HomeUS CoinsBoys Town Centennial Commemorative Coin Act Passes Congress (UPDATE July 6, 2015)

Boys Town Centennial Commemorative Coin Act Passes Congress (UPDATE July 6, 2015)

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By Hubert Walker for CoinWeek ….
UPDATE, 7-6-2015: On July 6, President Barack Obama signed the Boys Town Centennial Commemorative Coin Act into law.

Original article first published on June 29 at 10:13 AM.

Bill now heads to the President’s desk to sign into law

On June 25, the Boys Town Centennial Commemorative Coin Act (H.R. 893) passed the United States Senate by unanimous vote and with no amendments. The bill had previously passed the House of Representatives on June 23, at which time it had 296 cosponsors – 175 Republicans and 121 Democrats.

U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE1)
U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE1)

It was originally sponsored by Nebraska Representative Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE1).

The Boys Town commemorative coin program authorizes the Mint to produce a maximum of 50,000 90% pure $5 gold coins, 350,000 90% pure $1 silver coins and 300,000 clad half dollars. Typical three-coin programs authorize progressively higher mintages as the denomination is reduced in value, so the fact that the silver dollar has the highest mintage limit for this issue implies that Congress is aware of the collector demand for modern silver coins.

According to the text of the bill, coin designs “shall be emblematic of the 100 years of Boys Town, one of the largest nonprofit child care agencies in the United States”. The usual inscriptions shall be placed on the coins, including the year and denomination, LIBERTY, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, E PLURIBUS UNUM and IN GOD WE TRUST.

A general discussion of the coin’s design, in which basic principles and themes for artists to work form are decided, will now be on the agenda for a future meeting of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC). The CCAC is tasked with advising the Secretary of the Treasury on the design of medals and coins issued by the United States Mint and consists of 11 members of the public chosen according to certain guidelines set forth in Public Law 108-15.

Approximately six months after the initial meeting, prospective coin designs will be voted on at another meeting of the CCAC.

No date has currently been set for either meeting.

Surcharges of $35, $10 and $5 will be charged for the gold, silver and clad coins, respectively. Once all the costs of designing, manufacturing and selling the coins are recouped by the Treasury Department, Boys Town will be the sole beneficiary of said surcharges.

The bill also provides for bulk sales and prepaid orders.

Boys Town was founded in 1917 as an orphanage in Omaha, Nebraska by Roman Catholic priest Edward J. Flanagan. His work at Boys Town was later dramatized in the MGM feature film Boys Town (1938), starring Spencer Tracy as Father Flanagan.

The coins are set for release in 2017.

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