Commems Collection Classic: Quick Bits #50 - Proposed Amendments

A total of 53 commemorative coin programs were approved between 1892 and 1951. The Public Laws or Resolutions that authorized them yielded 144 individual silver coins and 13 different gold coins. The first to be issued was the 1892 World's Columbian Exposition half dollar and the last were the three half dollar coins struck in 1954 at the Philadelphia Mint and Denver and San Francisco Branch Mints that jointly honored George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington.

Not satisfied with the coins originally authorized for them, nine coin sponsors went back to Congress and attempted to get approval for a new coin with either a date change or with a design change; a total of 12 such attempts were made. Of these 12, four proved successful in getting a new coin while eight did not; two of the four successful organizations sponsored multiple coin proposals and experienced failure as well as success among their attempts. All of the attempts were made during the mid-1930s when US commemorative coins represented a dominant segment of the overall US market.

The four successful programs were (in chronological order):

1. Daniel Boone Bicentennial - Small 1934 (Amendment Bill introduced April 23, 1935) / More Here
2. California-Pacific International Exposition (aka San Diego) - Additional date - 1936 (January 1, 1936) / More Here
3. Arkansas Statehood Centennial - Robinson type (March 9, 1936) / More Here
4. Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial - Created Carver-Washington type (March 12, 1951) / More Here


The failed attempts were (in chronological order):

1. Texas Independence Centennial - Five Designs (January 13, 1936) / More Here
2. Arkansas Statehood Centennial - Three Designs (March 9, 1936) / More Here
3. Cleveland, OH Centennial /Great Lakes Exposition - 1937 coins (March 16, 1937) / More Here
4. San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge - Golden Gate Bridge type (February 1, 1937) / More Here
5. York County Maine Tercentenary - 1937 coins (March 17, 1937) / More Here
6. Battle of Gettysburg 75th Anniversary - Expansion to Multiple Mints (April 29, 1937) / More Here
7. Arkansas Statehood Centennial - Robinson type - Additional Mintage (May 3, 1937) / More Here
8. Booker T. Washington - Birth Centennial (March 1, 1956) / More Here