Commems Collection Classic: What If? 1940 Wyoming Statehood And Women's Suffrage

In January and February 1939, at the start of the First Session of the 76th Congress, companion bills were introduced in the Senate (January) and House of Representatives (February) that called for half dollars "in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the admission of Wyoming into the Union as the first State guaranteeing equal suffrage to women."

Wyoming was admitted to the Union as the 44th State on July 10, 1890. Prior to its admittance, Wyoming was an incorporated Territory of the US, having the same borders as the present-day State and existing as a Territory from July 25, 1868 until it became a State in 1890. A portion of Wyoming was included as a part of the Louisiana Territory that was purchased from France in 1803.

The Senate bill was introduced by Henry Herman Schwartz (D-WY) and referred to the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency. The House bill was introduced by Frank Ogilvie Horton (R-WY) and referred to the House Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures.

In an uncommon move, the coin bills featured a pair of Whereas clauses that expanded upon the language included in the bill's title (above). They stated:

Whereas, the first guaranty of equal suffrage to women in the United States was contained in the Act of 1869 of the Territorial Legislature of Wyoming, and

Whereas the Constitution subsequently adopted by the people of Wyoming, and accepted, ratified, and confirmed by the Congress of the United States in the Act of July 10, 1890, admitting Wyoming into the Union as a State, contained the following provision guaranteeing equal suffrage to women:

"SEC. 3. Since equality in the enjoyment of natural and civil rights is made sure only through political equality, the laws of this State affecting the political rights and privileges of its citizens shall be without distinction of race, color, sex, or any circumstance or condition whatsoever other than individual incompetence, or unworthiness duly ascertained by a court of competent jurisdiction."

Side Note 1: The Wyoming Constitution guaranteed suffrage rights to women decades ahead of the US Constitution - 1890 vs. 1920.

Side Note 2: Nellie Tayloe Ross, the future Director of the US Mint, was the first female Governor in the US. She served as the Governor of Wyoming from January 5, 1925 to January 3, 1927; she won a special election to fill the vacancy created when her husband, William Ross, died in office from complications following surgery.

The bills called for up to 25,000 silver half dollars of standard specifications to be struck at a single US Mint facility. The coins were to be dated "1940" regardless of when struck and could only be ordered by the Wyoming State Organization of the American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary. Minimum coin orders were specified to be 5,000 coins, and the authority to strike the coins would last for two years following enactment of the bill. Net proceeds from the sale of the coins was to be used "in defraying the expenses incidental and appropriate to the commemoration of such event."

Neither of the bills was reported out of its respective Committee; each officially died for lack of action when the 76th Congress adjourned on January 3, 1941, but each was "dead" long before.

Had the coin been approved and issued, it would have been the first US coin to commemorate women's suffrage - 80 years before the modern US commemorative silver dollar that celebrated the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution which guaranteed women the right to vote.


For more of my topics on commemorative coins and medals, including more What If? stories, see: Commems Collection.