William Marks Simpson was an American sculptor and teacher. [1] He was hired by the United States Bureau of the Mint to design some of the commemorative coins including the Battle of Antietam half dollar, Roanoke Island, North Carolina, half dollar and Norfolk, Virginia, Bicentennial half dollar. [2] [3] He also designed the Allied war memorial Guadalcanal. [4]
William Marks Simpson was born in 1903 in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from the Virginia Military Institute in 1924. He graduated from the Rinehart School of Sculpture, Maryland Institute of Art, where he later became its director. He was also a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome. [2] [5]
He married Marjorie Emory Simpson, a graduate of the Rinehart School of Sculpture, with her, in 1936, he designed the Norfolk, Virginia, Bicentennial half dollar. [6] [7] [8]
In 1930 he was a recipient of the Prix de Rome. [9]
During World War II Simpson volunteered for service and served with the Army in the Pacific from 1942 until 1946. While in the service he designed two decorative grille-works for the entrance at the Army headquarters building at Honolulu and at Guadalcanal American Memorial. He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for his designs. [10]
He taught at the Virginia Military Institute from 1953-1956.
William Marks Simpson died on October 22, 1958.
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The California Pacific International Exposition half dollar, sometimes called the California Pacific half dollar or the San Diego half dollar, is a commemorative fifty-cent piece struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1935 and 1936. Robert Ingersoll Aitken designed the coin. Its obverse depicts Minerva and other elements of the Seal of California; the reverse shows buildings from the California Pacific International Exposition, which the coin was issued to honor.
The York County, Maine, Tercentenary half dollar is a 50-cent commemorative coin minted in 1936 to mark the tercentenary of the founding of York County, Maine. The obverse shows Brown's Garrison, the fort around which York County was formed, while the reverse depicts the county's arms.
The Norfolk, Virginia, Bicentennial half dollar is a half dollar commemorative coin struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1937, though it bears the date 1936. The coin commemorates the 200th anniversary of Norfolk being designated as a royal borough, and the 100th anniversary of it becoming a city. It was designed by spouses William Marks Simpson and Marjory Emory Simpson.
The Battle of Antietam half dollar was designed by William M. Simpson and minted in 1937 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam. The obverse depicts Robert E. Lee and George McClellan, and the reverse shows Burnside's Bridge.
The Roanoke Island, North Carolina, half dollar is a commemorative coin issued by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1937. The coin commemorated the 350th anniversary of the Roanoke Colony, depicting Sir Walter Raleigh on one side, and on the other Eleanor Dare, holding her child, Virginia Dare, the first child of English descent born in an English colony in the Americas.
William Marks Simpson (b. 1903) was a noted sculptor who did engraving work for the United States Mint
The Seventy-fifth Congress authorized the minting of a silver half-dollar to mark both the 300th anniversary of the Norfolk land grant as well as the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Borough of Norfolk [...] The half-dollar was designed by artist William Marks Simpson.
William Marks Simpson and his wife, Marjorie Emory Simpson, designed the piece
Sculptor William Marks Simpson Jr., a Norfolk native, was in 1930 awarded the Prix de Rome, one of the most coveted prizes in the plastic arts.
