Commems Collection Modern: 1994 US Capitol Bicentennial - Part II - The Coins

Continuing the story from Part I - The Journey...

The obverse of the 1994 US Capitol Bicentennial commemorative silver dollar depicts the US Capitol Dome (to the right of center). The statue of Freedom on top of the dome is surrounded by a circle of 13 stars, meant to symbolize the 13 states that had originally ratified the US Constitution and were part of the Union at the time construction on the Capitol began.

William C. Cousins was the coin's obverse designer/engraver. The design has always resonated with me and is one of my favorites within the modern series.

John Mercanti handled the coin's reverse design. It is a rendering of a segment of one of the four stained-glass skylights positioned within the grand stairways of the Capitol's Senate and House wings. It features a US Shield, surmounted by an Eagle and flanked by US flags.

Note: I mentioned in my post about the US Capitol - Architectural History Set (link below) that the original stained-glass skylights had been removed and were awaiting restoration. The restoration effort is still waiting for adequate funding to be appropriated - proceeds from the sales of the Silver Dollar did not cover the expensive undertaking..

1994 US Capitol Bicentennial Silver Dollar


The Proof version of the coin was issued at $36.00 Pre-Issue, raised to a Regular price of $40.00 after the first month of sales. The Proof Silver Dollar sales totaled 279,579 units (216,114 Standalone plus 63,465 in the Architectural History Set).

The Uncirculated version oof the coin was issued at $32.00 Pre-Issue, subsequently raised to a Regular price of $37.00. It had total sales of 68,332 units.

Sales of the Proof and Uncirculated coins combined totaled 347,911 pieces. This sales volume generated ~$5.129 million in surcharges for preservation of the US Capitol.

I have examples of each version. My Uncirculated example is a standalone coin, my Proof version is in the US Capitol Architectural History Set.


I strongly encourage checking out my previous post on the US Capitol Architectural History Set for more on the history of the Capitol. See it here:

- 1994 Capitol 200th - Architectural History Set).


For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including other Modern US Commemorative Coin stories, see: Commems Collection