This post was inspired by a discussion in my "Recalling The Efforts Of Joseph Cochran" post - you can read it here.Between the 1982 release of the George Washington 250th Birth Anniversary Half Dollar and the 1997 Franklin Delano Roosevelt and 1997 National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial coin programs - a period of approximately 16 years - 30 programs representing 68 coin designs (more if you count proofs and Uncirculated versions separately) were released with the annual release pace accelerating by 1994.
Waning collector interest in the new series was clearly seen via markedly declining coin sales (compare 1996 Atlanta Olympics Centennial coin mintage figures vs. the program's 1995 releases) - the volume of releases was killing the "golden goose!"
It was clear that something needed to be done, and Congress stepped in with the 1996 Commemorative Coin Reform Act (CCRA) that went into effect on January 1, 1999.
The CCRA was not a standalone bill/Act, its provisions were included in a consolidated appropriations bill for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1997. The coin reform language was added in the Senate and became part of Public Law 104-208; the Act was approved on September 30, 1996.
Within the appropriations Act was a section titled "Commemorative Coin Program Restrictions." It specified:
a) The specified restrictions were to take effect on January 1, 1999.
b) Commemorative coin programs were to be limited to two per year.
c) Approved programs had maximum mintage figures of: 100,000 for Gold Half Eagles, 500,000 for Silver Dollars and 750,000 for Clad Half Dollar coins.
Note: The Secretary of the Treasury was given the authority to alter these figures/limits based on market demands.d) US MInt costs for production, distribution and marketing of a commemorative coin program must be recovered in full before collected surcharges could be paid to the designated recipient organization/sponsor.
e) Recipient organizations that receive surcharge funds wee to be subject to annual audits.
f) Surcharge funds were not to be used to pay for lawyers or lobbyists working to get the sponsor's coin bill passed in Congress.
These restrictions brought order to the modern US commemorative coin series - it put some rules in place! It also prevented unckecked expansion of the series and potential further abuse of collectors. IMO, it was a good thing!
The CCRA does not prevent the Mint from issuing quasi-commemorative coins such as the gold 2016 Winged Liberty/"Mercury" Dime,
Standing Liberty quarter and
Walking Liberty half dollar - the Treasury/US Mint has limited independent gold coin authorization (granted by Congress) and uses it to release select gold coins outside of the two-per-year commemorative coin series. The 2020 Gold $10
Mayflower coin is another example.
The Mint also has independent authority to strike a variety of silver medals - not all medals, but many. It has used this authority to create coin and medal sets for recent programs such as the 2018 World War I, 2020 Women's Suffrage and 2022 Negro Baseball to name a few.
My read of the CCRA would not prevent a sponsor from creating a large, multi-coin program containing multiple Silver Dollars (e.g., five designs with a mintage of 100,000 each), Clad Half Dollars (e.g., five designs with a mintage of 150,000 each), etc. and thus recreating programs similar to the 1983-84 Los Angeles Olympics program or 1995-96 Atlanta Olympics Centennial program. The 2019 Apollo 11 50th Anniversary program took a small step in this direction with authorized mintages of 400,000 standard Silver Dollars and 100,000 Five-Ounce Silver Dollars (i.e., technically, two Silver Dollars within the 500,000 coin limit). I sincerely hope no sponsor goes down this path as a means to create large programs!
For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 04/30/2024 8:42 pm
