The Old Spanish Trail half dollar is a commemorative coin struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1935. It was designed by L. W. Hoffecker, a coin dealer who had been the moving force behind the effort for a Gadsden Purchase half dollar, vetoed by President Herbert Hoover in 1930, and he sought another commemorative coin that he could control if authorizing legislation was passed. He chose the travels of Spanish officer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in the early 16th century. Though Hoffecker's hometown of El Paso, Texas, is featured on the coin, Cabeza de Vaca came nowhere near its site. Hoffecker purchased the coins from the Mint at face value and sold them to collectors, ostensibly on behalf of the local museum, but in fact for his personal profit, something he later denied before Congress. His design for the coin, featuring the head of a cow (the English meaning of cabeza de vaca), has brought mixed reviews from numismatic commentators.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Spanish_Trail_half_dollar

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1866:

German composer Max Bruch conducted the premiere of his first violin concerto, which later became his most famous work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin_Concerto_No._1_%28Bruch%29

1915:

The Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire began with the arrest and deportation of hundreds of prominent Armenians in Constantinople. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deportation_of_Armenian_intellectuals_on_24_April_1915

2011:

Secret documents relating to detainees at the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camp were released on WikiLeaks and several independent news organizations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_files_leak

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

loath: 1. Averse, disinclined; reluctant, unwilling. 2. (obsolete) Angry, hostile. 3. (obsolete) Loathsome, unpleasant. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/loath

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The good and the bad mix themselves so thoroughly in our thoughts, even in our aspirations, that we must look for excellence rather in overcoming evil than in freeing ourselves from its influence.   --Anthony Trollope https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anthony_Trollope