coins were brilliant, as if they were brand new. Only the rims, which were in contact with the tubes, had any degree of color,” Christopher told CoinWeek.
The coins were stored in a long, homemade tube, rolled in aluminum foil, and wrapped in paper. Since aluminum foil wasn’t commercially available in the U.S. until the late 1910s, the coins must have been stored in another way for at least the first 25 years.
What Will Happen to the Wilson Hoard?
Christopher submitted a selection of coins to PCGS for grading and was pleased with the results. Seven of the coins received the Prooflike designation. He estimates that a few more coins in the hoard might also meet the criteria for lower-grade Prooflike status. If the Wilson Hoard is a typical sampling, it suggests that approximately 4% of fresh coins from this issue were likely Prooflike. Since most Columbian Half Dollars are now deeply toned, these initial Prooflike surfaces are probably now obscured.
Christopher took the graded coins and the rest of the half-dollar hoard to the World’s Fair of Money in Oklahoma City, where he sold them to Jeff Garrett. The half-dollar deal netted the family approximately $40,000. Garrett then sold the coins to Jack McNamara of Rare Collectibles TV, which will offer the coins for sale in a future broadcast.
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That story is amazing…….Every once in a while a once in a lifetime opportunity comes along and provides a chance to obtain amazingly rare things like these coins…….I would LOVE to own one of them, no question about it..
That hoard was truly amazing. Aluminum Foil? Interesting.
what an amazing find!
Wow! What a great story! I really enjoyed reading it. I wonder how many people, especially years ago, considered hot to properly store their coins to keep them in the condition those coins were in. My dad collected a lot of coins over the years but I think he just kept them in a box and never really thought to store them any other way. He had a lot of really old coins but I think their value probably decreased because of the way they were stored.
The Columbian Half Dollars are beautiful. I’m surprised they were wrapped in aluminum foil, that’d be the last wrapper I’d consider. But what an amazing hoard!
amazing history for a commerative coins- curious how someone thought aluminum foil was a great way to keep these coins.
incredible that a $200 purchase netted $20K -never know when a coin , especially a commerative one, would become a collectors prize
Amazing story.
What an impressive collection.
Great story. You never know what you will find.
That’s incredible
Love hoard stories
Beautiful coins. Amazed at the condition their in.
That’s an incredible find!
Man would j love to stumble upon a horde like this! Just awesome.
Cool story
Proof like is good, but who doesn’t like toned coins?
Very interesting story. I have a few stashed away, and will have to break them back out, and revisit them.
Proof like is nice, but who doesn’t like a toned coin?
A great read. The story was really great to read and informative at the same time.
What a great find and a interesting story behind it!
Great, coin, would like to see/own one, my father was a boy back then,
Wish he’d got one!
He only bought 2 isabela coins, I imagine because it was 3x its value rather than 2x for the half dollar. Go figure, he would have had a much greater return today.
amazing collection
Such beautiful condition. It’s surprising that these didn’t turn up sooner.
Nice
I wish I could have done something like this years ago…
A dream catch for sure! Better than the legendary story of discovering an old Harley in a barn find!
Unbelievable!
Always awesome finds
A $200.00 initial investment of 200 coins from 1893 selling for $20,000.00 in 2025 gives a great return of $100.00 per coin.
Apmex provides additional information of the coins and the fair on their website. It states “. . . The first coin struck was purchased as an advertising gimmick by the Remington Typewriter company for $10,000 . . .”
Impressive to think he’d spend that much back then! They certainly have appreciated since.
That would be an amazing find!
Just goes to show you never know what is a good collection item when you first start out. It would be interesting to find out what else he had in his collection and how they faired over time.
Love stories like this.
Wow, just wow.
These articles are very interesting and informative. Fortunately, I have had a few minor finds & would love to have a major find like this. When my ship comes in, I’ll probably be at the train station…
That was an incredible discovery!
Too bad they’re the common commeratives. Had it been a hoard of Hawaiians, it would have been a nice little fortune!
Great Story of the past!
Very interesting article. Life was a completely different experience back then. So many things were new and fresh. We need more of that today.
I’ll be looking to see what or if they come up for sale.
Amazing
Cool article. I love hearing about old coins & hordes found years later.
Reading this article – it makes me wonder how many old, hidden coins have yet to be discovered.
A $200.00 initial investment of 200 coins from 1893 selling for $20,000.00 in 2025 gives a great return of $100.00 per coin. I read that the first coin struck was purchased as an advertising gimmick by the Remington Typewriter company for $10,000.
great find
If only I had…. Gold at $316.00 an ounce. Love these articles. Thanks.
Love these articles. Thanks.
This is a pretty interesting story about an amazing ‘hoard” of Columbian half dollars, preserved for so long in such good condition.
I would love to find a hoard like this!!!
Being the first commemorative coin produced by the US Mint, I’m not surprised at its worth. Wonderful find!
That’s one of the great things about coin collecting, not only do the coins themselves have interesting and often unexpected back stories but so do the collectors. It’s always a fascinating journey of discovery to learn the history, perseverence and dedication of all involved.
Cool story!
Awesome
This coin was one of my favorites in my collection when i was a kid.
Love reading/hearing stories like this
From everything I’ve read about Barber and Morgan, their collaborative design of the Columbus half dollar may have been the only time they worked together on anything,
As in all things..If we knew then what we know now.. alot of things I would have acquired and retained. Such as my childhood toys as well as silver coins from my paperboy years.
I wish Grandpa had done that.
I wish I knew to hold on to stuff when I was younger!
That is quite interesting. I wonder what was used prior to 1925 to wrap the coins rather than the aluminum foil?
An Iowan from that time with that much money!!!
I remember a dealer back before 1992 was buying up Columbian halves. He was going to put a full page in Parade Magazine and sell them.
Amazing find of a beautiful coin
Great to see these finds
went to the 1964 worlds fair as a teenager and left all my change there
Great story and some great coins and medals.
This is an incredible story!
It seems I need to ask my relatives about their coin collections.
Great article. I have only 2 of these halves.
An amazing find for a very lucky family, for sure.
Like finding buried treasure. Interesting that the number of coins helped preserve the condition of some, while the number of coins decreases the rarity and value of each one.
it will be interesting to find out their worth today.
Fun story, great find
That’s a truly inspiring story thank you for sharing
Wow. I guess you just never know what will end up having value years down the road.
great story
What a find!
Amazing, absolutely amazing.
An excellent hoard to inherit.
I love the prooflike Columbians. I have to find these for sale..
Great find.
Very interesting story!
The history behind these Columbians and other coins like it so really interesting.
Great story! He had to know the coins would some day be worth a lot. Sue wish I owned some Columbian half dollars!!
Great Story, had never realized how many had been minted, just that they always seemed to be one of the most common commemoratives.