The American Bald Eagle Recovery and National Emblem Commemorative Coin Act was signed into law by US President George W. Bush on December 23, 2004. The Act authorized a three-coin program: Gold Half Eagle, Silver Dollar and Copper-Nickel (CuNi) Clad Half Dollar.
(I discussed the coin program's journey through Congress, as well as the coins themselves here:
2008 Bald Eagle Recovery.)
Bald Eagle Perched
(Image Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. Public Domain.)Surcharges collected from coin sales were distributed to the American Eagle Foundation of Tennessee (AEF). The group received approximately $7.76 million in surcharge funds from sales of nearly 829,000 gold, silver and clad coins.
In May 2007 - before the 2008 Bald Eagle coins went on sale - Don Young (R-AK) attempted to "swoop in" and redirect the collected surcharges. Representative Young proposed that to-be-collected surcharges be split
- 1/3 American Eagle Foundation of Tennessee
- 1/3 American Eagle Foundation of Haines, Alaska
- 1/3 Peregrine Fund of Boise, Idaho.
The Tennessee Foundation did/does not have direct operational or financial links to these other two organizations; Representative Young's bill appeared to be an attempt to piggyback on the work of others to bring some "easy" funding to constituents more local to his Alaska district.
If the other two groups had worked with the American Eagle Foundation of Tennessee to get the coin bill approved, and the three jointly promoted their environmental programs, I would support an even distribution of the collected funds. The fact that the pair were coming in after the coin bill had been approved and while the coins' production process and marketing program development were each well underway, results in my "no support" reflex being triggered.
The bill was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services, with a further referral to its Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology. The bill stalled in Committee and was never reported out or acted upon; the bill had only one co-sponsor - Bill Sali (R-ID).
For more of my topics on commemorative coins and medals, including more on the the Bald Eagle Recovery coin program referenced here, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 07/21/2025 11:55 am
