The Pilgrim Tercentenary half dollar was a fifty-cent coin designed by Cyrus E. Dallin and struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1920 and 1921 as a 300th anniversary of the Pilgrims arrival to North America. The coin features William Bradford wearing a hat and carrying a Bible under his arm. The reverse side depicts the boat Mayflower under full sail. Some sculptors such as James Earle Fraser, a prominent sculptor member at the time, criticised the design of the coin. Regardless, in order to mark the anniversary, the federal government and the state quickly passed legislation to commission the minting of the coin. Over 300,000 half dollar coins were made and were sold to the public in Boston for $1 each. All profits went to the tercentenary commission. While sales of the 1920 coin was successful, and they were used as legal tender, sales slowed during 1921 as the deflationary recession became widespread in America of that year. Soon after, sales dwindled and over 120,000 coins were returned to the Mint for melting. Since this time, any remaining coins have inflated in value. During the boom of 1980, the 1921 edition of the coin was sold for as high as $800 – depending on the condition. Retrospectively, art historians like Cornelius Vermeule consider the Pilgrim Tercentenary half dollar coin as a triumph in expressing the conservative tradition by its aestheticism and its purpose.