Elvis Presley is rightly called the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.  He is credited with 54 certified gold singles – more than any other recording artist ever!  This coin highlights one of those songs that sold at least 500,000 copies. 

The Franklin Mint has permanently bonded a vibrant image of Elvis to this uncirculated US Half Dollar.  The coin features an original photograph of Presley from his estate’s official archives and is officially licensed by Elvis Presley Enterprises.

Jailhouse Rock

Recorded on April 30, 1957, “Jailhouse Rock” was first released on the album Elvis’ Golden Records. The single went double platinum – reaching number one on the pop (with a total of 27 weeks on the chart), country (24 weeks on the chart) and rhythm and blues charts (5 weeks at number one).

Although this recording session spawned one of the greatest Elvis hits ever recorded, there were an incident worth mentioning. One day, bassist Bill Black expressed his frustration with switching from an upright bass to an electric bass by throwing the instrument to the floor and storming out. Calmly, Elvis picked up the instrument and played the bass parts himself.

The exciting production number for “Jailhouse Rock” that appeared in the film of the same name is considered the granddaddy of modern music videos. The hit single was the first song in music history to enter the United Kingdom’s music charts at number one.

Elvis filmed the movie Jailhouse Rock as his amazing career skyrocketed. He had 21 Top 40 hits – nine of them reaching number one – in less than two years. Less than one year after his first national television debut, Billboard magazine announced that Elvis had the most songs in its Top 100 singles chart since the program began!

“Jailhouse Rock” was included on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was listed as one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.