SUMMERS COUNTY W.Va. (Hinton News) – This week’s piece is Summers County related yes, but has West Virginia in general significance. West Virginia was formed on July 20, 1863. Its Centennial occurred on July 20, 1963. Well, that was the official day of it but the celebration was not just on that date.
Festivities took place all year in 1963 which included plays, music events, and traveling exhibits to name a few ways in which the state celebrated. These activities occurred in all 55 counties and numerous towns within them in West Virginia.
Summers County and the town of Hinton were no exception. Each county had its own centennial celebration committee. The gold coin you see here was one way our corner of the state participated in the numerous events going on around the state.
The front of the coin has the Bluestone Dam on it, Summers County’s most famous asset within West Virginia. On the reverse, it says “Souvenir Money Redeemable for 50 cents in Trade by the Summers County Centennial Committee on or before Sept. 3, 1963. Not to be used in lieu of lawful money in the United States.”
This is one of the only pieces I have ever found from Summers County’s involvement in the centennial celebration. The way I acquired this little piece of history is kind of funny. As I have said before I collect antiques and have since I was 10 years old, having gone to my first auction in Pence Springs in 1997.
I had bought an antique gooseneck platform rocker from someone in Alderson, West Virginia. I loaded it into our van and took it back to our house in Pence Springs. When I went to unload it this gold coin fell out from under the cushion.
The first thing I thought was, “yes a gold coin!” When I bent over to pick it up to examine my newfound wealth, haha, I discovered it in fact was not a gold coin. But rather this Summers County Centennial coin you see right here. Granted I wasn’t as excited as I was when I had mistakenly thought it was real gold, but excited nonetheless since it was a piece of local history I had never seen before.
