The Texas Centennial half dollar was a commemorative fifty-cent piece struck by the U.S. Bureau of the Mint for collectors from 1934 to 1938.

Rough models of the coin were approved by the committee in May 1934, but rejected by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, who viewed the design as crowded and overly-complicated.

A. Garland Adair led the Centennial Committee, which decided upon a commemorative coinage issue, likely inspired by the Oregon Trail Memorial half dollar, with the profits to be used to finance a museum.

Texas congressman William D. McFarlane, enjoying friendly connections to the committee, had pushed for the creation of a coin to commemorate the centennial.

[4][5] Such a method of funding had been suggested by state representative Temple Harris McGregor in March 1932, who proposed the issue of 50,000 half-dollar coins for sale to patriotic citizens at $1 each.

[10] The bill had been introduced by Senator Tom Connally of Texas; it was sponsored in the House by Wright Patman, also of that state.

[5] The bill provided for up to 1,500,000 coins to be issued, which could be purchased by the American Legion Texas Centennial Committee at face value,[14] for resale to collectors.

[4][8] Charles Moore, the chair of the commission, had become critical of the commemorative half-dollar series, and took an especially negative view of Coppini's initial models, describing them as a conglomeration of "the whole history of Texas and all its leading personages in a perfect hodgepodge.

Lawrie recommended the removal of the Six flags over Texas and the winged goddess Victory, to be replaced by a design focused on the Alamo, alongside Texan founding fathers Sam Houston and Stephen F.

In early models of the coin, the eagle held a laurel wreath in its claws, but this was changed to an oak branch for the final design.

Besides her, embedded within clouds, are two tondo busts of Texas leaders Sam Houston and Stephen Austin, each identified by an extremely small label.

Behind the central figure are the six flags,[α] although these are indistinct and partially obscured by a scroll bearing the word Liberty, an addition required by the Coinage Act of 1792.

[21] In 1937, Fort Worth coin dealer B. Max Mehl wrote that the depiction of Victory was unnecessary and detracted focus from the Alamo motif.

[17] Numismatists Anthony Swiatek and Walter Breen took a more negative view of the coin, describing the reverse design as "impossibly confusing", and especially prone to illegibility due to poor striking.

[9] Most of the mintage was sent to the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank and its branches at Houston, San Antonio and El Paso, with more to be sent if needed and paid for.

[28] The first coins to be vended were sold on December 15 via auction from the steps of the Texas State Capitol in Austin, following a parade.

[28] The extra funds gained from the preliminary auctions were intended to cover the Legion's expenses, so that fifty cents from every coin sold could go to the museum.

[37][38] Due to the lack of demand, 143,650 unsold coins were melted by the Treasury, as the Mint would not strike more until the 1934 issue was paid for or destroyed.

[40] The Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco mints produced 10,000 coins each in November 1935, alongside a small number of pieces reserved for assay purposes.

Walter P. Nichols, later a distributor of the York County Tercentenary half dollar, wrote to Adair recommending that the committee pursue a design change to sell more coins.

As alterations to the design required congressional approval, Texas senator Tom Connally introduced a bill in 1936 to allow for a new edition of the coin.

The bill, S. 3721, permitted five separate designs variations in an attempt to drive further sales, and it received a hearing on March 11, 1936 before a committee led by Senator Alva B. Adams of Colorado.

[44][45] Adams's committee heard testimony from El Paso coin dealer Lyman W. Hoffecker and from Frank Duffield, editor of The Numismatist.

[46][47] Meanwhile Jester attempted to sell the coins that had been already struck, announcing in February 1936 that there would be sales committees formed in each of Texas's 31 state senatorial districts.

[44][45] Charles J. Harris, executive secretary of the coin committee, stated that the sale would likely raise sufficient funds to pay off remaining obligations against the museum.

[58] The committee struggled to sell both the 1938 issues and their remaining stock of coins from previous years; many were returned to the Treasury for melting following the end of sales in November 1938.