Consider this story a prelude to the my story about the September 11th commemorative medal. It shares much common ground with the medal bills to be discussed, and, in several ways, could be viewed as the foundation for them.In September 2009, Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced a bill calling for coins to be struck in "commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States and the establishment of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center." The bill had 49 Co-Sponsors at the time of its introduction; the list would ultimately grow to include 58 Co-Sponsors.
Upon its introduction, the bill was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Nadler's proposal called for the striking of up to 2 million Silver Dollars with a design "emblematic of the courage, sacrifice, and strength of those individuals who perished in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the bravery of those who risked their lives to save others that day, and the endurance, resilience, and hope of those who survived." No simple task!
An interesting aspect of the coin's design involves the inscriptions that it was to feature. In addition to the standard, mandated inscriptions of "Liberty", "In God We Trust", "United States of America", and "E Pluribus Unum"; the Silver Dollars were also to include "Always Remember". (Remember that when reading the medal post.)
The bill authorized the striking of Proof and Uncirculated versions of the coin, and stated "to the extent possible, approximately one-half of the coins to be minted under this Act should be struck at the United States Mint at West Point, New York, and approximately one-half struck at the United States Mint at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania." (I can envision one Mint facility striking the Proof coins and another striking the Uncirculated coins vs. a hard 50/50 split for each quality, with final totals being driven by customer orders/preferences.) The Silver Dollars were only to be struck in 2011.
The SDs were to carry a surcharge of $10 per coin, with collected funds going to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center "to support the operations and maintenance of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center following its completion."
The bill did not progress in Committee, and was never reported. It would soon be replaced, however, with a successful effort to strike a commemorative medal.
For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more September 11th stories, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 02/18/2025 06:15 am
