1928 Oregon Trail Commemorative PCGS MS65 CAC. Very pretty specimen of this keydate Oregon Trail Commem half dollar with sticker from CAC Coin (Certified Acceptance Corp). The coin displayed for your consideration is a 1928 Oregon Trail commemorative half dollar graded MS65 by PCGS. The grade that this coin possesses has been verified by the Certified Acceptance Corporation (CAC), with only 21 being verified at the MS-65 grade. This coin exhibits bright un-mottled surfaces with light yellow toning on both the obverse and reverse as well as well defined devices.

In 1926, the New York based Oregon Trail Memorial Association, Inc. petitioned Congress to authorize a half dollar to "commemorate the heroism of our fathers and mothers who traversed the Oregon Trail to the far West with great hardship, daring, and loss of life, which not only resulted in adding new states to the Union, but earned a well-deserved and imperishable fame for the pioneers."

Before the California Gold Rush in 1849, American pioneers had already begun to migrate West to the rich farmland of the Willamette Valley in the Oregon territory and followed a route which stretched over 2,000 miles; from Independence, Missouri to Fort Vancouver, now Vancouver, Washington. The Oregon Trail was a grueling enterprise, made even more perilous by non-existent roads and the constant threat of violent storms, prairie fires, dysentery and cholera, not to mention sporadic Indian attacks. Many travelers on the Oregon Trail would perish, but the promise of a new life compelled the pioneers to push on. By 1846, more than 6,000 people would travel on the Oregon Trail.

On May 17, 1926, Congress passed legislation authorizing the coining of "no more than six million" coins and the Oregon Trail commemorative half dollar was born.

The Oregon Trail half dollar was completed by James Earle Fraser and his wife, Laura Gardin Fraser. Mrs. Fraser had designed several commemorative coins, notably the 1922 Grant half dollar and dollar, and her husband, who is credited with the obverse design of the Oregon Trail half, is remembered for creating one of the most memorable of all modern coin designs, the Buffalo nickel.

The obverse of the half dollar features a Conestoga wagon drawn by oxen, heading into a setting sun. The motto IN GOD WE TRUST arcs above at the rim and below the wagon is OREGON TRAIL MEMORIAL and the date. The designers' initials appear behind the wagon. The reverse features a dramatically rendered Indian, standing erect with outstretched arm as if to say "stop." The Indian is superimposed on a map of the U.S. depicting a line of Conestoga wagons heading West. The inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is placed around the Indian, and HALF DOLLAR arcs below at the rim. The overall design of the coin is considered one of the most beautiful and truly "American" in U.S. coinage.