United States Bicentennial coinage
The United States Bicentennial coinage is a set of circulating commemorative coins, consisting of a quarter, half dollar and dollar struck by the United States Mint in 1975 and 1976. Regardless of when struck, each coin bears the double date 1776–1976 on the normal obverses for the Washington quarter, Kennedy half dollar and Eisenhower dollar. No coins dated 1975 of any of the three denominations were minted.
Given past abuses in the system, the Mint advocated against the issuance of commemorative coins starting in the 1950s. Beginning in 1971, members of Congress introduced bills to authorize coins to honor the United States Bicentennial, which would occur in 1976. The Mint, through its director, Mary Brooks, initially opposed such proposals, but later supported them, and Congress passed legislation requiring the temporary redesign of the reverse of the quarter, half dollar and dollar.
A nationwide competition resulted in designs of a Colonial drummer for the quarter, Independence Hall for the half dollar and the Liberty Bell superimposed against the Moon for the dollar. All three coins remain common today due to the quantity struck. Circulation pieces were in copper nickel; Congress also mandated 45,000,000 part-silver pieces be struck for collectors. The Mint sold over half of the part-silver coins before melting the remainder after withdrawing them from sale in 1986.
Background
s had been struck for a number of events and anniversaries by the United States Mint since 1892. Organizations would get Congress to authorize a coin and would be allowed to buy up the issue, selling it to the public at a premium. The final issue among these commemoratives, half dollars honoring Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver were struck over a number of years, and were discontinued in 1954. Originally priced at, they were repeatedly discounted; many could not be sold at a premium and entered circulation. The promoter of these issues, S.J. Phillips, mishandled the distribution and lost. The negative publicity caused the Department of the Treasury, of which the Mint is a part, to oppose subsequent commemorative coin proposals, and until the 1970s, Congress passed none.In 1966, Congress established the American Revolutionary Bicentennial Commission to plan and coordinate activities connected with the 1976 bicentennial of American Independence. In February 1970, the ARBC established a Coins and Medals Advisory Committee. The committee's initial report, in July 1970, called for the production of a commemorative half dollar for the Bicentennial. In December 1970, the committee called for special designs for all denominations of US coinage for the Bicentennial; the ARBC endorsed this position the following month. The Treasury, however, opposed the change, following its longstanding position against commemorative coins. Several proposals for Bicentennial coins were introduced in Congress in 1971 and 1972, but did not pass.
Mint Director Mary Brooks had attended the Advisory Committee meetings. At one meeting, she supported having a 1776–1976 double date on circulating coins to mark the anniversary in 1976, although accommodating two dates on the obverse would involve production difficulties. However, in a newspaper interview she termed the idea of changing the six circulating coins "a disaster". She felt if any Bicentennial coin was issued, it should be non-circulating, perhaps a half cent or a gold piece. Brooks believed that such a coin would not disrupt the Mint in the production of coins for circulation. During 1972, however, she retreated from that position, and by the end of the year had persuaded Treasury Secretary George Shultz to support a Bicentennial coin bill.
Authorization
In January 1973, Texas Representative Richard C. White introduced legislation for commemorative dollars and half dollars. Oregon Senator Mark Hatfield also put forward a bill, calling for a $25 gold piece. On March 2, 1973, the Treasury announced its support for Bicentennial coin legislation for design changes to the reverses of the circulating dollars and half dollars, and sent proposed legislation to Congress three days later. Hearings before a subcommittee in the House of Representatives were held on May 2, 1973. Brooks testified, supporting the limited redesign in the bill, but opposing a more extensive coin redesign. Separately from the Bicentennial matter, she asked for authority to strike US coins at the West Point Bullion Depository, where space was available to install older coinage presses. Brooks deprecated the Hatfield proposal, stating that the coin would have to be.667 pure or less to avoid hoarding.As a result of the hearings, several additional bills were introduced, and additional hearings were held before a Senate subcommittee on June 6. Brooks testified again, and responding to criticism that only the two least popular denominations were to be changed, indicated her support for a Bicentennial quarter as well. On June 13, a bill, S. 1141 which provided for a circulating Bicentennial quarter, half dollar and dollar, gave permission for coins to be struck at West Point and allowed for 40% silver clad versions of the new coins for collectors was reported favorably by the Senate Banking Committee. It passed the Senate on July 13. However, amendments authorizing US citizens to own gold, and to implement the Hatfield proposal were attached to the bill. A similar bill passed the House of Representatives on September 12, differing from the Senate bill in lacking any provision relating to gold, and in not authorizing silver versions of the new coins.
Members of the two houses met in a conference committee on September 19 in a session described by onlookers as "fairly hot and heavy". The resulting bill had no gold provisions, but authorized changes to the reverses of the quarter, half dollar and dollar for the Bicentennial. The obverses of the three coins would not change, but would bear the double date 1776–1976. By the terms of the statute, all coins minted to be issued after July 4, 1975 and before January 1, 1977 would bear the Bicentennial dates and designs. Congress directed the Mint to strike 45,000,000 silver clad coins, and the Mint received the requested authority to strike coins at West Point. Circulation quarters, half dollars and dollars would continue to be of copper nickel bonded to an internal layer of copper, that is, copper nickel clad. The modified bill passed both houses of Congress on October 4, 1973, and the bill was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on October 18. Hatfield's measure, along with similar legislation from other senators, was reintroduced in 1975, but died in committee, as did legislation seeking a Bicentennial two-cent piece and a bill seeking a coin honoring Abigail Adams and Susan B. Anthony. The extra production at West Point was key to overcoming a shortage of cents in 1974, and permitted the Mint greater flexibility as it geared up to strike the Bicentennial pieces.
Competition
On October 23, 1973, the Department of the Treasury announced a competition for the three reverse designs. Any US citizen could submit one drawing, or photograph of a plaster model in diameter. As required by law, submissions were to include the legends, and the respective denomination, and. Treasury Secretary Shultz, advised by a panel of judges, would decide which design would be used for each denomination.At Director Brooks' request, the National Sculpture Society selected the five judges for the competition. The judges were society President Robert Weinman, Connecticut sculptor Adlai S. Hardin, former Mint Chief Engraver Gilroy Roberts, Julius Lauth of the Medallic Art Company, and Elvira Clain-Stefanelli, curator in the Division of Numismatics, Smithsonian Institution.
The deadline was originally December 14, 1973, but was extended to January 9, 1974 because of the energy crisis and Christmas mail delays. Brooks traveled more than to publicize the competition. By the deadline, the Mint had received 15,000 inquiries and 884 entries. Members of the panel and any person employed by the US government as a sculptor were ineligible to enter. The prize for each of the three winners was $5,000. The judging was originally supposed to take place at West Point; with the delay, it took place instead at the Philadelphia Mint.
From the entries, the judges selected twelve semifinalist designs; the sculptor submitting each received a prize of $750. The competitors were to place their work on plaster models, if that had not already been done, and were offered assistance in making the models.
Preparation
The twelve remaining designs were released by the Treasury for public comment in early 1974. Two of the proposed coins featured sailing ships, two featured Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and three depicted the moon or lunar spacecraft. Another depicted the Liberty Bell superimposed on an atomic symbol. According to numismatist Michael Marotta in his 2001 article on the Bicentennial coins, "the numismatic community's reaction to the entries was predictable: everyone complained by writing letters to the editor".From the twelve, the judges selected six finalists for review by the National Bicentennial Coin Design Competition Committee, consisting of Brooks, Representative Wright Patman, Senator John Sparkman, Commission of Fine Arts Secretary Charles H. Atherton and Eric P. Newman, chairman of the ARBC's coins and medals advisory committee. After receiving the committee's recommendations, Secretary Shultz selected the winners and on March 6, 1974, Brooks went on the Today show to announce them. Jack L. Ahr's design featuring a colonial drummer, with a torch of victory surrounded by thirteen stars was selected for the quarter. Seth Huntington's image of Independence Hall was selected for the half dollar while Dennis R. Williams' superimposition of the Liberty Bell against the Moon was chosen for the dollar. Ahr owned a commercial art firm and Huntington was head artist for Brown and Bigelow, a Minneapolis publishing firm. Williams, at age 21 the youngest person to design a US coin, was an art student who had originally created his design for a class assignment. No change would be made to the obverses of the coins, except for the double dating.
Ahr was accused of copying his drummer from a 1973 stamp by the stamp's designer, William A. Smith; he denied it. According to numismatic historian Walter Breen, "both obviously derive from Archibald Willard's 1876 painting Spirit of '76," a painting which numismatic author David L. Ganz suggests that both undoubtedly saw sometime in their lives. Ahr, however, stated that his son had been the model for the drummer. Brooks, in a letter to Smith, stated that the design for the quarter was "sufficiently original" to impress the National Sculpture Society. Weinman later deprecated the winning designs:
I really don't think what we got was a great bargain. Nothing we selected was a real winner that I'd fight to the death for. In terms of what we had to work with, though, I think we did the best we could.
On April 24, 1974, the three winning designers were brought to Washington, D.C. After a tour of the White House and meetings with the congressional committees which considered the coin bills, they went to the Treasury Building and received their $5,000 checks from the new Treasury Secretary, William E. Simon, who jokingly asked them if they wanted to invest their awards in savings bonds.
Mint Chief Engraver Frank Gasparro made minor changes to all three reverse designs. Gasparro simplified the quarter design, altered the drum for the sake of authenticity, changed the lettering and modified the expression on the drummer's face. He made slight changes to Independence Hall on the half dollar and altered the lettering on the dollar to facilitate the metal flow during stamping and asked the designer to straighten the bottom edge of the Liberty Bell. Ahr later stated that he would have liked more time to finalize his design, wishing to clarify the features of the drummer's face. The initials of the designer were added to the design by the Mint. All three agreed that Gasparro's changes improved their designs.