Continuing the story of the proposed Millennium Society commemorative coins...
To catch up on Part I, see: Part I - The SocietyIn addition to proposing the Federal recognition of The Millennium Society, the bill also proposed a supportive commemorative coin program. The program was to include two coins: up to 100,000 Gold Half Eagles ($5) and up to 650,000 Silver Dollars. The bill also provided for the option of adding a platinum coin to the program mix, up to 100,000 Platinum Half Eagles ($5) of a TBD composition (TBD by the Secretary of the Treasury) could also be included if deemed "appropriate" by the Secretary of the Treasury. Thus, the potential for a three-coin program.
For a brief introduction to US Platinum commemorative coins, see:
Platinum Commemorative Coins.
The bill did not specify design details for the coins, but did outline the expected inscriptions to be included on them. What was specified would have made for inscription-heavy coins, with each one featuring the coin's denomination, the dates "December 31, 1999'' and "January 1, 2000'', plus "The Second Millennium'', "Freedom, Understanding, Peace'', "United States of America'' and "Commemoration of the Past - Celebration of the Future''. Other inscriptions were also possible after discussions between the Secretary of the Treasury and the Society; I would hope that the legal mandates for "Liberty", "In God We Trust" and "E Pluribus Unum" to appear on
US coinage would be included in such discussions. All of these inscriptions would likely have left little room for artistic expression of the theme.
The coins were to be issued during an 18-month window - July 1, 1999 to January 1, 2001. Based on the inscription specifications listed above, it's unclear if the coins would carry "1999" and "2000" year-of-issue dates.
A surcharge was to be included in the Issue Prices of each coin:
- $35 on each Half Eagle (Gold and Platinum)
- $10 on each Silver Dollar
The collected surcharges were to be paid to the Millennium Society."to be used only for the purpose of supporting the Millennium Scholars Program." Payments were to be subject to acceptable audits of the Society's financial records by the Comptroller General of the United States.
Though the bill had 25 co-sponsors at the time of its introduction, it never gained enough support to be reported by the Senate Committee on Banking to which it had been referred. The bill died for lack of action when the 104th Congress adjourned.
A near identical bill was introduced in the US House of Representatives ("House") a week after the Senate bill by Tom Davis (R-VA). He introduced his bill with the same remarks as Senator Stevens; it is clear the two coordinated on their bills and introduced them with prepared remarks. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services, along with a number of other Committees that oversaw specific provisions included in the bill. It eventually made its way to the the House Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, but was not reported by the Committee or acted upon by the House.
In May 1997, during the 105th Congress, Tom Davis introduced an updated version of the bill, one that dropped the call for the minting of commemorative coins. It did continue, however, to call for commemorative US postage stamps. As with his previous bill, his new proposal was shuffled between multiple Committees, but ultimately did not move forward.
For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more What If? stories, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 10/11/2025 5:36 pm
