Inspired by a post by 
According to Wikipedia:
"The Columbian half dollar is a coin issued by the Bureau of the Mint in 1892 and 1893. The first traditional United States commemorative coin, it was issued both to raise funds for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and to mark the quadricentennial of the first voyage to the Americas of Christopher Columbus, whose portrait it bears."
The Columbian half dollar was the first American coin to depict a historical person. The coin stems from the desire of the Columbian Exposition's organizers to gain federal money to complete construction of the fair. Congress granted an appropriation, and allowed it to be in the form of commemorative half dollars, which legislators and organizers believed could be sold at a premium. Fair official James Ellsworth wanted the new coin to be based on a 16th-century painting he owned by Lorenzo Lotto, reputedly of Columbus, and pushed for this through the design process."
The public's interest in the coin wasn't as great as the fair organizers had hoped. Of the 5,000,000 coins struck, half ended up being melted down. Fewer than 400,000 were sold at the premium price, and the rest were circulated, showing up in cash drawers and people's pockets as late as the 1950s. The circulated coin I bought today went for a small amount over its melt value of $9.95. I paid $25 fiat for this commemorative coin, a nice 1944 Walking Liberty Half Dollar, and a shiny Roosevelt Dime.
@sinlg for my name in gold!