The 1930's was an era of frenetic activity surrounding the issuance of commemorative US coins. A number of very colorful characters were bent on promoting whatever cause they thought would justify yet another production run at the mint. This flurry of activity and the resultant alleged abuses would culminate in the US Congress holding hearings to determine if legislation was needed to protect the public.

One of the principal parties in this drama was L.W. Hoffecker. In spite of being damned by some and praised by others, his part in the history of the commemorative coin industry should not be overlooked. Born in 1869, a long time resident of El Paso, Texas, LW's first foray into the commemorative world was in the 1920's when he promoted a coin that was supposed to commemorate the Gadsden Purchase. He was successful in getting Congress to pass legislation but President Hoover, not a fan of using public resources for private purposes, vetoed the measure.

Undeterred, LW saw his chance again in 1935. Pulling together several unrelated ideas he came up with what came to be known as the Old Spanish Trail Commemorative. An amalgamation of South Western motif, Spanish conquistador history, and early 20th century road building frenzy, he took another run at fame and fortune under the guise of raising money for the El Paso Museum.

The prominent features of the coin consist of a steer head above an inscription reading, "Alvar Nunez Cabaza de Vaca", a yucca tree, and a dot marked line superimposed on a map of the Gulf States. Clearly some explanation is necessary.

LW needed an event to commemorate. He chose the 1528 Spanish expedition to the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico led by Panfilo de Narvaes. Columbus' voyage of discovery had taken place only 36 years earlier coincident with the elimination by Ferdinand and Isabella of the last Islamic foothold in Spain. This latter event left a large number of soldiers without gainful employment. Many of them turned their attention to the new world as a place to seek fame and fortune; Narvaes among them.

Unfortunately, the expedition was a disaster. Narvaes led 400 men ashore near what is today Tampa, Florida. Eight years later in 1536 four surviving explorers emerged from the wilderness of northern Mexico with a tale of being held as Indian slaves and the death of their compatriots from disease, starvation and Indian arrows. Narvaes was not one of the survivors but Alvar Nunez Cabaza de Vaca was. Alvar was the treasurer of the expedition and wrote a journal documenting the journey. What better individual to honor?

No portrait of Alvar exists so what to do? Well, it so happens that Cabaza de Vaca translates from the Spanish as head of cow. This honorific was added to the family name in 1212 when an ancestor marked a little known trail with cow skulls for a Christian king busy fighting the Moors. The family had been proudly carrying the name ever since. Thus, LW came up with his design for the obverse of the coin. The steer head representing Alvar's name presented a nice tongue in cheek memorial to the intrepid conquistador.

The yucca tree doesn't seem to have any meaning other then to give the reverse a southwestern flavor to match the obverse. One might as well advertise the region and give El Paso a boost as a tourist destination. LW was ahead of the curve as the following year 16 commemoratives would be issued honoring places and people that had perhaps even less to recommend them.

As to the map, most people attribute the route shown as an approximation of the Narvaes expedition's route. It clearly has nothing to do with it. The expedition went ashore in western Florida, reemerged in the panhandle, traveled by raft along the coast as far as Texas and then wandered over southern Texas and northern Mexico. What then was LW thinking?

It is my contention that the route shown on the coin is a representation of an automotive highway. Beginning in the teens and continuing into the 1930's the nation saw an orgy of road building. The Lincoln highway and Route 66 are probably the two most well known but many others were proposed and built including a route from St. Augustine, Florida to San Diego, California actually named the Old Spanish Trail. The dots on the coin correspond to cities along this route which, of course, did not exist at the time of the Narvaes expedition. The route on the coin terminates at El Paso which is the only city named on the coin. Not coincidentally LW's home town.

While promoting El Paso was the visible objective of the coin, LW was not oblivious to the money to be made from a successful coin promotion. He was successful in selling 10,000 coins at $2.00 each. By my estimation his efforts resulted in approximately $12,000 in gross profit to be split between LW and the El Paso Museum; a great deal of money in depression era America. In fact, he was so successful that the following year he managed the distribution of the Elgin, Illinois commemorative.

In 1936 LW testified on behalf of the ANA before congress. He was elected to the American Numismatic Association board and became its President in 1939, a post he held until 1941. In 1942 he became one of the first life members of the ANA. Overall, one must conclude that L. W. Hoffecker added an interesting chapter in the history of US coinage.