in February 1946, Representative Karl Miles Le Compte (R-IA) introduced a bill in the House that called for the striking of 100,000 half dollars "in commemoration of the one-hundredth anniversary of the admission of Iowa into the Union as a State." The bill was immediately referred to the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures.
As was customary, the Committee Chairman wrote to the Treasury Department with a request for its opinion on the coin proposal; Compton Ignatius White was the Chairman at the time.
In his response, D. W. Bell, Acting Secretary of the Treasury, repeated the Department's long-standing objections to commemorative coins and their negative impact on the American public and its acceptance/understanding of the circulating coinage of the US. He also went a step further due to the times - the recent conclusion of World War II.
Bell wrote,
"...the facilities of the mints are now sorely strained by wartime demands. The mints are working 24 hours a day to fill unprecedentedly heavy orders for coins for regular issues, to produce medals and awards for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard and to manufacture coins for many friendly foreign countries having no minting facilities of their own. The mints can ill afford to spare machinery and personnel for the additional task of handling the technical problems and the work entailed in the issuance of a commemorative coin of a new design as provided by the bill under consideration."But, even with the Treasury's plea to respect its current working environment, the Committee reported a favorable recommendation for the coin, and the House and Senate soon passed the bill. On August 7, 1946, President Harry S. Truman signed the bill into law. So much for helping out a partner when they're under stress! (Note: The Committee also supported the 1946 Booker T. Washington coin proposal.)
1946 Iowa Statehood Centennial Half Dollar
For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more on the history of the Iowa half dollar, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 06/17/2022 10:52 am
