Artist Gertrude K. Lathrop designed the piece; she was chosen after work by Lorrilard Wise was rejected by the federal Commission of Fine Arts (CFA).

Aware of the many commemorative issues being authorized by the U.S. Congress in the mid-1930s, members of the Westchester County Coin Club sought a half dollar for the New Rochelle anniversary.

New Rochelle's coin committee sold the half dollar for $2 locally, and by mail order to all 48 states and internationally, during late 1937 and early 1938.

[5] Sparked by new issues with low mintages for which the demand was greater than the supply, the market for United States commemorative coins spiked in 1936.

The coin club, at its November 1935 meeting, appointed Skipton as a one-man committee to make the necessary contacts to gain authorization for the issue.

[16] Senator Adams had heard of the commemorative coin abuses of the mid-1930s, when issuers increased the number of pieces needed for a complete set by having them issued with different dates and mint marks; authorizing legislation placed no prohibition on this.

He depicted a Native American sitting among vegetation watching the settlers' ship sail in before a rising sun for the obverse, with a representation of New Rochelle's coat of arms for the reverse.

Eugene Savage and Gilmore Clarke, also members, did not agree and after rejecting a design revision on October 23, the CFA asked that the New Rochelle Committee hire a new sculptor.

[28] By mid-November, the Skiptons had seen an example of the Albany Charter half dollar, designed by Gertrude K. Lathrop, who was hired to replace Wise and who spent many hours in New Rochelle, studying local views.

[4] Lathrop knew President Roosevelt from his days as Governor of New York and went to Washington to lobby for her designs; on her return she stated the CFA would approve the calf obverse and that both reverses were acceptable.

[25] Beautiful coin, so silvery white Little did Huguenots dream in their flight That a city they'd found like our own New Rochelle Where folks of all creeds in amity dwell.

On your reverse you bear the Lily-of-France While on obverse once more the "fatt calfe" doth prance And Lord Pell in a costume befitting the day Receives him as "quit rent"—so our annals do say.

North, South, East and West, little coin, you have sped With New Rochelle's story of heroes long dead Who feared not the hardships but stubbornly fought For the Faith that they loved and the Freedom they sought.

God grant, little coin, that the story thus told May live on forever and character mold In a form where there's Beauty, Faith, Hope, Truth and Love And over us hover sweet Peace like the dove.

[40] Frank Duffield, editor of The Numismatist, wrote at the time of issue that "Again Miss Gertrude K. Lathrop, of Albany, has scored with her designs for the New Rochelle half dollar.

"[41] Numismatist Stuart Mosher, in his 1940 work on commemorative coins, praised the New Rochelle piece, stating that Lathrop "has produced in this one a most pleasing effect.

One of the handicaps belaboring every artist who attempts to design a coin for the United States government is the multiplicity of legends that must be used so as to comply with our coinage laws.

In this instance the artist has arranged them in an orderly manner on the reverse, thus avoiding the cramped effect so often found on our coins when the designer attempts to crowd too many ideas into a small space.

More distressing is the fact that the accumulated prejudice against commemorative half-dollars" meant that none were issued, twenty-five years later, for the Civil War Centennial, despite the "clever fare in the artistry of American coinage" provided by "fatted calves".

[44] In April 1937, a total of 25,015 New Rochelle half dollars were struck at the Philadelphia Mint, 15 pieces being reserved for inspection and testing at the 1938 meeting of the annual Assay Commission.

[48] The Coin Committee filled orders from all 48 states, Puerto Rico, Hawaii Territory, the Canal Zone, Canada, New Zealand and the Dutch East Indies.

Members of the Coin Club bought several hundred specimens at face value, and 9,749 half dollars were returned to the Philadelphia Mint in mid-1938 for redemption and melting.

The calf refused to cooperate with events and it took four men to drag it onto the stage before it was allowed to return to its abode on a farm in Granite Springs; the roast beef served at the luncheon that followed came from a less fortunate source.

Had a calf been purchased, rather than borrowed, for the ceremony, it would have cost about $1,000 for the gift to William Rodman Pell 2d, '"sixteenth claimant to the Lordship and Manor of Pelham", who would have been unable to take it home, as local ordinances forbade the keeping of livestock.