Commems Collection Classic: 1937 Roanoke Colony Memorial - Congress

I've always smiled a bit when I've read the statements made in the House of Representatives on May 20, 1936 when the bill for the Roanoke Colony Memorial Half Dollar was called up for consideration. There wasn't so much a discussion of the bill as there was a short series of independent statements made by Lindsay Carter Warren (D-NC) - the bill's sponsor - Bertrand Hollis Snell (R-NY) and Robert Fleming Rich (R-PA).

Each of the Representatives involved had been in Congress during the US commemorative coin boom. Warren began his House career in 1925, in the 69th Congress, and served through the 76th Congress in 1941. Snell began his first term in the House in 1915, with the 64th Congress; he had served in 11 consecutive Congresses at the time of the Roanoke coin proposal and had previously challenged commemorative coin legislation (e.g., 1936 Columbia, SC Sesquicentennial Half Dollar). Representative Rich began his House career in 1929 with the 71st Congress and was serving his fourth term as a New York Republican in 1936.

And now...

"Mr. WARREN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for the present consideration of the bill...to authorize the coinage of 50-cent pieces in commemoration of the three hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Sir Walter Raleigh's Colony on Roanoke Island, N.C., known in history as the "Lost Colony", and the birth of Virginia Dare, the first child of English parentage to be born on the American Continent, and her baptism.




"The Clerk read the title of the bill.

"The SPEAKER. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from North Carolina?"

A seemingly resigned Snell, offered:

"Mr. SNELL. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, if we have a few more of these bills I am going to make a speech in favor of every one of them. I have been overruled so many times that I will not object to this one."

Representative Rich, playing the part of the "Good Republican" then rose and needled his colleagues on the other side of the aisle:

"Mr. RICH. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I may say to the gentleman from North Carolina that this is the thirty-fifth bill that has been presented to Congress requesting the coinage of silver money for some kind of a show. I think we have begun the Democratic administration's inflation measure through this channel. I believe the Democrats ought to be careful now that they do not do something they will be sorry for."

With that, the comments made more to bring attention to an out-of-control commemorative series than to specifically object to the Roanoke coin concluded and consideration of the bill proceeded:

"There being no objection, the Clerk read the bill...

The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, was read the third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the table."

With that, the bill was sent to the Senate where it passed with only a minor amendment. After being examined and signed in each chamber, the bill was sent on to the President for his review/approval. US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the bill into law on June 24, 1936.


For a broader view of the Roanoke coin proposal's journey through Congress, see:

- 1937 Roanoke Colony Memorial - Origin Story


For more of my stories about commemorative coins and medals, including much more on the Roanoke half dollar, see: Commems Collection.