I was not aware this coin existed. I bought one of these yesterday while at the local coin store mostly on account of being on a George Washington kick.
Produced in 1982, it features George riding a horse on the front, and what I assume is his house on the back. According to our firends at Falmouth Stamp and Coin, this is the first commemorative half dollar produced since 1954, and the first 90% silver coin in the US since 1964. When I bought it I assumed it was clad (10% silver) but inspecting the edge reveals it is silver all the way though.
The reason the US mint stopped making commemoratives for so long is a little complicated. Basically, the whole commemorative program was beginning to lose credibility because they would make a coin for almost anything. The sale of these coins would typically support the pet projects of their promoters. One example of this phenomenon is a commemorative featuring Phineas Taylor Barnum, the owner of the Barnum and Bailey circus. Eventually congress passed a law prohibiting the issue of any further commemoratves, but appearently they changed their mind again in 1982.
Which is really actually pretty great, since this is a cool coin. This one cost only about $7, which is approximately the value of the silver if you melted it!
In the next post, look forward to hearing about the US's most unusual silver dollar!
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