The York County, Maine, Tercentenary half dollar is a fifty-cent piece minted in 1936 as a commemorative coin to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the founding of York County, the southernmost county in Maine and the first to be organized. The obverse shows Brown's Garrison, a fort around which York County developed, while the reverse depicts the county's arms. A commemorative coin craze in 1936 saw some coins authorized by the United States Congress that were of mainly local significance; the York County issue was one of these, passing Congress without opposition in the first half of 1936. Maine artist Walter H. Rich designed the issue; his work has garnered mixed praise and dislike from numismatic authors. The Philadelphia Mint struck 25,000 for public sale. Less than 19,000 sold by 1937, more than half to Mainers; the rest were sold in the 1950s. As of 2021, the York County half dollar catalogs for around $200, depending on condition.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_County,_Maine,_Tercentenary_half_dollar

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1600:

Scottish nobleman John Ruthven, 3rd Earl of Gowrie, was killed during what was most likely a failed attempt to kidnap King James VI. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ruthven,_3rd_Earl_of_Gowrie

1888:

Bertha Benz made the first long-distance automobile trip, driving 106 km (66 mi) from Mannheim to Pforzheim, Germany, in a Benz Patent-Motorwagen (pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_Benz

1981:

U.S. president Ronald Reagan fired the 11,345 striking members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization en masse. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Air_Traffic_Controllers_Organization_%281968%29

2011:

NASA launched the Juno probe to Jupiter as part of the New Frontiers program. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juno_%28spacecraft%29

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

side-eye: (transitive) To look at out of the corner of one's eye, particularly with animosity, or in a judgmental or suspicious manner. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/side-eye

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I think we're going to the moon because it's in the nature of the human being to face challenges. It's by the nature of his deep inner soul ... we're required to do these things just as salmon swim upstream.   --Neil Armstrong https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Neil_Armstrong