Here's the story of a commemorative coin proposal considered in the 116th and 117th Congresses - the National Women's Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act.
The first bill that called for commemorative coins in support of the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York was introduced in the House of Representatives by Joseph D. Morelle (D-NY) in March 2019. The bill had three initial co-sponsors, but eventually reached 57.
The bill called for a three-coin program - Gold Half Eagle (up to 75,000), Silver Dollar (up to 500,000) and Copper-Nickel (CuNi) Clad Half Dollar (up to 1,000,000). Upon its introduction, the bill was jointly referred to the House Committee on Financial Services and to the House Committee on the Budget for individual consideration per their specific jurisdictions.
As would be expected of a modern commemorative coin proposal, the bill included a "Findings" section:
The Congress finds the following:
(1) In 1969, the National Women's Hall of Fame was established in Seneca Falls, New York, the location of the first Women's Rights Convention in 1848. A total of 276 women have been inducted represented well by the first class that included Jane Addams, Marian Anderson, Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, Mary MacLeod Bethune, Elizabeth Blackwell, Pearl S. Buck, Rachel Carson, Mary Cassatt, Emily Dickinson, Amelia Earhart, Alice Hamilton, Helen Hayes, Helen Keller, Eleanor Roosevelt, Florence Sabin, Margaret Chase Smith, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Helen Brooke Taussig and Harriet Tubman.
(2) The National Women's Hall of Fame is the Nation's oldest membership organization dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the achievements of great American women.
(3) The involvement of women in the Nation's history is inadequately chronicled, commemorated and celebrated as reflected in the following:
(A) Fewer than 5 percent of the 2,400 national historic landmarks chronicle women's achievements.
(B) Only 9 of the 112 statues in the Capitol's Statuary Hall are of women.
(C) The National Park Service notes that only 3 of the 152 national monuments in the United States are dedicated to historic female figures.
(D) Of the 5,575 outdoor sculpture portraits of historical figures in the United States, 559 portray women according to the Smithsonian American Art Museum's online inventories catalog.
(E) None of the 30 National managed under the National Park Service specifically honor women.
(F) 3 of the 78 National Historic Sites commemorate women.
(G) Only 1 of the 56 new quarters issued by the U.S. Mint from 1999 through 2017 commemorated a woman.
(H) Only 219 U.S. Postal Stamps were issued to commemorate women.
(4) The National Women's Hall of Fame will complete rehabilitation of its new home at the former Seneca Falls Knitting Mill, which is a historic building included in the National Historic Registry. The new building has over 20,000 square feet available for artifacts to ensure that women's history and women's contribution to American history will be preserved and recounted for future generations.
(5) The National Women's Hall of Fame plans to design an educational program utilizing video conference technology with students and teachers participating in interactive lessons led by educators from the National Women's Hall of Fame. This program will provide important lessons on the impact that women have had on mathematics, geography, education, sciences, medicine, military, government, civil rights, economics, industrial technology, arts, and communication.Per the Hall of Fame's web site: "The National Women's Hall of Fame is the nation's first and oldest nonprofit organization and museum dedicated to honoring and celebrating the achievements of distinguished American women." It has been inducting Hall of Fame members since 1973 and includes many well-known figures. Visit:
Discover the Women of the Hall to view the inductees.
At the time of the coin program proposal, the Women's Hall of Fame was completing renovations on the old Seneca Knitting Mill building for its use/new home - the new site opened to the public in 2020. The coins were not designed for financial support of the construction/renovation project.
The program's three coins were to feature a common obverse design "emblematic of women's contribution to American history". An open competition was to be held for the obverse design (US Mint engravers were eligible to enter); the winning artist was to receive at least $5,000 for his/her design.
The three coins were also to share a common reverse design. The design was presumably to be created by US Mint staff as it was not specifically included in the aforementioned design competition provisions. The design was to "depict a design incorporating commemoration of the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution recognizing the right of women to vote."
The issue price of each coin in the program was to include a surcharge:
- $35 per Gold Half Eagle
- $10 per Silver Dollar
- $5 per Clad Half Dollar
The collected surcharge funds were to to paid to the National Women's Hall of Fame Foundation "to establish an endowment fund that will provide long-term financing for the National Women's Hall of Fame's operations."
Morelle's bill, however, did not progress beyond Committee (the relativel small number of co-sponsors a major factor).
See:
What If? 2020 National Women's Hall of Fame - Follow-Up Attempts for the "rest of the story."
For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including other Modern Issue What If? stories, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 06/27/2025 7:43 pm
