Best-seller Japanese Patches Now Back In Stock. http://mynuubu.shop/BuXI8eGWcJ06ki89ReLdWKbGNInl-D38XgGazACWYokXca2F http://mynuubu.shop/ZcZPcmhJPRPRVCK81aDWJhRC0Z1Se53LVnVQrtQUMxD9Piqj Only 50,000 of the authorized mintage of 300,000 were coined, plus 28 pieces intended to be sent to Philadelphia to be available for inspection and testing at the 1926 meeting of the annual Assay Commission. The minting was done not later than August 1 at San Francisco. As a publicity stunt, the entire mintage (less the 28 assay coins) was flown by air to Vancouver, Washington, by United States Army Air Corps Lieutenant Oakley G. Kelly on August 1; the shipment, including packaging, weighed 1,462 pounds (663 kg). On arrival, the coins were received by Herbert Campbell, head of the centennial commission. The half dollars were intended to help pay for the centennial festivities in Vancouver. These were held from August 17 to 23, with a highlight being a pageant, "The Coming of the White Man", which was "based on historical fact". The coins were sold at $1 each; several hundred were gilded, diminishing their future value as numismatic specimens; others were kept as pocket pieces, or were spent. The poor sales caused financial problems and may have caused a suicide, for on August 22, Charles A. Watts, secretary of the Centennial Corporation and described by Campbell as the real force behind the coin, killed himself. The day before he died, he told a meeting of the corporation there were funds enough to pay all debts, and that Fraser was not owed any money. Neither proved to be the case, and unpaid bills totaled $6,000, with no money to pay them. In fact, Fraser's fee of $1,200 was outstanding, and she tried to get paid even with the half dollars, but her bill was unsatisfied until a year later, when she was paid by check. The half dollars were not owned by the corporation, as the Vancouver National Bank had advanced money for them. Sales came to a virtual halt by the end of October. Texas coin dealer B. Max Mehl offered to buy the remainder of the issue at face value, but this was rejected as many people had paid $1 for their coins. A total of 35,034 pieces were sent back to the mint for redemption and melting, leaving 14,966 pieces outstanding. According to Swiatek and Breen, "given the remoteness and exclusively local nature of the celebration, it is surprising that as many as fourteen thousand coins were sol