Commems Collection Classic: 1926-39 Oregon Trail Memorial - Origin Story - Part II

And now, the conclusion...

Upon the bill being received in the Senate, it was immediately referred to the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency. The Senate Committee held a Hearing of its own on the coin bill. Ezra Meeker - a young passenger in an ox-drawn wagon that traversed the Oregon Trail in 1852 and then-current President of the Oregon Trail Memorial Association - was the first to testify at the Hearing. He opened his comments by referring to a comment made by the Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, regarding commemorative coins only being for events of "national importance" and by stating his belief that the Oregon Trail met such a criteria.

Ezra Meeker, 1921

(Image Credit: Library of Congress, Print and Photographs Division. Public Domain.)

Committee Chairman, long-term Senator George Payne McLean (R-CT), moved quickly past the "national importance" topic and asked Meeker about the potential for switching the Association's request from a coin to a medal based on the meeting he had with Secretary of the Treasury Mellon.

Meeker replied that he presented the medal idea to affiliated Oregon Trail groups in Idaho and New York, but that both rejected the medal proposal, preferring to stick with the proposed coin. Chairman McLean then floated a compromise idea that would have simultaneously authorized coins and medals to give the Trail Association an opportunity to sell both in order to determine, first hand, which would sell better. After making such determination, it could proceed with additional orders for the more popular piece and thus maximize the profits seen by the Association.

The Treasury had argued that the medals would prove more popular and sell in larger volume. (Silly Treasury! ) The Association believed the opposite. Meeker did not believe the joint coin and medal proposal was an acceptable plan and held firm to the Association's coin proposal.

The next witness on behalf of the coin was Edmund Seymour, an Association leader from New York. When questioned, Mr. Seymour also expressed support and preference for a coin vs. a medal, reiterating what Ezra Meeker had said, namely, the Association believed it would be far more successful selling a coin vs. a medal. He also restated the Association's belief that it could be very successful selling its coin, surpassing even the Stone Mountain half dollar, which he understood had sold over one million coins at the time of the Hearing.

Charles S. Dewey, the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury was next to be called upon. Mr. Dewey expressed the Treasury's ongoing objection to commemorative coins, stating: "We believe that the currency of the United States should not be used to commemorate anything for any purpose except for a very great national purpose."

Assistant Secretary Dewy brought with him a number of commemorative medals that had been struck by the Mint prior to the 1892 Columbian World's Exposition souvenir half dollars, and tried to emphasize the significance of such pieces in the commemoration of historial events. Contrasting the long-lasting commemorative nature of the Mint's commemorative medals with coins, Dewey commented, "The half dollar will soon go into the currency and as soon as it gets back to us we will melt it up and strike it into new half dollars. So the commemorative part is lost." Medals did not follow such a pathway was Dewey's implication, so their commemorative purpose continued far longer.

The Chairman then inquired of Meeker whether he showed the medals to the Association members who favored the the coin. Meeker responded by confirming that he had. but that the members still preferred a coin. At that point, Meeker appears to gotten a bit "feisty" as he stated "Now the question to my mind is not that the Treasury should think for the people but the people who are proposing to carry out this work, and who prefer the coin, and it is their firm opinion - I think they should have preference, or that their opinion should have preference."

The Hearing concluded with Meeker and Seymour making a final push to support their case for a coin over a medal, with Seymour painting a picture of a successful national sales campaign for the coin supported by multiple groups - Daughters of the American Revolution, the Women's Federation of Clubs, the Confederation of Churches, the Boy Scouts, etc. - and they "could not do anything with the medals. They want a coin they can put in their pockets, and it is a great national movement." The Committee Chairman remained unconvinced, and indicated the Committee would discuss the proposal further in Executive Session.

In an unusual move, the Committee later reported the bill out without a recommendation. The Committee's Report was essentially a transcript of the Hearing with a letter from Secretary of the Treasury Mellon attached - the Senate was to make its own decision on the coin. In the letter, Mellon stated his objection to the Oregon Trail coin and to commemorative coins in general. He stated, "I know of no country in the world which permits the use of its coinage for profit by nongovernmental enterprises to the extent to which the practice has grown in recent years in this country." The letter included a table presenting past "Special Coins" listing their Number authorized and Approximate percentage sold. The table did not present a pretty picture, with the Land of the Pilgrims Tercentenary half dollar at ~70% being the highest volume seller.

The ambivalent Committee Report, did not appear to have an impact on the Senate, however, as it passed the coin bill without discussion or debate.

With the Senate hurdle cleared, the bill was examined and signed in each chamber and sent to the President for approval. US President Calvin Coolidge signed the bill into law on May 14, 1926.

With that, the Treasury's objections to the Mint being used to produce commemorative coins for the benefit of private organizations were once again pushed aside and largely ignored by Congress. While I do think the Oregon Trail was a significant component of US history, and aided in keeping the British from making claims on the territory of the present-day States of Washington and Oregon and thus possibly prevented hostilities between the US and UK, I would argue that a more limited coin program would have sufficed. A program allowing up to six million coins to be produced at all three US Mint facilities over an indefinite time frame was far too much IMO. (Final overall sales for the program prove this point.)

1926-39 Oregon Trail Memorial Half Dollar



If you haven't yet read it, I would recommend reviewing Part I of the Oregon Trail Memorial Half Dollar - Origin Story here:

- Oregon Trail Memorial Half Dollar - Origin Story - Part I

If you're interested in learning a bit more about the proposed Oregon Trail medal, check out:

- What If? 1926 Oregon Trail Memorial Medal


For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more on the history and designs of the Oregon Trail half dollar, see: Commems Collection.