Virginia Senator Carter Glass sought legislation for a Norfolk half dollar, but the bill was amended in committee to provide for commemorative medals instead.

Unaware of the change, Glass and the bill's sponsor in the House of Representatives, Absalom W. Robertson, shepherded the legislation through Congress.

Despite being nearly destroyed during the American Revolutionary War, Norfolk was almost as large a port as New York City by 1790, but its importance declined in the 19th century.

[2] In the 1930s, commemorative coins were not sold by the government—Congress, in authorizing legislation, usually designated an organization which had the exclusive right to purchase them at face value and vend them to the public at a premium.

[4] Virginia Senator Carter Glass introduced a bill for a Norfolk Bicentennial half dollar on May 20, 1936; it was referred to the Committee on Banking and Commerce.

The past session of Congress passed bills and the President signed them authorizing the issuance of fifteen commemorative coins.

Is the settlement of northern Illinois, commemorated by the Elgin issue, more important than the granting of the royal charter to Norfolk City?

And it's time for the people of Norfolk to bring every pressure to bear in an attempt to remove what is in reality a direct insult to the city.

[7][8] After Adams reported the bill back to the Senate,[9] Glass attempted to have it considered by that body, but initially Joseph Guffey of Pennsylvania objected, demanding the regular order.

[7] Turin blamed Roosevelt for the mix-up, and stated that Senator Glass had said he had not realized the bill had been changed, nor had Representative Robertson.

[15] It was reported back to the Senate on the 16th by Adams with an amendment containing language usual to commemorative coin bills, that the federal government would not be responsible for the expenses of preparing the dies for the coinage.

[20][21] The Fine Arts Commission was charged by a 1921 executive order by President Warren G. Harding with rendering advisory opinions on public artworks, including coins.

[23] After the coin bill passed Congress in June 1937, the Simpsons modified the design slightly, with the tip of the mace now between the words HALF and DOLLAR, and minor changes being made to the obverse.

The inscriptions trace the progress of Norfolk from borough to city, and include the date 1936, as required by the legislation, though the coin was not struck until 1937.

[28] His view was not entirely negative, saying that "skill in spacing the letters, in casting the surfaces, and in modeling the high relief saves much of the composition.

"[28] In September 1937, the Philadelphia Mint struck 25,000 Norfolk half dollars, plus 13 extra that would be held for inspection and testing at the 1938 meeting of the annual Assay Commission.

This Turin addressed in advertisements, stating that the crown only appeared as part of the historic mace, and that the city would have issued the coin in 1936 but for the mix-up.