Army Infantry Silver Dollar Commemorative Passed in Congress

Two commemorative silver dollar bills, which were introduced and passed in the House months ago, finally received a senatorial thumbs up on Saturday.

Congress burned the proverbial midnight oil and, on top of the commemorate silver dollar for Boy Scouts, passed legislation to honor the U.S. Army Infantry and the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center.

The bill, named the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center Commemorative Coin Act or H.R. 3229 for short, would have the U.S. Mint issue 350,000 silver $1 coins in the year 2012.

With the President’s very likely signature, the bill will become law. The resulting commemorative coin would then get designed to be:

“Emblematic of the courage, pride, sacrifice, sense of duty, and history of the U.S. Infantry, in commemoration of the legacy of the U.S. Army Infantry and the establishment of the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center.”

H.R. 3229 was introduced by Rep. Lynn A. Westmoreland [R-GA] in July of 2007. It enjoyed strong support with 290 cosponsors, but took nearly a year to pass in the House with a unanimous voice vote on June 10, 2008. It passed in the Senate on Saturday by Unanimous Consent.

Similar to other silver dollar commemorative legislation, specific details prescribe that each silver coin must show its designated value, and have inscriptions of the year (’2012′), ‘Liberty’, ‘In God We Trust’, ‘United States of America’, and ‘E Pluribus Unum’. It will weigh 26.73 grams, have a diameter of 1.5 inches, and contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper.

A $10 surcharge for the sale of each coin would go to the National Infantry Foundation to establish an endowment to support the maintenance of the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center.

For a listing of other coin legislation this year, visit Coin Legislation Acts and Laws.