BILL SEEKS LIBERTY-THEMED CIRCULATING COINAGE

The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) has long recommended to Congress the idea of creating a series of circulating coins featuring new depictions of Liberty. After years of inaction by Congress, several CCAC members recently became much more vocal advocates of the program, and it seems that these recent efforts have finally done the trick.

On June 27, 2013, a bill was introduced in the House of Representatives which seeks to authorize the American Liberty Commemorative Coinage Program. Broadly, the program would include the issuance of dimes, quarters, and half dollars with designs emblematic and allegoric of the concept of American Liberty. The new proposal overcomes some of what may have been considered the sticking points of the previous attempts and strongly positions the program as an opportunity to reduce the Federal deficit.

Previous proposals by the CCAC had called for the inclusion of the cent and nickel within the denominations to carry new Liberty-themed designs. Since these two denominations cost more than their respective face values to produce, any increased demand for these coins would essentially result in a reduction in overall seigniorage generation. With the cent and nickel removed from the new proposal, any incremental coin production would directly increase seigniorage.

Previous proposals have also called for the annual Liberty themed design to temporarily displace the current Presidential portrait which appears on the denomination. There is typically dissent or controversy which result from any attempts to displace a President from coin or currency. The new proposal specifically calls for the design featuring the Presidential portrait to be issued concurrently with the Liberty design.

The dime and quarter dollar would alternate annually in featuring the new Liberty themed designs, beginning with the dime in 2015. The obverse designs would be emblematic and allegoric of the concept of American Liberty.

To read the complete article, see: Bill Seeks American Liberty Themed Circulating Coinage (mintnewsblog.com/2013/07/bill-seeks-american-liberty-themed-circulating-coinage/)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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