Commems Collection Classic: What If? Phantom 1963 Carolina Charter Tercentenary

The Carolina Charter was granted by King Charles II to eight Lords Proprietors as a repayment of their previous aid to the King. Administratively, the Charter established the Carolina Colony with territory that stretched from south of Virginia to Florida and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. The Charter granted governing authority over the Carolina Colony to the proprietors, in exchange for an annual payment of 20% of the gold and silver produced in the Colony.

Politically, the Charter's important place in North Carolina history is assured by its place in the line of documents that help ensure the political liberties of the State's residents. It's a line that stretches back to the Magna Carta of 1215 and continues to the present-day Constitution.

I rate this one as a "Phantom" due to two facts:

1) The Carolina Charter Tercentenary Commission of North Carolina, created by the North Carolina Legislature in 1959, created a Coin Committee to explore the possibility of securing a commemorative coin. The Committee was comprised of US Senator Benjamin Everett Jordan (D-NC) and US Representative Basil Lee Whitener (D-NC); and

2) Congress demonstrated its support for the Carolina Charter Tercentenary by the passage of the Federal Government's North Carolina Tercentenary Celebration Commission bill. The bill was signed into law by President John F. Kennedy on April 27, 1962. The Federal Commission, consisting of four Senators, four Representatives and seven members from outside Congress, was directed "to develop and to execute suitable plans for the celebration of a series of anniversaries occurring during 1963, commemorating the three hundredth anniversary of the Carolina Charter o! 1663, together with significant events in the history of North Carolina from 1663 to 1763, both years inclusive." The Commission was also directed to cooperate and assist the Carolina Charter Tercentenary Commission of North Carolina with its celebration plans.

With this level of support, a commemorative coin would seem to have been a viable proposition. It appears, however, that off-the-record discussions revealed that support for such a coin (from either the Treasury Department or Congress) was lacking. No bill for a Carolina Charter commemorative coin was introduced in either the House of Representatives or Senate - the Post Office Department, however, released a commemorative stamp for the anniversary.

In the end, the Charter's tercentenary was marked with the stamp, booklets on North Carolina history, a literary contest, a mobile museum, an art exhibition, music concerts featuring original compositions written for the anniversary, a variety of live-event celebrations across the state and many other history-related projects.


1963 Carolina Charter Tercentenary Stamp

(Image Credit: Smithsonian National Postal Museum. Fair use, education.)

I don't have all of the booklets published by the Charter Commission back in 1963, but I do have this one:

Carolina Charter Commission: The Proprietors of Carolina



For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more What If? Phantom stories, see: Commems Collection.