Commems Collection Classic: Regulating US Commemorative Coins

Among commemorative enthusiasts, it is fairly well-known that back in August 1939, Congress passed and the President signed into law the following bill:

AN ACT
To prohibit the issuance and coinage of certain commemorative coins, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That subsequent to the enactment of this Act no commemorative coins shall be coined or issued pursuant to any Act of Congress, authorizing the coinage and issuance of commemorative coins, enacted prior to March 1, 1939.

Approved, August 5, 1939.


While the large number of commemorative coin bills proposed and approved during the mid-1930s all contributed, the main drivers behind the introduction and passage of this bill were the multi-year commemorative coin programs that were continuing to place small US Mint orders for coins even though the dates of the events being commemorated were long past â€" namely, the programs for the Oregon Trail Memorial, Texas Centennial, Arkansas Centennial and Boone Bicentennial. These ongoing issues had become a nuisance for the US Mint and an abuse of collectors who strive for complete sets.

The Act was short, simple and definitive, but it was only a backward-looking Act. It achieved its intended purpose for coins previously authorized, but its limited scope did not prevent the future Booker T. Washington and Carver-Washington multi-year programs from being approved.

Lesser known, however, is that Congress was considering a competing bill to regulate the issue of commemorative coins. This bill was far larger in scope and would have created a dramatically different environment for US commemorative coinage for as long as it was in effect.

This bill, like the one approved, would have prohibited further production of previously approved and issued commemorative coins. But it would also have set up a Commemorative Coin Commission made up of five members appointed by the President. In one early version of the bill, the Commission would have been comprised of one member each from the American Numismatic Association, the American Historical Association, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution and the National Geographic Society.

This Commission was to review all commemorative coin bills introduced in Congress and referred to the appropriate committee in either the Senate or House. If the Commission deemed the proposal of "sufficient national importance" the Senate/House committee could consider the bill and return it to the full Senate/House for discussion and possible vote. If the Commission did not approve of the bill, no further action on it was allowed. I dare say that if such a Commission was already in place, we wouldn't have such coins as the Hudson, New Rochelle, Cincinnati Music Center or York County (among others) in our collections.

This alternate bill would also have placed certain restrictions on approved coins: 1) they could only be struck at one Mint facility, 2) the minimum mintage would be 25,000 for initial and all re-orders, 3) all coins would be half-dollars and 4) all coins would bear the date of the year in which they were authorized.

Looking at each of the restrictions, (1) would have ended the issue of PDS sets; (2) would have ended low mintage issues such as the Hawaiian, Spanish Trail or Hudson, each of which had a mintage of 10,000; (3) would have prevented any other commemorative denominations; and (4) would have ended multi-year issues.

If this comprehensive bill would have passed rather than the "short and simple" one, collectors would need far fewer holes in their albums for the Booker T. Washington and Carver-Washington half-dollars!

From my perspective, the simpler bill was specifically approved because of its very limited scope. I would hazard a guess and say that most Congressman and Senators, while recognizing and against the abuses of past commemoratives, preferred to maintain their flexibility in considering future coins. No sense shutting the door on a future "pet" commemorative bill if you don't have to!