Forthcoming Commemorative Coin Programs:
UPDATE, 3/26/2020: Due to the impact of COVID-19, the United States Mint has taken almost all of its 2020 product line off its release schedule, with future on-sale dates yet to be determined. This includes the National Basketball Hall of Fame coins and the Women’s Suffrage Centennial silver dollar.
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2020
National Basketball Hall of Fame
The Coins: gold $5, silver $1, clad half dollar
Struck to honor the 60th Anniversary of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
The program features curved coins similar to those struck for the 2014 National Baseball Hall of Fame and 2019 Apollo 11 50th Anniversary coin programs, with designs first unveiled on September 6, 2019.
Common obverse by US Mint AIP artist Justin Kunz.
Common reverse (the basketball) by Mint sculptor-engraver Donna Weaver.
The ceremonial striking of the silver $1 was held on February 25 of this year. The coin was supposed to go on sale on April 4, but the Mint changed the sale date to April 9 due to COVID-19.
Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commemorative Silver $1
The Mint is authorized to strike up to 400,000 silver dollars featuring designs emblematic of the women who worked and sacrificed to get the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed, which guaranteed a person’s right to vote in federal elections regardless of gender. Surcharges will go to the American Women’s History Initiative at the Smithsonian Institution – who, along with the usual suspects, will also have a say in the design.
The Mint has yet to determine a release date for the Women’s Suffrage Centennial silver dollar.
2021
The two commemorative coin programs for 2021 are the Christa McAuliffe and National Law Enforcement Museum commemorative coins.
Christa McAuliffe Commemorative Coin Program
Efforts to create a commemorative honoring Christa McAuliffe, a New Hampshire high school teacher who was on board the Space Shuttle Challenger when it exploded on January 28, 1986, have been going on pretty much ever since that day. She would have been the first participant in NASA’s Teacher in Space program.
2021 marks the 35th anniversary of Challenger’s last mission. The Mint will produce up to 350,000 silver dollars to commemorate McAuliffe. Surcharges will go to the FIRST robotics program, which was founded in 1989 to encourage American students to excel once again in math and science – or STEM, nowadays.
National Law Enforcement Museum Commemorative Coin Program
In 2000, the National Law Enforcement Museum Act was passed, which authorized the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund to begin building a permanent museum in Washington, DC. Construction began in 2016 across from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Judiciary Square, and it opened to the public in 2018. The commemorative coin program authorizes 50,000 gold $5 coins, 400,000 silver $1 coins, and 750,000 clad half dollar coins.
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Potential Programs Going Forward
Beyond the already approved programs, the earliest that another program could get authorized for release is in 2022.
And while the 116th Congress ends in 2021, proposed commemorative coin legislation from previous Congresses often shows back up in the next (see the 2021 Christa McAuliffe commemorative, above).
So here are some recent proposals for coins you may be collecting one day not too far away…
Carson City Mint 150th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act of 2019
Introduced January 3, 2019, and meant for 2020, so we probably won’t see it again. But then again, who knows?
Proposed coins: 100,000 $5 gold; 500,000 $1 silver
The Carson City Mint is no longer an active mint and the facility is no longer owned by the federal government, but there might be a way for the initials “CC” to appear on such a commemorative as a privy mark.
If approved, the surcharges from this coin program would go to the Nevada State Museum Dedicated Trust Fund.
Muhammad Ali Commemorative Coin Act
Introduced January 17, 2019, and meant for release in 2021.
Proposed coins: 100,000 $5 gold; 350,000 $1 silver
The surcharges for this coin program were to be split three ways: 80% to the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky; 10% to the Muhammad Ali Center for Peace and Justice at the University of Louisville; and 10% to the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center and Movement Disorder Clinic.
United States Coast Guard Commemorative Coin Act of 2019
Introduced on February 14, 2019 and the coin was supposed to have been made in 2020… but you’ll see it again in a different Congress, we guarantee it.
Proposed coins: 100,000 $5 gold; 500,000 $1 silver; 750,000 clad half
Surcharges are to go to the National Coast Guard Museum Association.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Centennial Commemorative Coin Act
Introduced on March 4, 2019 and obviously meant for 2021, which is the centennial of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Proposed coins: 100,000 $1 silver
Surcharges to go to the National World War I Museum and Memorial to commemorate the centennial
Negro Leagues Baseball Centennial Commemorative Coin Act
Introduced on March 5, 2020 and intended for a 2022 release.
Proposed coins: 50,000 $5 gold; 400,000 $1 silver; 400,000 clad half dollars
Surcharges to go to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
Integration of Baseball Commemorative Coin Act
2022 is the 75th anniversary of the racial integration of major league baseball in the United States, with both Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby making their debuts in 1947 (on April 15 and July 5, respectively).
Proposed coins: 50,000 $5 gold; 500,000 $1 silver; 750,000 clad half
Surcharges to go to the National Baseball Hall of Fame to work with the Jackie Robinson Foundation to educate about and preseve artifacts related to the integration of baseball.
1921 Silver Dollar Commemorative Coin Act
Introduced on July 15, 2019, this bill was meant to commemorate the 1921 Morgan and Peace dollars with commemorative coins dated 2021. While this program would surely have been very popular with collectors, it ultimately failed in Congress.
Undaunted, Pat McBride of the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists (PAN) and former CCAC Chair Gary Marks are hard at work advocating for the passage of a new coin program – this time to issue legal tender versions of the Morgan and Peace dollars in 2021 that are NOT commemoratives.
Paul Laurence Dunbar Commemorative Coin Act
Introduced on Sept 13, 2019 to honor the African-American writer, poet and teacher Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Proposed coins: 50,000 $5 gold; 400,000 $1 silver; 750,000 clad half dollars
As written, this program includes gold, silver and clad coins – but considering the relative obscurity of the subject, it may be better served with only a silver dollar. But that’s just our opinion.
Surcharges to go to the Dunbar High School Alumni Federation.
National Purple Heart Honor Mission Commemorative Coin Act
Congress after Congress, this program keeps coming back, so… you’ll probably be seeing a National Purple Heart Honor Mission commemorative one bright sunny day.
The latest version of the bill was introduced on November 7, 2019, with a coin release meant for 2022.
Proposed coins: 50,000 $5 gold; 400,000 $1 silver; 750,000 clad half
Surcharges to go to the National Purple Heart Honor Mission.
Harriet Tubman Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act
Introduced on February 12, 2020 and a contender for 2022.
Proposed coins: 50,000 $5 gold; 400,000 $1 silver; 750,000 clad half
The legislation specifies that at least one coin must feature Harriet Tubman’s portrait. Surcharges would go to Project Legacy in Brooklyn, New York.
Conan Commemorative Coin Act
Introduced on December 23, 2019, this bill would commemorate Conan the Special Operations military dog that participated in and was wounded during the American raid that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Famously, there is a law against living persons on U.S. coins – is there a loophole for animals?
Proposed coins: 100,000 $5 gold; 350,000 $1 silver
Legislation specifies that the coins feature the image of Conan based on the picture that President Donald J. Trump tweeted (yes, a commemorative based on a tweet!) on October 28, 2019.
Surcharges to go to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide for service dog veterinary health benefits immediately and without further appropriations.
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