The National coin holder with so-called half dollars that was illustrated in last week's issue caught my eye. It's an example of PublisherNumber 420, my Lange Number RNSU7a, which was unprinted and intended for storing coins or medals of 32mm diameter. The National line actuallyproduced a dedicated holder for a selection of so-called half dollars during the 1950s and early '60s, and I'm attaching images borrowed fromeBay. This holder is Publisher Number 349Y, Lange Number RNSCA17.

Series 349 holds a complete date/mint/variety set of United States commemorative silver coins 1892-1954. Pages 349A through 349O are for the halfdollars, 349X holds the 1893 Isabella Quarter, the 1900 Lafayette Dollar and several commemorative medals: the 1920 Manila Mint Opening, the 1935Pony Express Jubilee, the 1925 Norse American Centennial (silver---thick and thin editions) and the 1938 Swedish commemorative two-kronor piececommemorating New Sweden.

These are all issues that Wayte Raymond promoted heavily as being part of a USA commemorative coin collection, though he clearly overlooked theUSA-Philippines Commonwealth coins of 1936. Interestingly, both 349X and 349Y include the Pony Express medal, and the reason for this redundancy isunknown. From ads of the period it appears that 349Y typically was sold with the medals/coins already in place, and it's unusual to find thatpage without them in the secondary market.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: FEBRUARY 17, 2019(https://www.coinbooks.org/v22/esylum_v22n07a18.html)