Women's Suffrage Centennial Commemorative Coin Act - 2020 silver dollar

The law directs the Treasury Department to issue $1 coins honoring the history of the women's suffrage movement.

The coins will mark 100 years since the 19th Amendment was ratified giving women the right to vote.

The law:
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/s1235/text

Details, not more than 400,000 $1 coins, silver, 90%, diameter 1.500 inches, proof and uncirculated.

The beneficiary of the coin surcharge is the Smithsonian Institution’s American Women’s History Initiative.

 

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I ponder if women will mint these coins....

 

Law says "at least" 90% so the mint will use 99.9%

It will take time to design and get approvals.. Aug 20th release?

Doesn't give a lot of time for sales.

Also interesting that the law had to go back to the House after the Senate added language requiring all the mint's costs be covered before paying out surcharge revenue.

 

yea, they both have to vote on the same thing.

 

Should've made it 30,000 max, to focus more attention on them...

 

That clause shouldn't have been necessary. There is already a law that requires the mints expenses to be covered before any recipient receives surcharges from a commemorative coin issue. So the clause merely duplicates an existing law.

 

Interesting (to me) that the language includes provisions for:

• "bulk sales" (i.e., buy bags or rolls at a discount) and
• "prepaid orders" (i.e., buy it before it's released, also at a discount)

I don't recall commemorative dollars being sold this way before*. Is this new or just news to me?

*(Discounts for early buyers is not new but buying in advance is new)

 

Agreed.

Code:

(b) Bulk sales

The Secretary shall make bulk sales of the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable discount.

(c) Prepaid orders

(1) In general

The Secretary shall accept prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act before the issuance of such coins.

(2) Discount

Sale prices with respect to prepaid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a reasonable discount.

Also interesting to see the changes between the initial and final Senate bill

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/s1235/text#compare=is

And despite the article, the financial provision WAS in the House bill...

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/s1235/text#compare=365237:ih

 

Just new to you. Those clauses have been in most if not all the commemorative coin programs as far back as at least 1995 and probably further. Yep even futher, they are in the 1985 act that create the Statue of Liberty coin program. They are basically a holdover from the pre-internet era when orders were all placed by mail and mintages were unlimited. The coins would have an official issue date and price, but they would also have a "pre-sale" ordering period before that date and orders places at that time would receive a discount from the "official" price. As for the bulk sales, mintages were unlimited so dealers could order 5,000, 10,000 sets etc and receive a discounted price.

I'm not really sure exactly when they stopped doing the presale discounts but they still seem to have been listed as late as 2016. As for dealer bulk sales, I think those may have ended when the authorized mintages came down low. I believe the only dealer bulk discounts now is a rebate at the end of the year which varies depending on how much they have purchased. It isn't set for any one particular set or issue. But the clauses still just hang on in the legislation.

 

Thanks. I wonder how they justify not doing it anymore, when the bill clearly states that "they shall".

 

Who says they're not doing it? Except for the Apollo 11 none of these have come close to selling out in years.

Also nothing says a reasonable discount isn't 0. The price is set to cover the mint's costs and the surcharge - shipping is a separate item and that can be discounted based on sending one box instead of 10,000.

 

I really hope that they come up with a decent design for this one, because it's a pretty significant event and should get more press. Although it is a little awkward that women only got the vote 100 years ago, but many other countries were further behind. But times change, sometimes even for the better, like in this case.

Now come up with a GOOD DESIGN!!!!!

 

They go on sale at the US Mint website today:

https://news.coinupdate.com/silver-...iversary-of-womens-suffrage-on-sale-august-18

Interestingly enough, there is no accompanying $5 gold coin.

 

That's all the law called for is the dollar coin

 

The gold coins are only to commemorate important stuff. You know, basketball.

 

I think they nailed it with Corporal Klinger in the design.

 

I don't know if the bottom figure on the coin is meant to represent an African-American woman, but non-white women didn't officially get full rights to vote nationally in the U.S. until the Voting Rights Act in 1965, which outlawed discriminatory voting practices. I've heard some people downplaying the 1920 anniversary because it technically gave only white women the right to vote. Even so, it's still a significant landmark in the extension of democracy to previously excluded groups. But it is too bad that it wasn't more inclusive at the time and we shouldn't forget details that often get lost in history. An American Experience documentary called "The Vote" covers a lot of this material.

 

I really like both the coin and medal. With a set limit of only 10,000, I hope this sells out. The coin and medal were designed, sculpted, and engraved by women. So, why is Modern Coin Mart selling NGC certified sets with the label signed by John Mercanti? What did he have to do with these?

 

He signed the label.

Makes about as much sense as most of these labels

 

Married men are suffering too... why not issue a commemorative coin for them...? ;-)