Commems Collection Modern: What If? 1994 104th Congress Moratorium

In 1939, the US Congress passed a bill that put an end to existing multi-year US commemorative coin programs such as the Oregon Trail Memorial Half Dollar and Arkansas Statehood Centennial Half Dollar. (More: Prohibiting Certain U S Commemorative Coins - Revisit.)

In 1994, a proposal was made in the Senate that sought to suspend "consideration of any commemorative coin legislation during the 104th Congress." The bill also sought "to affirm the role of the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee in recommending new commemorative coin programs" and, surprisingly, "to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to mint certain coins" (i.e., on one hand stop the authorization of new commemorative coins proposed by others, on the other authorize commemorative coins of interest to me).

The bill was introduced by Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) in October 1994 (during the 103rd Congress) and was immediately referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Note: The 103rd Congress met January 5, 1993 to December 1, 1994. The Hutchison bill was introduced very late in Second Session of the 103rd Congress.

Section 2 of the bill stated:

"It is the sense of the Congress that the Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate should not report or otherwise clear for consideration by the House of Representatives or the Senate during the 104th Congress any legislation providing for any commemorative coin programs for any year."

A broad and far reaching statement!

Section 3 stated:

"The Congress declares that the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee is intended by the Congress to play a lead role in reviewing requests for, and making recommendations with respect to, commemorative coin programs. It is the sense of the Congress that legislation providing for commemorative coin programs should only be considered by the Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate, after taking into account the recommendations of the advisory committee."

A specification that would have essentially given the Advisory Committee power beyond that of "advisory" and made it function almost as a gatekeeper for commemorative coin proposals - a new, formal layer in the process.

And then came Sections 4, 5, 6 and 7. These sections run counter to the bill's first specification - no more commemorative coins.

- Section 4 sought the minting of up to 500,000 Silver Dollars to mark "the 50th anniversary of the signing of the peace accords on the U.S.S. Missouri among the nations involved in World War II in the Pacific."

- Section 5 called for the minting of up to 300,000 Silver Dollars to commemorate Roosevelt's legacy and support the then-under-construction Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.

- Section 6 sought the striking of up to 500,000 Silver Dollars to commemorate Congress Hall, the Old City Hall, and Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and to help finance necessary maintenance and preservation.

- Section 7 called for the minting of up to 200,000 Gold Half Eagles and up to 500,000 Silver Dollars to support the "maintenance and repair of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial."

Two of the four - the FDR Memorial and National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial - coin proposals lived on in separate legislation and ultimately were passed with modified specifications. The Peace Accords and Historic Philadelphia Buildings were not as fortunate.

In the end, the "Moratorium" bill was not reported out of Committee and no such ban on new commemorative coin programs was enacted. Changes would soon be made to the US commemorative coin program, however - More: The Commemorative Coin Reform Act - 1996 - but it was not to be in 1994.


For more of my stories about commemorative coins and medals, including other stories about attempts to regulate US commemorative coins and a What If? story about a proposed Peace Accords coin, see: Commems Collection.