Commems Collection Modern: Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.

In honor of Martin Luther King Day...

MLK has not yet received his own US commemorative coin - perhaps during the centennial year of his birth in 2029 - though he was listed prominently in the Findings section of the bill/Act that authorized the 2014 Civil RIghts Act 50th Anniversary silver dollar.



MLK's lack of a coin has not been for a lack of trying. Between February 2000 and February 2003, no less than seven (7) bills were introduced in Congress (Senate and House) that called for a Martin Luther King, Jr. commemorative coin. Five of the bills called for 500,000 Silver Dollars and two sought three-coin programs that included the standard Gold Half Eagle, Silver Dollar and CuNi Clad Half Dollar. None of the bills garnered the needed traction to gain approval, however.

MLK (posthumously), and his wife Coretta Scott King, have been honored with a Congressional Gold Medal via a 2004 Act of Congress, with Bronze duplicates available to collectors.


(Image Credit: US Mint.)

The authorizing legislation for the medal include the following Findings:

(1) Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. and his widow Coretta Scott King, as the first family of the civil rights movement, have distinguished records of public service to the American people and the international community;

(2) Dr. King preached a doctrine of nonviolent civil disobedience to combat segregation, discrimination, and racial injustice;

(3) Dr. King led the Montgomery bus boycott for 381 days to protest the arrest of Mrs. Rosa Parks and the segregation of the bus system of Montgomery, Alabama;

(4) in 1963, Dr. King led the march on Washington, D.C., that was followed by his famous address, the "I Have a Dream" speech;

(5) through his work and reliance on nonviolent protest, Dr. King was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965;

(6) despite efforts to derail his mission, Dr. King acted on his dream of America and succeeded in making the United States a better place;

(7) Dr. King was assassinated for his beliefs on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee;

(8) Mrs. King stepped into the civil rights movement in 1955 during the Montgomery bus boycott, and played an important role as a leading participant in the American civil rights movement;

(9) while raising 4 children, Mrs. King devoted herself to working alongside her husband for nonviolent social change and full civil rights for African Americans;

(10) with a strong educational background in music, Mrs. King established and performed several Freedom Concerts, which were well received, and which combined prose and poetry narration with musical selections to increase awareness and understanding of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (of which Dr. King served as the first president);

(11) Mrs. King demonstrated composure in deep sorrow, as she led the Nation in mourning her husband after his brutal assassination;

(12) after the assassination, Mrs. King devoted all of her time and energy to developing and building the Atlanta-based Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (hereafter referred to as the "Center") as an enduring memorial to her husband's life and his dream of nonviolent social change and full civil rights for all Americans;

(13) under Mrs. King's guidance and direction, the Center has flourished;

(14) the Center was the first institution built in honor of an African American leader;

(15) the Center provides local, national, and international programs that have trained tens of thousands of people in Dr. King's philosophy and methods, and claims the largest archive of the civil rights movement; and

(16) Mrs. King led the massive campaign to establish Dr. King's birthday as a national holiday, and the holiday is now celebrated in more than 100 countries.


For more of my topics on commemorative coins and medals, including more Modern US Commemorative stories, see: Commems Collection.