Bills are currently pending in Congress for nine different commemorative programs; some have companion bills in the House and Senate. Here's the list:
1. National Purple Heart Hall of Honor Commemorative Coin Act (H, 1%)
2. Pro Football Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act (H, 3%; S, 4%)
3. United States Coast Guard Commemorative Coin Act (H, 1%; S, 2%)
4. Hero Street USA Commemorative Coin Act (H, 3%)
5. Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coin Act (H, 56%; S, 4%)
6. Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act (H, 30%)
7. 50th Anniversary of the Texas Western College Men's Basketball Championship Commemorative Coin Act (H, 2%)
8. Thirteenth Amendment Commemorative Coin Act (H, 6%)
9. Mayflower Commemorative Coin Act (H, 2%; S, 9%)
Note: H = House Bill, S = Senate Bill, % = Chance of EnactmentWhile most of the bills include the "standard" US commemorative coin specifications, three propose denominations and/or compositions that would shake things up a bit for modern US commemorative collectors.
The
Breast Cancer Awareness coin bills call for a $5.00 gold coin to "be made of 'pink gold' which contains not less than 75 percent gold." Pink or rose gold has become fairly popular for jewelry; it is generally created via a mix of gold and copper. The proposed specs would allow for an 18K gold coin (0.750 gold / 0.250 alloy), a significant departure from the current US gold commemorative standard of 0.900 gold / 0.100 alloy.
If passed, the bill would make for an interesting, and thematically appropriate, twist on the standard $5.00 gold half eagle - a "pink ribbon" coin. The bill has a fair number of co-sponsors in the House and Senate; GovTrack gives it a 56% chance of being enacted.
The
Apollo 11 50th Anniversary coin bill, in addition to proposing a standard gold half eagle, silver dollar and clad half dollar, calls for a five-ounce silver coin with a diameter of 3.0 inches to be available only as a proof. The coin would have the same dimensions as the five ounce silver America the Beautiful coins.
The bill has some support in the House, but it does not have a companion bill in the Senate. It is listed as having a 30% chance of becoming law.
The bill that departs most from the norm is the
Thirteenth Amendment coin bill - none of the coins it proposes have ever been issued as a US commemorative!
The bills calls for a $50 bi-metallic platinum and gold coin with its weight, thickness and diameter all left up to the Secretary of the Treasury to determine. Congress has previously authorized a bi-metallic gold and platinum commemorative coin, the 2000 $10 coin for the Bicentennial of the Library of Congress. The proposed coin, based on its stated denomination, would likely be larger and heavier than the LoC coin.
Also proposed is a $20 gold coin with the same specs as the current $50 one-ounce gold bullion coin produced by the Mint. It seems inappropriate to propose the use of the same weight and composition specifications for coins of two different denominations! I understand that maybe it's an attempt to standardize US coin planchets in an effort to reduce the acquisition cost of the planchets, but using the same planchets for different denominations just seems to go against 220+ years of
US coinage policy.
The third coin listed in the bill is a silver dollar. On the surface it appears to be a traditional coin, but a further look reveals that it would be struck on a one-ounce 40.6 mm silver planchet (the same planchet as used for American Silver Eagles [ASEs]) rather than the traditional 38.1 mm silver dollar planchet with a weight of 26.73 grams (~0.86 ounces).
Another oddity within the bill is its call for a $10 surcharge to be collected on all coins sold. This amount is typical for the silver dollar, but is much lower than the norm for gold coins. If passed as written, and all coins were subsequently sold, the reduced surcharge amount specified would result in a loss of $12.5 million in revenue for the beneficiary (The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture). A definite head scratcher!
Representative Danny Davis (D-IL), the coin bill's sponsor, apparently wants to put his mark on US commemorative coinage (even if it's not a very good mark!). The bill is currently listed as having just a 6% chance of passage.
We'll have to wait to see if any of these bills progress through Congress; 2017 and 2018 each have one available slot for a new commemorative program.
Posted 01/12/2016 5:28 pm
until I looked up the proposed legislation. 
