Calvin Coolidge appeared beside George Washington on the obverse of the 1926 U.S. Sesquicentennial half dollar.
The coin was issued to commemorate the 150th anniversary of American independence. Its obverse used jugate busts, placing Washington and Coolidge together, while its reverse showed the Liberty Bell. Coolidge was the sitting president in 1926, and Washington was the nation's first president.
The design was historically unusual because Coolidge was alive when the coin was issued. Federal law and longstanding custom generally discouraged portraits of living people on U.S. coins, although commemorative coinage sometimes produced exceptions. The coin is therefore frequently discussed by numismatists for both its anniversary purpose and its unusual portrait arrangement.
The 1926 issue included two denominations: a silver half dollar and a gold quarter eagle valued at $2.50. The quarter eagle depicted Liberty on its obverse and Independence Hall on its reverse. These coins belong to the earlier Sesquicentennial celebration, not the 1976 Bicentennial or the 2026 Semiquincentennial.