The 1925 Stone Mountain Memorial Half Dollar

The 1925 Stone Mountain Memorial Half Dollar is a U.S. coin created to help fund the carving of the Stone Mountain Memorial in Georgia. This monument was intended to honor Confederate leaders like Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, who are depicted on horseback on the coin. Interestingly, the coin was also meant to commemorate President Warren G. Harding, but this idea was removed from the final design.

The coin was designed by Gutzon Borglum, who later became famous for Mount Rushmore. However, his initial designs for the Stone Mountain coin were not readily accepted. While the sale of the coin was meant to support the large-scale carving project, it didn't raise as much money as hoped, partly due to objections from Union Civil War veterans. The Stone Mountain carving project itself had a difficult history and was finished much later by a different artist. Despite these challenges, over a million of these half dollars were made, so they are not extremely rare today.