Officials in Maine wanted a commemorative half dollar to circulate as an advertisement for the centennial of the state's admission to the Union, and of the planned celebrations.

The Commission of Fine Arts disliked the proposed design, and urged changes, but Maine officials insisted, and de Francisci converted the sketches to plaster models, from which coinage dies could be made.

Governor Carl Milliken and the council of Maine wanted a half dollar issued to commemorate the centennial of the state's 1820 admission to the Union.

[1] That legislation for a Maine Centennial half dollar had been introduced in the House of Representatives by the state's John A. Peters on February 11, 1920, with the bill designated as H.R.

When the committee met, on February 23, 1920, Congressman Peters told members of the history of the state and citizens' desire to celebrate the centennial, including with a commemorative coin.

[3] Clay Stone Briggs of Texas wanted to know if the Maine bill's provisions were identical to those of the Illinois act, and Peters confirmed it.

[4] On March 20, Vestal filed a report on behalf of his committee, recommending that the House pass the bill, and reproducing a letter from Houston stating that the Treasury had no objection.

Vestal asked that the bill be passed, but Ohio's Warren Gard had questions about what would happen to the coins once they entered circulation; Peters stated that they would, once issued, be treated as ordinary half dollars.

[8] The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency; on April 28, Connecticut's George P. McLean reported it back with a recommendation that it pass.

[12] On May 14, 1920, four days after Wilson signed the bill, Director of the Mint Baker sent them to the chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts, Charles Moore, for an opinion as to their merits.

Fraser immediately replied by telegram, that he disliked the design as it was "ordinary", and that it was an error to approve sketches; a plaster model should be made by a sculptor.

Moore expanded on this in a letter to Houston the following day, "our new silver coinage has reached a high degree of perfection because it was designed by competent men.

[14] After discussions among Peters, Moore, and various officials, an agreement was reached whereby the sketches would be converted into plaster models, and Fraser engaged his onetime student, Anthony de Francisci, to do the work.

[19] According to Taxay, the two human figures on the obverse "were too small to retain their beauty after reduction [from the plaster models to coin size] and seem trivial.

Governor Milliken also wrote, on July 20, reminding Mint officials that the coin was authorized by a special act of Congress, and asking when the first consignment would be ready.

[23] In the late summer of 1920, a total of 50,028 Maine Centennial half dollars were produced at the Philadelphia Mint, including 28 pieces reserved for inspection and testing at the 1921 meeting of the annual Assay Commission.