Commems Collection Modern: What If? 2013-19 National Coast Guard Museum

A commemorative coin program to support the construction of a National Coast Guard Museum was proposed in the 113th, 114th, 115th and 116th Congresses (2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019, respectively). Each time a bill was proposed for the Coast Guard, I hoped that it would gain favor and not see its journey in Congress end until it was authorized by Public Law. Such a scenario never played out, unfortunately, as the Coast Guard coin program always lost out to other coin proposals.

Over the course of the four Congresses, between the House and Senate, eight individual bills were introduced. Joseph Courtney (D-CT) and Christopher Murphy (D-CT) introduced the bills in the House and Senate, respectively. The bills were essentially duplicates of each other, changing just the year of issue for the proposed coins. Each of the bills proposed a three-coin program: Gold Half Eagle ($5.00), Silver Dollar and CuNi Clad Half Dollar. The requested maximum mintage amounts were: 100,000, 500,000 and 750,000, respectively.

The coin program was not to be issued in conjunction with a particular Coast Guard anniversry, but to recognize the achievements and importance of the US Coast Guard over its long history.

Each of the bills included a "Findings" section that made the case for the coins:

"The Congress finds the following:

(1) The United States Coast Guard was founded on August 4, 1790, as the Revenue Cutter Service under the United States Department of the Treasury.

(2) Congress created the Coast Guard on January 28, 1915, by merging the Revenue Cutter Service and the United States Lifesaving Service, was moved to the Department of Transportation in 1967, and on February 25, 2003, became part of the Department of Homeland Security.

(3) Although the smallest of the uniformed services, today the United States Coast Guard conducts a wide variety of missions to protect the public, the environment, and the United States economic and security interests in any maritime region, including international waters and America's coasts, ports, and inland waterways.

(4) Every day, the United States Coast Guard plays a broad and important role in homeland security, law enforcement, search and rescue, marine environmental pollution response, and the maintenance of river, intra-coastal and offshore aids to navigation (ATON).

(5) The United States Coast Guard is our Nation's oldest seagoing military service, staying true to their motto, Semper Paratus or "Always Ready", for 227 years.

(6) The United States Coast Guard is supported by over 55,000 Active Duty, Reserve, and Civilian personnel, who in 2016 responded to 16,304 search and rescue cases saving 5,221 lives, conducted 47,418 waterborne patrols of critical maritime infrastructure, escorted over 2,671 high-capacity passenger vessels, conducted 7,022 security boardings in and around United States ports, removed $5.7 billion worth of illegal drugs, interdicted 6,346 undocumented migrants attempting to illegally enter the United States, and maintained 45,114 navigation aids that support $3.2 trillion in economic activity on our Nation's waterways.

(7) Section 213 of Public Law 108-293 states that "The Commandant may establish a National Coast Guard Museum, on lands which will be federally owned and administered by the Coast Guard, and are located in New London, Connecticut, at, or in close proximity to, the Coast Guard Academy".

(8) The National Coast Guard Museum Association, a nonprofit association dedicated to improve public understanding of the history, service, and missions of the Coast Guard, is working with the United States Coast Guard, the City of New London, the State of Connecticut, and a range of local, regional, and national stakeholders to develop, plan, and raise capital for the National Coast Guard Museum, to be located in New London, Connecticut.

(9) The United States Coast Guard is the only military service without a national museum through which to share its history and legacy with the American public."

The program's Gold Half Eagle was to carry a surcharge of $35, the Silver Dollar a surcharge of $10 and the Half Dollar a surcharge of $5.00. Collected surcharges were to be paid "to the National Coast Guard Museum Association to help finance the design, construction, operations, and maintenance of the National Coast Guard Museum."

Upon its introduction, each bill was referred to the appropriate Committee in its chamber (i.e., Financial Services in the House and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in the Senate). That is where each bill's journey ended.

The Museum got the "last laugh" so to speak, however. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 appropriated $50 million toward the National Coast Guard Museum - more than four times the maximum that would have been raised via coin surcharges - a complete sell-out of each proposed coin would have generated just $12.25 million.

So, the National Coast Guard Museum will become a reality (it's currently in its final design phase) without the support of a commemorative coin - too bad, I would have been interested in the coins.

As part of its Armed Forces Medals series, the US Mint has produced an attractive US Coast Guard medal; no surcharge for the Museum is included in its issue price(s).

US Coast Guard Silver Medal

(Image Credit: US Mint, media image.)



For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, see: Commems Collection.