Ronald Reagan Commemorative Coins Proposed
H.R. 3341: Ronald Reagan Commemorative Coin Act of 2009
Summary: Proposal for commemorative coins bearing the likeness of former President Ronald Reagan. The coins would be issued in 2013 and include $5 gold coins in a quantity of up to 50,000 and $1 silver coins in a quantity of up to 300,000. Ronald Reagan has been the subject of numerous coin related legislative proposals over the years.
Sponsor: Rep. Robert Latta
Date Introduced: July 24, 2009
Current Status: Referred to Committee (July 24, 2009)
Legislation recently introduced in the House seeks to authorize commemorative coins bearing the image of former President Ronald Reagan.
The bill proposes the production of up to 50,000 commemorative gold coins and up to 300,000 commemorative silver coins to be issued in the year 2013. The gold coins would have a composition of 90% gold, 10% alloy, have a weight of 8.359 grams, and diameter of .85 inches. The silver coins would contain 90% silver, 10% copper, have a weight of 26.73 grams, and diameter of 1.5 inches.
The obverse design of the coins would be required to bear an image of Ronald Regan. The reverse would bear a design similar to the depiction of the American Eagle carrying an olive branch, flying above a nest with another eagle and hatchlings. This refers to the design currently depicted on American Gold Eagle bullion coins.
The designs would be selected by the Secretary of the Treasury after consultation with the Commission of Fine Arts and review by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.
Surcharges would be added to the price of each coin, which would be distributed to the Army Emergency Fund.
Ronald Reagan has been the subject of a number of coin related legislative proposals over the years. This has included an attempt to portray his likeness on the dime introduced in 2003 (Ronald Reagan Dime Act) and a commemorative dollar introduced in 2008 (Ronald Reagan Centennial Act). There have also been two commemorative coin program proposals in 2005 and 2006, which would have created $5 gold, $1 silver, and $10 gold and platinum bimetallic coins.
A more appropriate way to commemorate Reagan would be to issue coins depicting the image of Miss Liberty, with Reagan commemorated in the inscription on the face of the coin, since Reagan did more than any modern president to promote liberty.
I agree with GRL. The eagle reverse that the bill refers to has been used many times on gold bullion. It would probably be better to find a design that is unique to this coin instead of reusing the same design on different coins. It seems almost lazy. If you are going to take the time to commemorate someone on a coin, take the time to get an excellent design, not a “good” one, an excellent one. This coin is going to be around for a long time so it would make sense to do it right the first time and not have to worry about future generations looking back and saying “really that is all they could come up with”.