1923-S Monroe Doctrine Centennial. MS-66 (PCGS). CAC.A highly attractive dusky magenta piece with sapphire accents. Contact marks are hard to find in the beautiful blend of luster and toning. In a PCGS 4th generation holder with a CAC sticker, it is a truly exceptional coin for the grade that would be an exciting addition to any commemorative collection.The 1923-S Monroe Doctrine Centennial half dollar ostensibly commemorates the anniversary of this piece of American foreign policy. However, the actual release of it was in California (which in 1823 had no connection with the United States) and was distributed at an obscure film festival. 274,000 were released, most of them going into general circulation for face value, where they were commonly seen through the 1940s. California bank tellers had a field day in setting them aside, often later spending them when they learned that the pieces, although curious, had relatively little aftermarket. When these pieces were produced they were handled roughly, counted, bagged, and shipped. Likely, if you had been present at the film festival in Los Angeles in 1923 and had dipped your hand into a bag of these, most would be what we would call MS-62 or MS-63 today. Not making matters any simpler is the shallow and quite unsatisfactory design relief. From an aesthetic viewpoint, many commemorative specialists consider this to be a low point among commemorative half dollars of the decade, a position perhaps challenged by the 1926 Sesquicentennial. Today, of course, this makes little difference-the high points and low points are equally enthusiastically collected, and an issue such as this, if anything, is a rarity when found in an exceptional grade.
