Time to conclude the Congressional saga of the 1993 James Madison-Bill of Rights commemorative coin program...If you missed any of my pre-cursor posts, you can find them here:
-
What If? 1991-92 Bill Of Rights Three-Coin Program-
What If? 1991-92 James Madison/Bill Of Rights Silver Dollars-
What If? 1993 James Madison-Bill Of Rights - Part IAs I've discussed previously, the Hearing held to discuss various commemorative coin proposals, including the James Madison-Bill of Rights ("JM-BoR") coins, did not yield an actionable coin proposal in either the House of Representatives ("House") or Senate.
Soon after the JM-BoR coin proposals were considered in the Hearing, however, a proposal for a White House Bicentennial commemorative coin was introduced in the House. It proved to be the opportunity the JM-BoR coin needed! The House bill was passed in late November 1991, and sent on to the Senate for its consideration. Enter James Madison nd the Bill of Rights.
Note: After its introduction in the House, the 1992 White House Bicentennial bill was amended to include the 1992 Christopher Columbus Quincentennary coin program, the 1994 World Cup USA coin program and a Silver Medal for Persian Gulf Conflict veterans.,
Upon taking up the White House coin bill in the Senate, George John Mitchell (D-ME), on behalf of Alan Cranston (D-CA), Malcolm Wallop (R-WY), Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), introduced an amendment that included, among other provisions, the Kennedy-Hatch language regarding the JM-BoR commemorative coins for the James Madison Fellowship Program.
The amendment passed the Senate via Voice Vote in November 1991, and was sent to the House for its consideration. The House did not act immediately, however, and did not take up the amendment/bill until February 1992. When it did, the House had issues with certain provisions of the amendment (the subject of a future What If? story) which led to a Conference being called whereby the disagreements between the House and Senate could (hopefully) be resolved.
As a result of the Conference, the House agreed to a revised amendment that included only the provisions related to the James Madison-Bill of Rights three-coin commemorative program. The House and Senate subsequently approved the Conference Report on the revised amendment, and the amended bill was sent to the United States ("US") President for approval; the bill was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush on May 13, 1992. As part of Bush's approval, the James Madison-Bill of Rights Gold Half Eagle, Silver Dollar and Silver Half Dollar coin program became a reality.
In
Part II of this success story, I'll explore the approved coin program more closely and discuss the coins themselves.
For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more modern issue What If> stories, see:
Commems Collection 
Posted 11/18/2025 12:04 pm
