Commems Collection Classic: 1927 Bennington-Vermont Independence - Repeal?

I've written before about the 1927 Battle of Bennington-Vermont Independence Sesquicentennial half dollar (links below), but wanted to circle back and take a quick look at an unusual event related to the coin that took place 10+ years after its issue.

In March 1938, Representative Bruce Barton (R-NY) introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that called for the repeal of the Act that authorized the Battle of Bennington commemorative half dollar (Public Law 68-452). Barton's bill named only the Battle of Bennington coin even though it was not alone in the Act.

Bruce Barton Portrait - Circa 1937

(Image Credit: Library of Congress - Prints and Photographs Division, https://www.loc.gov/pictures. Public Domain.)

The bill that authorized the half dollar that commemorated the Battle of Bennington-Vermont Independence Sesquicentennial was not a standalone bill. It also included the California Statehood Diamond Jubilee half dollar and the Fort Vancouver Centennial half dollar. Was the repeal meant for all three commemorative coins? The language of the Barton bill is fairly broad, so it's unclear if the repeal was specific to the Bennington-Vermont coin, or if it was meant to include the other coins featured in the Act.

Why was such an unusual bill introduced? What was its purpose? It's difficult to say. The bill was referred to the Committee on Banking and Currency upon its introduction, and never heard of again. The bill was never brought up for discussion/consideration on the House floor, so Barton's reasons for proposing the repeal are not part of the published Congressional record.

I haven't yet found any history of Barton having issues with Bennington, or Vermont in general, so it doesn't appear to have been a "bad blood" vindictive move. Could some residents of New York have been bothered by the fact that the Bennington coin was associated with Vermont vs. New York (within whose borders tha battle actually took place) and sought "revenge"? Was the fact that Bennington, VT is the home to a 306-foot tall monument to the Battle and New York basically has an open field as part of a State Historic Site the root of jealousy that required a counter?

I tend to think Barton's motives were far less nefarious and that it was more of a symbolic gesture than a genuine call to action as the bill was powerless from a practical standpoint - the coins were issued/distributed 10+ years before in 1927!

The Act that originally authorized the Bennington-Vermont commemorative half dollar was open-ended; it allowed the coin to be struck at more than one Mint facility and did not include an expiration of authority (i.e., the coins could have been struck beyond 1927). One restriction that was placed on the coin, however, was a maximum mintage of 40,000. The Mint struck all 40,000 coins in one batch and delivered them to the Vermont Sesqui-Centennial Commission. A couple of years later, in 1929, just under 12,000 unsold coins (11,892) were returned to the Mint to be melted. So, repealing the coin's authorization in 1938 would have no real effect on the coin's net distribution; the bill did not call for a return of issued coins.

At the time, Congress was turning against commemorative coins and would soon pass legislation that would end open-ended, multi-year programs such as the Oregon Trail Memorial, Arkansas Statehood Centennial, etc. It could be that Barton simply wanted to show his support for restraining commemorative coin programs by calling for the Bennington coin's repeal to formally prevent it from being re-struck (i.e., striking new coins as replacements for the 12,000 returned coins) and abusing collectors - regardless of how unlikely this scenario would have been.

The bill's incomplete language coupled with the fact that there really wasn't anything to gain from a repeal call 10+ years after the struck coins were either already sold or melted (and the coin's sponsoring Commission was no longer functioning) makes it a rather odd legislative proposal.

It's just another interesting twist in the saga that is the classic-era US commemorative coin series!

1927 Battle of Bennington-Vermont Independence Sesquicentennial Half Dollar



For more about the Battle of Bennington-Vermont Independence Sesquicentennial half dollar, see:

- 1927 Battle of Bennington-Vermont Independence Sesquicentennial
- 1927 Battle of Bennington-Vermont Independence Sesquicentennial - Cousin
- 1927 Battle of Bennington-Vermont Independence Sesquicentennial - Recall Story
- 1927 Battle of Bennington-Vermont Independence Sesquicentennial - Gold $1


For more of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, check out: Commems Collection.