Commems Collection Classic: 1922 Grant Memorial - House Vs. Senate

I've posted about the 1922 Ulysses S. Grant Birth Centenary Memorial coins - Gold $1 and Silver $0.50 - before, but decided to return to them to explore how the coin program could have been much different.

A proposal for a commemorative gold dollar coin was introduced in the House of Representatives in May 1921; the bill was immediately referred to the House Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures. The proposal called for the minting of 200,000 gold dollar coins - to be known as the "Grant Memorial Dollar" - to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Ulysses S. Grant's birth on April 27, 1822 in Point Pleasant, OH. The bill did not include any mention of a silver coin of any denomination.

The bill was reported by the Committee with recommendations for several wording changes, but none involved adding a silver half dollar to the mix. The bill, inclusive of the recommended Committee amendments, was passed by the House and sent to the Senate for its consideration.

The Senate referred the House bill to its Committee on Banking and Currency. The Committee did not object to the striking of a memorial coin, but did object to the potentially large amount of gold that would be required if all of the coins were struck. (Note: At 0.04837 troy ounces of gold per coin, the maximum mintage would have required 9,674 troy ounces of gold or 806.167 troy pounds.) As a result, it offered an amendment in the form of a substitution that dropped the maximum mintage of gold dollars to 10,000 and added the striking of up to 250,000 silver half dollars.

The amended bill was debated in the full Senate, with Senator William Henry King (D-UT) first raising concerns regarding potential cost to the Federal Government for the striking of the coins. Once the cost issue was addressed (the coins were to be struck at no cost to the Government), King voiced concern over the possible precedent that would be set by approving the memorial coin and wondering if its passage would trigger a flood of additional requests of similar memorial pieces for other "important" men. It was pointed out that the coin would not be setting any precedent, but rather following the precedent set by the several memorial coins that came before it (e.g., 1916-17 William McKinley gold dollar).

Once Senator King was satisfied, the amended bill was brought up for consideration via Unanimous Consent. As no objections were raised, the bill was read a third time and passed by the Senate. It was then sent back to the House for its consideration. As there were no objections in the House to the Senate's amended bill, the bill was quickly passed.

The bill was signed into law (PL 67-137) on February 2, 1922 by US President Warren G. Harding. Without the Senate's amendment, it's likely that a Grant silver half dollar would not have been struck and the silver series would be down one design type and two varieties!

Note 1: The Act made no mention of varieties for either the gold or silver coins to be struck. The Plain and w/ Star varieties that were later created were a matter between the coin's sponsor - the U. S. Grant Memorial Centenary Association of Ohio - and the US Mint.

Note 2: It's interesting to realize that the Senate amendment removed the name of the coin's sponsor from the bill; the change resulted in the bill being passed into law without the sponsor's name. This action, technically, opened the coinage up to requests/purchases by other groups who were willing to pay for the coins - though I have to believe the Centenary Association would have been given preferential treatment if another group had tried to step in.


1922 Grant Memorial Half Dollar - Plain Variety



1922 Grant Memorial Half Dollar - w/ Star Variety (Star is above "GRANT" on Obverse)



For more on the Grant Centenary Memorial coins, check out:

- 1922 Grant Birth Centenary, Plain Variety
- 1922 Grant Birth Centenary, w/ Star Variety
- 1922 Grant Birth Centenary, Grant's Birthplace?
- 1922 Grant Birth Centenary, Post-Shutdown Promotion
- 1922 Grant Birth Centenary, "Cousin"
- 1922 Grant Birth Centenary, Coins with Beards Thread
- 1922 Grant Birth Centenary, Coins with Stars Thread
- 1922 Grant Birth Centenary, Coins Designed by a Woman Thread

For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, see Commems Collection.