Note: The full Title of the coin bill is: "To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in recognition of and to commemorate the 1863 invasion of Pennsylvania, the Battle of Gettysburg, and President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address."Todd Russell Platts (R-PA) introduced a bill in the House of Representatives ("House") that called for a three-coin commemorative program - up to 100,000 Gold Half Eagles, up to 500,000 Silver Dollars and up to 750,000 Copper-Nickel (CuNi) Clad Half Dollars. He introduced the bill in October 2009 during the 111th Congress.
Note: Platt represented Pennsylvania's US Congress 19th District; the District that included Gettysburg. A re-districting effort in 2013 eliminated the 19th District, with most of its territory being re-assigned to the 4th District. The move brought about Representative Platt's retirement from Congress. Confederate General Robert E. Lee led his Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania in June 1863 - his Gettysburg Campaign; the advance followed a successful battle at Chancellorsville, Virginia. Lee met Union Major General George Meade and his Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Gettysburg July 1-3, 1863 - the battle was a Union victory that stopped Lee's advancement into the North.
Platts' bill had a fairly extensive "Findings" section that focused on the two Foundations that provide significant financial support to the Gettysburg National Military Park and the the United States Army Heritage and Education Center:
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The 1863 invasion of Pennsylvania and the resulting Battle of Gettysburg proved decisive in the final outcome of the American Civil War.
(2) President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address put the Civil War in perspective as a test of the success of the American Revolution.
(3) The Army Heritage Center Foundation works with the United States Army to establish, sponsor, support, promote, and maintain the United States Army Heritage and Education Center at Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
(4) The Army Heritage and Education Center is the Army's premier center for the study of the role of the individual soldier in support of the Nation.
(5) The Civil War photograph and manuscript collection at the Center is considered one of the finest in the Nation.
(6) The Center seeks to honor the service and sacrifice of soldiers and their families, preserve the memories of their service by gathering and preserving artifact and manuscript collections, and to educate the public through a world class archives, museum displays, and engaging educational programs.
(7) The goal of the Center is promote an appreciation of the sacrifices that generations of American soldiers and their families have made to safeguard the freedoms of this Nation.
(8) The Army Heritage Center Foundation will, through donated support, fund and construct the public components of the Army Heritage and Education Center—the Visitor and Education Center and the Army Heritage Museum—and, once construction is complete, focus on providing "margin of excellence support" to meet the needs of educational programs and other activities at the Army Heritage and Education Center for which Federal funds are unavailable.
(9) The Gettysburg Foundation is dedicated to supporting the Gettysburg National Military Park, a unit of the National Park Service, by—
(A) operating the new Museum and Visitor Center for the Park;
(B) funding the preservation and rehabilitation of the Park's resources;
(C) preserving and displaying the Cyclorama painting; and
(D) providing visitors with an understanding of the significance of the Battle of Gettysburg within the context of the causes and consequences of the American Civil War.
(10) The Army Heritage Center Foundation and the Gettysburg Foundation are each nongovernmental, member-based, and publicly supported nonprofit organizations that are dependent on funds from members, donations, and grants for support.
(11) The Foundations use such support to help create and sustain the Gettysburg National Military Park and the Army Heritage and Education Center.
(12) The Gettysburg Foundation is recognized as the official partner of Gettysburg National Military Park and the Army Heritage Center Foundation is recognized by the Secretary of the Army as the lead agency supporting the development of the Army Heritage and Education Center.The bill did not include design specifications for any of its included coins, other than an open-ended statement that they be "emblematic of the history and memory of the Gettysburg campaign and President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address." The final designs were to be selected by the Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Interior and the Commission of Fine Arts. The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee was to review potential designs.
The coins were to be struck in Proof and Uncirculated versions, making the overall program include six coins in total. Coins were to be struck only during Calendar Year 2013.
The Issue Prices of the coins were to include surcharges:
- $35 per Gold Half Eagle
- $10 per Silver Dollar, and
- $5 per Clad Half Dollar
The collected surcharges were to be split 50/50 between the Gettysburg Foundation and the Army Heritage Center Foundation to support the services each provided (as discussed above via the "Findings").
The bill was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services, but advanced no further. (I wonder if the "Invasion of Pennsylvania" language impacted support?)
The 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg was commemorated on the collector-favorite 1936 (1938) Half Dollar and the 100th Anniversary of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was the subject of a commemorative coin proposal for 1963. I wonder if Representative Platts was aware of these?
- 1963 Gettysburg Address coin:
What If? 1963 Gettysburg Address Half Dollar1936 Battle of Gettysburg 75th Anniversary Half Dollar
For more of my topics on commemorative coins and medals, including more on the 1936 Gettysburg coin, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 07/28/2025 1:19 pm
