The era of early commemorative coins drew to a close with the final issues of the series issued from 1937-1954. What had started as a small number of coins issued periodically for important occasions had ended up as a flood of coins for sometimes dubious subjects.
A Congressional hearing held in 1937 brought attention to complaints from collectors about coins issued across multiple years with different mint marks and other abuses of the program. As a result, the authority to produce additional coins for existing programs was revoked and the approval of new programs was vastly curtailed.
During 1937 and 1938, previously approved coins to mark the anniversary of Roanoke Colony, the Battle of Antietam, and the 250th anniversary of the settlement of New Rochelle were issued. This was followed by a long gap until the successful issuance of the silver half dollar for the Iowa Centennial. In the following years, the previous cited abuses once again began to manifest as the Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver Half Dollars were issued across multiple years and multiple mints. With the these two issues, the era of early commemorative coinage came to a close.
