The Minnesota Territorial Centennial half dollar was a proposed fifty-cent piece to be issued by the United States Bureau of the Mint. Legislation for the coin passed both houses of Congress, but was vetoed by President Harry S. Truman in 1948.
Background edit
The commemorative coin abuses of the mid-1930s led to a hiatus in the issuance of such issues after 1939. In 1946, President Harry S. Truman signed two commemorative coin bills, the Iowa Centennial half dollar bill and that for the Booker T. Washington half dollar. He signed the bills only reluctantly, stating that he would look with disfavor on additional issues. Nevertheless, Congress passed a bill for a special half dollar for the 100th anniversary of Wisconsin statehood, which had occurred in 1848.. Truman pocket vetoed \ the Wisconsin bill on March 31, 1947. State authorities in Minnesota hoped for a commemorative coin honoring the 100th anniversary of the organization of Minnesota as a territory. They got the Postmaster General to promise a special postage stamp, and sought to persuade Congress to pass a bill for a coin.