Oct 3, 2008 | coins, commemorative, legislative
After the Senate passed their version of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (H.R. 1424, commonly known as the “Wall Street Bailout Bill”), the upper house went into “clean up” mode. Clean up mode is when congress pushes lesser, non-controversial bills through the body. As part of that clean up, the Senate passed S. 2579, United States Army Commemorative Coin Act of 2008.
The bill calls $5 gold coins with a limit of 100,000 minted, 500,000 $1 silver coins, and 750,000 clad half-dollars commemoratives in 2011 to recognize the founding of the United States Army in 1775. “The design of the coins minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the traditions, history, and heritage of the United States Army, and its role in American society from the Colonial period to today.”
Coins will include a $35 surcharge on the gold coin, $10 for the silver dollar, and $5 for the clad half-dollar will be paid “ to the Foundation to help finance the National Museum of the United States Army.”
Before the can become law, it must pass in the House of Representatives and signed by the president. Even though it is the same bill as H.R. 5714 that has 348 cosponsors, there is no guarantee that the lame duck session that will meet after the election will take up this measure.
Oct 1, 2008 | administrative, commemorative, legislative
As part of the clean-up before the Senate expected to leave for their fall campaign, H.R. 3229, National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center Commemorative Coin Act, and H.R. 5872, Boy Scouts of America Centennial Commemorative Coin Act, were passed by unanimous consent. Both bills will be sent to the president for his signature.
H.R. 5872 will authorize the Mint to strike one dollar proof and uncirculated silver coins to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Scouting in the United States in 2010. The bill stipulates that the coins can be only struck at one Mint facility and would be distributed starting February 8, 2010. A $10 surcharge will be added to the price of the coins that will be paid to the National Boy Scouts of America Foundation.
National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center Commemorative Coin Act calls for uncirculated and silver dollar commemorative coins, struck at the West Point Mint that would be “emblematic of the courage, pride, sacrifice, sense of duty, and history of the United States Infantry.” Coins will be issued in 2012 and the $10 surcharge will “be paid to the National Infantry Foundation for the purpose of establishing an endowment to support the maintenance of the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center following its completion.”
The president is expected to sign both bills.
ADMINISTRATIVE NOTE: Regular readers know that I like to keep up with the numismatic legislation. One of the sites I use is GovTrack.us, a site that aggregates a lot of legislative information for political junkies, like me, to use. They recently released a widget service that allows me to add legislative information to websites. I am taking advantage of this service on the right side of this page in the box with the title “Coins and coinage.” We can watch all numismatic-related legislation together.
Sep 21, 2008 | coins, legislative
Representative Frank Lucas, a Republican who represents Oklahoma’s 3rd District and a coin collector, introduced H.R. 6942 “to provide for the return of the half-dime as the new 5-cent circulating coin.”
The text of the bill is very simple, it calls for the removal of “Paragraph (5) of section 5112(a) of title 31, United States Code” (31 U.S.C. §5112(a)) that describes the current nickel as “a 5-cent coin that is 0.835 inch in diameter and weighs 5 grams.” In its place, the bill calls for “a clad half-dime that is based on the size and shape of the half-dime or 5-cent coin produced in the 1870s.”
If the bill is not buried in committee, more exacting standards will have to be added when it goes through mark-up.
The half-dime that Rep. Lucas refers to are the Liberty Seated half-dimes designed by Christian Gobrecht. Liberty Seated half-dimes were in production from 1837-1873. Those coins weighed 1.34 grams and were 15.5 millimeters (0.610 inch) in diameter with reeded edges. Half-dimes of that era were struck in .900 silver and .100 copper.
Shield Nickels, designed by James B. Longacre, were put into circulation in 1866 using the .750 copper and .250 nickel composition still in use today.
The purpose of the bill is aimed at lowering the price to strike 5-cent coins so that their production does not cost more than their face value. In this case, rather than a 5-gram coin that is .750 copper and .250 nickel whose metal values are approximately $0.0477 (based on the market close as of September 19), it would be a smaller coin made with .9167 copper and .0833 nickel—clad coinage is a .750 copper and .250 nickel cover around a pure copper core. The metal value of the new coin would be $0.0146, or approximately 70-percent less than the current coin in the cost of metals.
As with any change to our change, there will be resistance. Aside from the social impact, the most significant resistance could come from the vending machine operators who would have to worry about accepting the new coins. Banks and coin counting services could complain about the increased cost in handling a new coin type.
H.R. 6942 has little chance of passing, regardless of any merits. It was introduced on September 18, 2008, with no co-sponsors and referred to the House Financial Service Committee. The introduction came during a week that congress was asked to approve a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry.
Congress is scheduled to go into recess on September 26 so that members can conduct their campaigns. They will not return to Washington until after the November election. At that time, the lame duck congress will have to resolve any budget issues not passed before the fall recess. I doubt any “non-essential” bill will be considered before the final adjournment of the 110th Congress.
Jul 16, 2008 | coins, dollar, legislative, US Mint
I am back, feeling better, and ready to look what has happened in the world of numismatics. Two items of interest are the National Parks Quarter Bill and the availability of the Presidential Dollar Uncirculated Set.
Last week, the House of Representatives, passed H. R. 6184, America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, with a 419-0 vote. If the bill passes the Senate and is signed by the President, it will give us 11 more years of changing quarters. There are some interesting tidbits in the report from the Congressional Budget Office. I will write about this report in a few days.
The US Mint announced that the Presidential $1 Coin Uncirculated Set will be available on July 24, 2008. The set will cost $15.95 and contain coins from both Philadelphia and Denver with coins honoring James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and Martin Van Buren. Coins will be encased in a blister-type package so that the edge lettering can be seen with biographical sketches about each president. I think I’ll pass on this one for the entire uncirculated set.
Thank you to those who have remained subscribed to the RSS or email feed. More good stuff is to follow!
Jun 28, 2008 | coins, commemorative, legislative
Yesterday, I was notified by one of my political junkie sites, govtrack.us, that H.R. 6404, a bill to “require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of the centennial of the establishment of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America.”
As I write this, the information is so new that it has not been posted on Thomas, the Library of Congress site that shares legislative information with the public. So there is no further information. When the bill is posted, it will be available via this link.
If we look at other commemorative legislation, I speculate that the bill with be a $1 silver commemorative coin that will be available in proof and business strike issues. Since the Girl Scouts were founded in 1912, the coin will celebrate their centennial in 2012. Other than design specifics, the bill will call for the minting of 300,000 to 500,000 coins with a $10 surcharge that will be donated to the Girl Scouts.
We will check back to see how well I played swami!
Jun 22, 2008 | coins, commemorative, legislative
This passed week, the Senate passed S. 2159, NASA 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act, by unanimous consent. The bill was held at the desk, meaning that it was not sent to the House of Representatives for consideration.
The bill is similar to H.R. 2750, which was passed by the House in July, 2007. The significant different between the bills is that the House bill specifies where the coins can be minted and the Senate bill does not. Because the 50th anniversary of NASA is this year, the Senate bill specifies that the coins will be dated 2008, allows the coins to be issued through 2009, and specifies that it does not count against the maximum of two commemorative programs for 2009.
Both bills call for a high relief $50 gold coin and $1 silver coins. For the $50 coin, the obverse will bear an image of the sun and the reverse will “bear a design emblematic of the sacrifice of the United States astronauts who lost their lives in the line of duty over the course of the space program.” There will be a mintage limit of 50,000 gold coins and 300,000 silver coins. The US Mint would be allowed to make bronze medals based on the design of the gold coin.
For the $1 silver coins, the bill calls for nine different obverse designs representing the nine planets of the solar system, including Earth. It appears that congress is not paying attention to Pluto being voted out of the solar system. The reverses of these coins will be “be emblematic of the contributions of the research and space centers.” The bill requires the following:
- On the Earth coin, the reverse will “bear images emblematic of, and honoring, the discoveries and missions of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Mercury, Gemini, and Space Shuttle missions and other manned Earth-orbiting missions, and the Apollo missions to the Moon.”
- On the Jupiter coin, the reverse will “include a scientifically accurate depiction of the Galilean moon Europa and depict both a past and future mission to Europa.”
- For the Saturn coin, the reverse will “bear an image of the planet Saturn on the obverse shall include a scientifically accurate depiction of the moon Titan and depict both a past and a future mission to Titan.”
- For the Pluto and Other Dwarf Plant coins, the reverse will “include a design that is emblematic of telescopic exploration of deep space by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the ongoing search for Earth-like planets orbiting other stars.”
The bill also calls for images that would be selected for realism and scientific accuracy.
There will be a surcharge of $50 for the gold coin, $10 for the silver coin, and $1 for the bronze medals. The first $4 million collected will be paid to “NASA Family Assistance Fund, for the purpose of providing need-based financial assistance to the families of NASA personnel who lose their lives as a result of injuries suffered in the performance of their official duties.” The next $1 million of the money collected will be split between the Dr. Ronald E. McNair Educational (D.R.E.M.E.) Science Literacy Foundation and Challenger Center for Space Science Education. Any balance will be given to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum for their exhibits.
If done right, this program could create very interesting collectibles. I can see a set with the gold coin in the middle surrounded by the nine planet coins in a display case. Given the current cost of the metals, this set may be more expensive than most collectors can afford. In the mean time, the House and Senate have to work out the differences between the two versions.
Jun 21, 2008 | coins, commemorative, legislative
After being amended by the Senate, the House of Representatives agreed to the changes to H.R. 634, American Veterans Disabled for Life Commemorative Coin Act, on June 18. The bill is now enrolled and is cleared for the White House for the President’s signature.
The bill calls for the striking of 350,000 silver dollars whose design will be “emblematic of the service of our disabled veterans who, having survived the ordeal of war, made enormous personal sacrifices defending the principles of our democracy.” Coins will be issued in 2010. For this commemorative, the $10 surcharge will “be paid to the Disabled Veterans’ Life Memorial Foundation for the purpose of establishing an endowment to support the construction of American Veterans’ Disabled for Life Memorial in Washington, DC.”
Jun 13, 2008 | coins, legislative, quarter, US Mint
In a grand announcement, Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE) announced that he introduced H.R. 6184, America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008 that would change the reverse of the quarter dollar coins to be “emblematic of a national park or other historic site in each State, the District of Columbia, and each territory of the United States.”
Castle, who authored the 50 State Commemorative Coin Act, noted that the program will make more than $6.2 billion in revenue, which will be $3.7 billion more than non-state quarters.
Note to Rep. Castle: ENOUGH!
We know that the 50 State Quarter program was a success. Aside from the income, it helped introduce more people to collecting. The process brought good designs and bad designs. It introduced the coin making process to the public while allowing the states to create designs to allow them show off. After the states are completed, the District of Columbia and territories are get their turns next year.
During that time, we celebrated the Westward Journey by redesigning the nickel and started honoring our past presidents with a one dollar coin. Next year, we honor Abraham Lincoln with four different Lincoln Cents reverses and a special 2009-S VDB collectible. Even the reverse of the Sacagawea Dollar will undergo a change to honor Native American heritage.
Note to Rep. Castle: ENOUGH!
These programs have been nice. But maybe it is time for a break.
The Presidential Dollar program has waned, mainly because the coins are not circulating. Coins are not circulating because there is a perception that the paper Federal Reserve Note is easier to deal with. But it is known that congress will not change the law to end the one dollar note until the Bureau of Engraving and Printing can make up for the lost production. One way to do that is to print currency for other countries.
Note to Rep. Castle: what about helping BEP find foreign customers so that they are not relying on the printing of $1 FRN? Why not provide the environment so that BEP can bring in new business? Can you help the BEP do what it takes to print the polymer notes that many foreign countries are demanding?
Are you doing what is right or are you looking for a few dollars? Is there a call for this series or are you looking for a few dollars? Are you afraid that there may be some fatigue in this idea, or are you looking for a few dollars?
There seems to be a “collectors’ fatigue” with the number of offerings from the US Mint. It is time to give the collecting community a small break and allow congress to fix some of the other issues that fact the Mint.
Jun 11, 2008 | coins, commemorative, legislative
What does Mother’s Day, the Infantry, and Disabled Veterans have in common? They all had bills passed on Tuesday for the issuing of commemorative coins in their honor.
Following the death of her mother in 1905, Anna Marie Jarvis devoted her life to establishing Mother’s Day as a national, then international holiday. Although there were some celebrations, there were no holidays to celebrate mom. With the financial help of famed clothing merchant John Wanamaker, West Virginia became the first state to recognize Mother’s Day as a holiday in 1910. On May 14, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a presidential proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Mother’s Day, Rep. Shelley Capito (R-WV) introduced, H.R. 2268, Mother’s Day Centennial Commemorative Coin Act. The bill calls for thee striking of 400,000 silver dollars in 2014 where the “design of the coins minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 100th anniversary of President Wilson’s proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.” A surcharge of $10 will be split between Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation and the National Osteoporosis Foundation.
H.R. 2268 was passed by a voice vote in the House of Representatives. It must be passed by the Senate before it can be sent to the president for his signature.
Another bill passed by the House and sent to the Senate is H.R. 3229, National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center Commemorative Coin Act. This bill calls for uncirculated and silver dollar commemorative coins, struck at the West Point Mint that would be “emblematic of the courage, pride, sacrifice, sense of duty, and history of the United States Infantry.” Coins will be issued in 2012 and the $10 surcharge will “be paid to the National Infantry Foundation for the purpose of establishing an endowment to support the maintenance of the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center following its completion.”
On the other side of the Capital, H.R. 634, American Veterans Disabled for Life Commemorative Coin Act , passed the Senate by unanimous consent. Introduced by Rep. Dennis Moore (D-KS) and passed the House on May 15, 2007 by a 416-0 vote, the bill calls for the striking of 350,000 silver dollars whose design will be “emblematic of the service of our disabled veterans who, having survived the ordeal of war, made enormous personal sacrifices defending the principles of our democracy.” Coins will be issued in 2010. For this commemorative, the $10 surcharge will “be paid to the Disabled Veterans’ LIFE Memorial Foundation for the purpose of establishing an endowment to support the construction of American Veterans’ Disabled for Life Memorial in Washington, DC.” The bill passed with a minor technical change that must be approved by the House before it is sent to the President for his signature.
Interesting set of commemoratives for collectors.
Jun 10, 2008 | Eagles, legal, legislative, US Mint
We have been in for a wild time here in the Washington, DC area. Severe thunderstorms and high winds swept through the area on Wednesday and Saturday providing the electric companies with quite a bit of work to do. During that time, I am reminded once again that computers cannot function without electricity.
While the rest of us were sweating and fixing our homes, the US Mint and Treasury policy implementers were downtown trying to figure out how to throttle the sale of silver on the open market. In fact, the Mint has been slowing the sale of American Silver Eagle bullion coins since April.
According to a letter sent to authorized bullion purchasers, the Mint has experienced “unprecedented demand” for silver bullion coins. While the demand for silver has risen, the Mint’s supply has not been able to keep up with the demand. So the Mint will be increasing production at the expense of collector American Eagles and while limiting the sales to bullion dealers.
Although sale of silver bullion has surpassed expectations, expectations by the US Mint should have been higher. With the economy waning, it should not surprise the Department of the Treasury that people would hedge their money against inflation through the purchase of precious metals. This is one of the oldest strategies in investing. Yet, the Mint all but admits to being caught short by this. Why?
Many have commented on the Mint’s shortsightedness while others argue that the Mint is acting illegally. I think it is mired in politics.
Since the seating of the 110th Congress, there has been a subtle show of acrimony between the Mint and the new congressional majority. US Mint Director Edmund Moy has made it clear that he thinks the Mint should have the power to determine the content and design of US coins. The House of Representatives responded by introducing H.R. 3956 that would give this power to the US Mint.
After H.R. 3956 was introduced, fellow members and watchdog groups question whether the bill would be constitutional since it will pass off to the executive branch the power “To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof…” (Article I, Section 8). To fix these issues, H.R. 5512. In H.R. 5512, congress would continue to determine the composition and design of coins while the Mint would become advisors.
When the bill passed the House, Moy was quick to disagree with H.R. 5512 by suggesting that the Mint should have more control over the composition and design of the coins. He also requested that the bill be changed to provide more time to implement the requirement for copper-colored steel cents. The current bill requires the change to occur in 90 days. Moy said that the conversion would require 18-24 months.
There may be more to this than just one bill. Following the passage of the Native American $1 Coin Act, the Mint thought they had a loophole that would prevent them from minting Sacagawea Dollars in 2008. Letters were exchanged between Congress and the Department of the Treasury explained the law that was passed and said that the Mint should strike Sacagawea Dollars immediately. Sources report that contentious discussions suggested that the Director would be in violation of the law if the Mint did not strike Sacagawea Dollars. Allegedly, this conversation occurred two weeks before the availability of 2008 Sacagawea Dollars.
Moy again by proposing the Mint strike 2009 Double Eagle Gold $20 ultra-high relief coin based on 1907-1908 design by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. When introduced to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, Moy stated that 31 U.S.C. § 5112(i)(4)(C), the authorization of the American Eagle program, gave the Mint the authorization to strike these coins. Congress disagrees because everything about the coin, from composition to design, is not codified in the law. Rather than argue with the Director, both the House and Senate introduced appropriate legislation to authorize this coin.
Now, when the Mint was questioned on the distribution problems with silver, the Mint responded with a brief statement that said in part, “By law, the United States Mint’s American Eagle silver bullion coins must meet exacting specifications and must be composed of newly mined silver acquired from domestic sources.” (emphasis added) The problem is 31 U.S.C. § 5112(e) and 31 U.S.C. § 5112(f), the laws that authorizes the bullion program does not say that the coins must be made of newly mined silver. In fact, the law does not require that the silver be purchased from US-based mines. All it requires is that the silver used be purchased at market value and the bullion sold at a value based on the silver market.
It appears that Director Moy is using a pedantic reading of the law to make his point. Rather than working with congress to resolve these issue, Moy would rather use politics to make his point hoping citizens would complain to congress. Sources say that Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) has emphatically told both Moy and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to resolve the situation. Rep. Gutierrez is Chairman of the Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology Subcommittee which has oversight responsibility over the Mint.
Individually, these policy moves by Director Edmund Moy do not seem significant. Together, they represent a pattern that shows the Director is looking to increase his power over the Mint. Moy needs to remember that he is the boss of the manufacturing operation charged with the responsibility to strike coins as prescribed by the 535 member Board of Directors (congress) and approved by the Chief Executive Officer (president). Moy’s actions are insolent and should be the subject of disciplinary actions by the Board of Directors.
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