Three very similar bills that called for 500,000 (!) silver coins "in commemoration of the Nevada Silver Centenary and the one hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the Comstock Lode at Virginia City, Nevada" were introduced in Congress between March 1956 (84th US Congress) and February 1937 (85th US Congress).
The Comstock Lode was the first large silver discovery in the United States. It was discovered in 1858 near Virginia City, in what was then the Utah Territory. The huge lode was made public in 1859, and the ensuing silver-rush fueled immediate growth in the area as miners looking to stake their claim quickly arrived. The size of the lode, and its resulting economic impact, was a primary driver behind Nevada's move to statehood. The Nevada Territory was carved from the Utah Territory in 1861 and the area became the 36th State on October 31, 1864. (One of Nevada's nicknames is "The Silver State.")
The 1956 coin bill was introduced in the House of Representatives by John Andrew Young (D-TX), it called for "standard silver dollars." Senator Alan Harvey Bible (D-NV), introduced two bills in February 1957 - the bills were introduced just two days apart. Why two bills? Senator Bible's first bill called for half dollars to be struck, but his second bill sought "standard silver dollars" as in Young's previous House bill. (I'll discuss this more below.)
Two interesting aspects of the bills: 1) They called for coins to be released and dated in 1959, Nevada's anniversary of entering the "Silver Big Time" and 2) They sought a circulating commemorative coin vs. a privately-sponsored piece to be sold at a premium as a fundraiser.
The House bill was referred to the House Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measure; the two Senate bills were referred to the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency. None of the bills, however, were supported by their respective Committee and none were reported out for further consideration.
I mentioned above the replacement of "half dollars" for "standard silver dollars" in Senator Bible's second bill, in my mind the latter bill was a "correction." I believe the silver industry was the behind-the-scenes supporter of these bills and was looking to get as much silver into circulation as possible - bigger silver coins would mean larger amounts of silver would need to be purchased which would mean more revenue for the industry. So, even though the half dollar had been the long-established denomination of choice for US commemorative coins and was likely the reason why Senator Bible introduced a bill specifying them, the larger silver dollars (which hadn't been struck since the 1934
Peace dollar) were proposed at the behest of the silver industry. It should also be mentioned that the silver dollar was not often seen in circulation at the time - outside of the Nevada casinos.
Bills proposing a commemorative medal for the same anniversary were introduced in Congress in 1959. SPOILER ALERT! The medal bills had a different outcome. Seems like a good topic for a future post!
For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more What IF? stories, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 08/24/2022 09:10 am
