House Passes Commemorative Coin Program Bills

House Passes Commemorative Coin Program Bills
By David L. Ganz for Numismatic News

It seemed like it was raining coinage legislation on Capitol Hill in May as the House of Representatives passed bill after bill that sets up new coin programs. If the Senate concurs, and the President signs the measures into law, the face of coin collecting will likely not be the same. Replacing it will be a quilt work of new programs and directions.

First and foremost on the scene was the double eagle ultra-high relief in gold, and a second version in palladium. See separate story on Page 4.
Other legislation makes for one of the busiest numismatic Congresses in recent memory:

Star-Spangled Banner and War of 1812 Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act (Under House consideration May 13 when squabbles broke out among the Democrats and Republicans, but passed under unanimous consent May 15. Referred to Senate Banking Committee May 19 after being Received from House) [H.R. 2894.]

• It authorizes 350,000 silver dollars in 2012 and instructs the secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue $1 coins in commemoration of the bicentennial of the writing of the Star-Spangled Banner and the War of 1812. It requires a coin design emblematic of the War of 1812, particularly the battle for Fort McHenry that formed the basis for the "Star-Spangled Banner."

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