Continuing the story of the proposed Thomas Alva Edison Sesquicentennial commemorative coins that began in Part I - 103rd Congress.Companion bills were introduced in the United States ("US") Senate and House of Representatives ("House") in the 104th Congress that expanded the proposed Edison coin program to a two-coin program: a Silver Dollar (up to 350,000) plus a Silver Half Dollar (up to 350,000). (So, a change to the coin types previously proposed, but no change to the total number - 700,000 - of coins requested.)
The House bill was introduced by Paul E. Gillmor (R-OH) in February 1995; the Senate bill was sponsored by Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and introduced in October 1996 - a year and a half after the House bill!.
When he introduced his bill in the Senate, Lautenberg instilled urgency into the matter: "not only would these coins honor the memory of Thomas Edison, they would also raise revenue to support organizations that preserve his legacy. The two New Jersey Edison sites, the 'invention factory' in West Orange, NJ, and the Edison Memorial Tower in Edison, NJ, are both in poor condition. Irreplaceable records and priceless memorabilia are in danger of being destroyed because of leaky roofs, defective electrical systems and faulty sprinkler systems. The profits raised from surcharges on the commemorative coins would provide funds to repair and preserve these and five other historical Edison sites across the country and to expand educational programs that teach us about this great American."
The new bills were largely the same as the bill of the 103rd Congress: the same "Findings" were included, the issue period remained 1997, the surcharge distribution model was the same (though the listed order of beneficiaries changed a bit).
The addition of a second coin to the mix did alter the surcharges to be collected. In the new bills, the Issue Price of the Silver Dollar was specified to include a $14 surcharge and the Issue Price of the Silver Half Dollar was to include a $7 surcharge. With the specified authorized mintage amounts, the program had the potential to collect $7.35 million in surcharges, slightly less than $7.5 million potential of the previous bill - the National Numismatic Collection would receive up to $150,000 less if the program was a complete sell-out.
The most interesting twist of the 104th Congress bills was their inclusion of a provision for the circulating half dollar of 1997 to be replaced by one featuring the same obverse likeness of Thomas Edison as used for the collector coins - a one-year hiatus for the John F. Kennedy design!
The House bill was initially referred to the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services, with a further referral to its Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy. The Senate bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Banking. Neither bill was reported by its respective Committee, and both died for lack of action when the 104th Congress adjourned.
A note about the "late" Senate bill introduction by Frank Lautenberg. When introducing the bill, he stated: "I introduce this legislation at the end of the 104th Congress with the expectation that it will be reintroduced in the next Congress and passed next year during the sesquicentennial of the birth of Thomas Alva Edison. This legislation would honor a great American inventor, it would provide seigniorage to the Treasury to help service the national debt, it is popular among coin collectors, and it would provide sorely needed funds to important historical sites."
And with that, let's move to the 105th Congress...
In February 1997, near the start of the 105th Congress, Senator Lautenberg re-introduced his Edison Birth Sesquicentennial bill; it was a duplicate of the bill he introduced late in the 104th Congress. The bill was immediately referred to the Senate Committee on Banking.
As with the prior Edison coin bills, the new Senate bill was not reported by its Committee and died for lack of action. All was not lost, however, as the House coin bill for Edison that was introduced at the same time fared much better.
You can read about its journey here:
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2004 Thomas Alva Edison - 125th Anniversary Of Light BulbFor other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more about proposed modern US commemorative coins, see:
Commems Collection 
Posted 01/16/2026 12:34 pm
