A childhood memory of Thanksgiving brings to mind a popular riddle. “If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?” The answer - Pilgrims! A young numismatist might say the riddle's answer could be a Pilgrim Tercentenary Half Dollar! Regardless, school children everywhere are taught that the Mayflower brought Pilgrims to America from England. The riddle is still a favorite of children today.

To commemorate the 300th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, special legislation authorized the production of the Pilgrim Tercentenary half dollar. The coin's obverse and reverse would portray a Pilgrim and the Mayflower ship, respectively.

The Mayflower landed on Cape Cod on November 21, 1620. The second governor of the Plymouth colony William Bradford was selected as the Pilgrim depicted on the coin's obverse. He is credited for helping the young colony successfully endure the many hardships it faced. The colonists planted their first crops in the spring of 1621. Overall the harvest was not very successful, but the corn did exceptionally well.  They had been taught by Squanto, a Native, to plant the corn in the hills using fish as a fertilizer.

As was the custom in England, that fall the Pilgrims celebrated their first harvest. The celebration served to lift the colonists' morale and strengthen their relationship with the Natives. This harvest feast is considered by many to have been the first “Thanksgiving.”

Massachusetts sculptor Cyrus E. Dallin executed the commemorative coin's designs by the Pilgrim Tercentenary Commission. Since there is no known portrait of Bradford, his image on the coin's obverse is stylized. The book held in his left arm is considered to be the Bible. In the Commemorative Coins of the United States: A Complete Encyclopedia by Dave Bowers, an alternative possibility for the book is noted to be Bradford's History of Pilmoth Plantation. Below his elbow is the sculptor's initial D.

In addition, Bowers points out that the Mayflower was incorrectly depicted on the coin's reverse. The ship's rigging was incorrect for the period. For the nautical purists, a flying jib type of sail was shown, but it should have depicted a square water-sail under the bowsprit. The anniversary dates are expressed as 1620-1920.

The silver coins were produced in 1920 and 1921 with a mintage of 152,112 and 20,053, respectively. The coins struck in 1920 did not have the date on the coin's obverse. In 1921, the date was added in the coin's obverse field. The coin's original sale price was one dollar, but due to a national economic recession at the time, the coins did not sell very well. The majority of the 1921 pieces were returned for melting, which is the reason for its scarcity today. A hoard of 1920 coins was sold by Paramount International Coin Corporation in the late sixties, which sold for about eight dollars apiece. According to A Guide Book of United States Coins, 2010 Edition, a MS-63 1920 Pilgrim Tercentenary half dollar retails for $130 today.