I've written before about efforts to establish guidelines for the modern commemorative coin program of the United States ("US"):
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The Commemorative Coin Reform Act - 1996 -
The Commemorative Coin Reform Act - 2012This time out, I want to rewind the clock even further and discuss a Reform bill from 1990.
In July 1990, during the Second Session of the 101st Congress, Richard H. Lehman (D-CA) introduced his "United States Mint Reauthorization and Reform" bill in the House of Representatives ("House").
I will be focusing on the portions of the bill that proposed reforms to the US commemorative coin program, but the bill also sought to reauthorize US Mint appropriations, establish the Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund "for numismatic operations and programs of the U.S. Mint without fiscal year limitation," specify that a common Reverse design be used on National medals, make it illegal for third-parties to use "United States Mint" or "US Mint" in advertising in such a way that suggests/infers the US Mint authorized the advertisement plus several Mint-related administrative changes.
Of note, the bill would also have authorized the Mint to produce and sell Silver Proof Sets.
Turning to the bill's commemorative coin provisions...
The bill sought the establishment of an annual commemorative coin program. Such program would be limited to one coin program per year and would restrict program themes to a historical event, person or place of national significance. Multi-coin (multi-denomination) programs were to be allowed.
To support the annual design theme selection, the Secretary of the Treasury ("Secretary") was to set up an advisory council that was to consist of seven members: chairperson of the Commission of Fine Arts ("CFA") (or other CFA member so designated), four to six individuals (Secretary's discretion as to number) who "are especially qualified to serve on the advisory council by reason of their education, training, or experience in art, art history, museum or numismatic collection curation, or numismatics." It certainly appeared that a dual perspective of history and numismatics was sought!
The Secretary was to be responsible for designating the event, person or place to be commemorated; the Secretary was to select the final designs after consulting with the design advisory council.
The following coins/denominations were available for commemorative coin programs:
- Gold Half Eagles ($5) - up to 500,000
- Silver Dollars - up to 5,000,000
- Copper-Nickel (CuNi) Clad Half Dollars - up to 10,000,000
Final mintage figures for each program were to be set by the Secretary. No surcharges were to be collected on the sale of each coin (for outside sponsors); the Treasury/Mint was to retain all monies with proceeds being intended for deposit in the Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund.
Coin programs were to be limited to one year, include Proof and Uncirculated versions of each coin included and be legal tender numismatic items. The bill also limited coin production of a given denomination and quality to a single US Mint facility (e.g., Uncirculated Silver Dollars could only be struck at one Mint).
The Secretary was to ensure "that minting and issuing commemorative coins...will not result in any net cost to the United States Government." The Issue Price of each coin needed - at a minimum - to cover its fully-loaded costs.
The bill was referred to the House Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, with a further referral to its Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs and Coinage. The bill was not reported out by the Committee.
IMO, the bill tried to tackle too broad of an agenda and tried to make US commemorative coins something that they, historically, had not been - fund raising vehicles for their sponsor. I believe the bill would have had a much better chance of moving forward had its scope been reduced - possibly to focus solely on the US commemorative coin program - and had not tried to change a foundational pillar of US commemorative coins.
The provision of the bill that interested me the most was its proposal for a design advisory council - I believe such a council would likely have put an end to local/minor themes being considered and made the modern US commemorative coin series one that focused on significant milestones in US history. This, IMO, would be a good thing.
For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 09/18/2025 05:35 am
