On April 18, 2013, Rep. James Renacci of Ohio introduced a bill in the House of Representatives which seeks to require the Treasury of the Secretary to mint coins in recognition and celebration of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame opened in Canton, Ohio on September 7, 1963 with a charter class of 17 players, coaches, and contributors enshrined. Through 2012, there were 273 members enshrined. The Pro Football Hall of Fame has welcomed nearly 9 million visitors since its opening and houses the world’s collection on professional football including more than 20,000 three dimensional artifacts, more than 20 million pages of documents, and nearly 3 million photographs.
In the 112th Congress (in 2012), Rep. Renacci had also introduced a bill seeking Pro Football Hall of Fame Commemorative Coins. Despite having 294 cosponsors and passing in the House of Representatives, the bill failed to become law.
The text of the recently introduced bill H.R. 1653 is not yet available, however it presumably contains provisions similar to the bills from the 112th Congress, as well as a bill introduced earlier this year in the Senate.
The other bills have called for a commemorative coin program which includes $5 gold coins with a maximum mintage of 50,000, silver dollars with a maximum mintage of 400,000, and clad half dollars with a maximum mintage of 750,000. Each of these coins would be offered in proof and uncirculated qualities. Designs for the coins would be emblematic of the game of professional football and coin sales would include surcharges to be paid to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Congress has already authorized commemorative coins in recognition and celebration of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, which will be issued during 2014. The reverse design for the baseball coins will be selected through a competition open to the public, and the coins will feature a concave obverse and convex reverse to closely resemble a baseball.
A football HoF coin would be a nice follow up to a (hopefully successful) baseball HoF coin. I wonder if the Mint will try to shape these like a football in some way given what they’re doing with the baseball coin.
I agree If The Baseball Hal of Fame hase one why not Football.