 When the fair closed in October, large quantities of the half dollar remained in the hands of exposition organizers, the Treasury, and the Chicago banks—only 358,645 were sold to the public at the $1 price.With the fair closed, the question remained what to do with the some 4,600,000 half dollars which had not been sold.Organizers did not wish them to be issued, to preserve the premium price paid by purchasers.