Between May 2012 and July 2015, four different bills were introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives that would have dramatically altered the modern US commemorative coin program - much more than the reforms put in place as a result of the 1996 Commemorative Coin Reform Act (CCRA) that limited the series to two issues per year and placed restrictions on surcharge distribution.
For more on the CCRA, see:
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The Commemorative Coin Reform Act.
On September 21, 2012, during the 112th Congress, Justin Amash (R-MI) introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that was designed to "prohibit the payment of surcharges for commemorative coin programs to private organizations or entities." A companion bill was introduced in the Senate on the same day by Jim DeMint (R-SC).
Amash's bill was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services, with a further referral to its Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology. DeMint's bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Neither bill made it out of Committee, nor was given further consideration in its respective chamber.
The "Reform Act" bills were "short and sweet" in terms of their language:
"Section 5134(f) of title 31, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
"(f) Prohibition On Payment Of Surcharges To Organizations Outside Of The Federal Government. --
"(1) IN GENERAL.-- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no surcharges collected with respect to the sale of any numismatic item may be paid to any organization outside of the Federal Government, other than with respect to the costs of producing and selling such item.
"(2) PAYMENT OF COSTS.-- Surcharges collected in connection with the sale of any numismatic item shall be used to recover all numismatic operation and program costs allocable to the program under which such numismatic item is produced and sold.
"(3) EXCESS DEPOSITED INTO TREASURY.-- Amounts of surcharges collected in excess of the amounts described in paragraph (2) shall be transferred by the Fund to the general fund of the Treasury for the purpose of deficit reduction."Note: I interpret "other than with respect to the costs of producing and selling such item." as allowing the Mint to use collected surcharges to pay for outside/contracted services for things such as packaging, advertising, distribution, etc.Either bill, if approved, was to apply to any commemorative coin program approved after the date of the Reform Act's enactment.
Representative Amash re-introduced his bill in the 113th Congress (on March 15, 2013) and the 114th Congress (on July 16, 2015). As before, the bills were referred to the appropriate Committee, but neither was reported out.
What would it have meant if any of the bills had been approved?
Commemorative coin programs such as those for the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Basketball Hall of Fame, Boys Town and the Lions Club International (among others) would likely never have been pursued by their non-Federal Government sponsors. In addition, there is reason to believe that fewer commemorative coin bills would be introduced in Congress (though US military-related proposals might have increased). I believe it would be a very different collecting world if any of these bills had made it through.
For more of my stories about commemorative coins and medals, including more on the modern US commemorative coin series, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 08/05/2024 10:20 am
