Commems Collection Modern: What If? 2008 N A S A 50th Anniversary - 110th Congress - Part II

This is the fourth installment (of five) of the 2008 NASA 50th Anniversary commemorative coin proposals story, this time out I will be discussing the three coin bills that followed the May 2007 bill I discussed here: What If? 2008 N A S A 50th Anniversary - 110th Congress - Part I.

Previous discussions:

- What If? 2008 N A S A 50th Anniversary - 108th Congress
- What If? 2008 N A S A 50th Anniversary - 109th Congress
- What If? 2008 N A S A 50th Anniversary - 110th Congress - Part I


As was the first, the second bill introduced in the 110th Congress was sponsored in the House of Representatives by Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX); it was introduced in June 2007. Upon its introduction, the bill was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

The primary differences between her June 2007 bill and Jackson's previous bill (May 2007) is found in the "Findings" section. The June bill dropped the Hubble Space Telescope bullet along with the bullet listing NASA's ten space and research centers. (Refer to What If? 2008 N A S A 50th Anniversary - 110th Congress - Part I for details.

The rest of Jackson-Lee's June bill essentially mirrored her earlier bill - including the call for a Gold $50 coin and nine Silver Dollars. The bill was amended in the House to reflect the previous "Findings" section before it was formally considered. The bill passed the House without issue, and was sent to the Senate for its consideration. Once received in the Senate, the bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. The bill was not reported by the Committee, however, and did not proceed.

The next bill of the 110th Congress was introduced by Bill Nelson (D-FL) October 2007 in the Senate; it was immediately referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. The Committee, however, was discharged from review of the bill by Unanimous Consent just a few days later.

When the bill was subsequently considered on the Senate floor (June 2008), Senator Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT) proposed an amendment that extended the period within which the Mint could strike the NASA coins. The original expiration was December 31, 2008, the new, extended expiration date was December 31, 2009 . The ordering period, however, remained January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008. The amendment was likely in response to the recognition that it would likely be July 2008 by the time the 2008-dated coins would be authorized/approved and the late approval could stress the Mint's production capabilities - nine different Silver Dollars!

Another feature of the Senate bill was an updating of the duplicate bronze medal provision (duplicate of Gold $50 coin). The Senate bill added a $1 surcharge to the medal's issue price and specified that the medals "shall not be considered to be United States coins and shall not be legal tender." These changes made it clear that the medal was not to include a denomination - a point left unclear in the previous coin proposal.

The Senate agreed to the timeline amendment and passed the amended bill via Unanimous Consent in June 2008. The Senate then sent the bill to the House for its consideration. It was "held at the desk" in the House (i.e., available for consideration without Committee referral), but was not acted upon.

The last NASA-related bill to be introduced in the 110th Congress was sponsored, once again, in the House by Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX); the bill was introduced in July 2008. As standard, the bill was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

Recognizing the 2008 timeline pressures, the bill was brought up for consideration within a week - under a suspension of the rules / without Committee review - and was quickly passed without amendment.

The language and provisions of the bill mostly mirrored that of the recent Senate-passed bill - including the Gold $50 coin and nine Silver Dollars. It did depart in one significant way, however. The House bill included a provision regarding the Gold $50 coin: "Each gold coin minted under this Act may be issued only as part of a complete set with 1 of each of the 9 $1 coins minted under this Act."

The provision was akin to adding what essentially would have been a $400+ surcharge to the order of a collector desiring one of the gold coins! A collector purchasing these coins would very likely also purchase the special Presentation Case (described in a previous post) to house the coins (unless it was included by default!).

The House-passed bill was sent to the Senate where it was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar. In possibly a bit of tit-for-tat in response to how the House handled the previous Senate bill, the House bill was never considered by the Senate. As a result, NASA coin bills were 0 for 8 over the course of the 108th, 109th and 110th Congresses! But the last chapter of the story was yet to be written!


For more of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including other What If? stories, see: Commems Collection.