The Mint was willing to defer to the Company on the design (Ellsworth withdrew his threat not to allow his painting to be used by the end of August), but the Company's Finance Committee was unable to reach a decision on what design to use. Warner returned to work on the badges to be worn by the fair's directors at the dedication ceremony in October—the fair itself would not open to the public until May 1893. These badges included a round disk with a portrait of Columbus in high relief based on the Lotto portrait, and when one was displayed it was immediately spoken of as a possible basis for the half dollar. The Company also considered a design with three ships, and another with a single ship and a depiction of the Western Hemisphere, both provided by the Mint. Contemporary accounts also mention a reverse design considered by the Company which depicted a building at the Exposition.