The Senate and House passed legislation late last week seeking to commemorate in 2011 — with gold, silver and clad coins — the legacy and founding of the United States Army Infantry in 1775 and the establishment of the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center.
Both chambers passed nearly identical bills, indicating their full support for the overall legislation. Each version would have the U.S. Mint issue the following uncirculated and proof coins:
- $5 gold coin with a limited mintage of 100,000
- $1 silver dollar with limit of 500,000
- 50c clad limited to 750,000
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It’s been a brisk couple of weeks for newly introduced or passed coin legislation.
Five US coin bills have seen recent movement, and two have actually been presented to President Bush for his signature.
For a quick summation, here are the legislative measures that have moved in congress between September 9 and October 1:
Boy Scouts of America Silver Dollar Coin, H.R. 5872
United States Army Infantry Silver Dollar Coin, H.R. 3229
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Rep. John Larson and five other House members proposed on Friday gold and silver coins emblematic of the life and legacy of Mark Twain.
Mark Twain was the pen name for Samuel Clemens, whose many works are still mostly in print after nearly a century past his death in 1910. Clemens is one of the best known Americans in the world with over 6,500 editions of his books translated into 75 languages.
The commemorative uncirculated and proof coins for collectors would be issued in 2010, which is the year marking both the 175th anniversary of Mark Twain’s birth and the 125th anniversary of the publication of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
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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:
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The Senate on Saturday joined the House in passing legislation that seeks to commemorate the centennial of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) with 350,000 silver dollar coins in 2010.
The bill, named the Boy Scouts of America Centennial Commemorative Coin Act or H.R. 5872, has overwhelming support and now moves to its next step — congressional packaging for the President, who is expected to sign it into law.
Congressman Pete Sessions [R-TX] introduced the legislation in April and said,
"Boy Scouts are a significant part of American culture, shaping the values, citizenship, and skills of millions of young men," Sessions stated. "As an Eagle Scout with four generations of Boy Scouts in my family, I strongly value the Boy Scouts’ history of instilling a sense of duty to God, country, and self."
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A Senate bill casts new light on a proposal to commemorate the bicentennial of the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ with a silver dollar.
Maryland Senators Cardin and Mikulski introduced S. 3525 Thursday, which calls for 350,000 commemorative $1 silver coins to be issued in 2012, the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812.
Each silver coin would:
- weigh 26.73 grams;
- have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and
- contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper
S. 3525 follows on the heels of the passage of House Resolution 2894, the Star-Spangled Banner and War of 1812 Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act. The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2894 in May with the support of nearly 300 cosponsors. It was then forwarded to the Senate for consideration.
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A bill recently introduced by Rep. Melvin Watt [D-NC] proposes a 40-coin, eight-year series of circulating quarters to commemorate and be emblematic of "prominent civil rights leaders and important events that have advanced civil rights in America."
H.R. 6701, "Civil Rights Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008," was introduced July 31, and has an already large cosponsor list of 99 representatives.
Most collectors are now familiar with the H.R. 6184, "America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008," which the House passed July 9 and would continue circulating quarters commemorating national parks and sites for at least 11 years. Like it, H.R. 6701 would authorize a large silver version of the coin measuring 3 inches in diameter and weighing a 5 ounces.
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Legislation to change the metallic composition of the penny and nickel to a less expensive copper-colored steel passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 8, 2008.
However, the plunge in base metal prices since could very well end the legislation’s chances of moving forward in the Senate.
The goal of the bill, which it titled Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008 - H.R. 5512, was directed toward saving money after high copper prices pushed production costs of the penny up to about 1.26 cents and the nickel to about 7.7 cents.
Since May, copper prices have fallen to where the melt value of a penny is now under a half cent and the nickel is just slightly higher than 5 cents — the U.S. Mint now makes money issuing pennies and almost breaks even with nickels.
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The latest congressional National Parks Quarter proposal calls for a massive three-inch, eight ounce silver collector coin.
An amazing size that would quite easily dwarf current US bullion coinage — as a comparison, the popular American Eagle silver coin is an already large 1.598 inches with a single ounce of silver.
The House of Representatives introduced the America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act, which proposes a minimum 11 year series of circulating quarter dollar coins to feature one national park or site in each state, the District of Columbia, and each U.S. Territory starting in 2010. It would also mandate silver coins for collectors.
The House-introduced legislation passed easily on July 9, 2008. That bill, however, had provisions only for a three-inch, five ounce silver collector coin. "Only" is perhaps the wrong word to use. A coin that size and issued by the US Mint would be history making.
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President Bush made the American Veterans Disabled for Life Commemorative Coin Act law with his signature last week. With that, a small mention of its passage in the mainstream media would be expected. But not so. Articles are sparse.
The new law (Public Law No: 110-277) will have the U.S. Mint issue up to 350,000 silver dollar coins in 2010 commemorating disabled American Veterans. $10 surcharges for each coin are to help build an American Veterans’ Disabled for Life Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Those most involved with the coin bill, congressman Dennis Moore [D-KS] and Mark Kirk [R-IL] who introduced it in January of 2007, have offered public praise.
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