A bill recently introduced in the House of Representatives seeks to require $5 gold coins, silver dollars, and clad half dollars to be minted and issued in recognition and celebration of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The bill H.R. 4104 Pro Football Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act was introduced by Rep. Jim Renacci of Ohio on February 28, 2012. The bill currently has no co-sponsors and has been referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Rep. Renacci said, “I am honored to have the opportunity to help commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Professional football is the most watched sport in America, and almost nine million people have visited the Hall to pay homage to heroes like Vince Lombardi, Johnny Unitas, Jim Thorpe, and of course Paul Brown, the man credited with founding both of Ohio’s professional football teams. Recent expansions have truly made it a state-of-the-art facility, and I am proud to serve as Hall’s representative in Congress.”
The $5 gold coins included in the bill would have a weight of 8.359 grams, diameter of 0.85 inches, and composition of 90% gold, with a maximum mintage of 50,000. The silver dollars would have a weight of 26.73 grams, diameter of 1.5 inches, and composition of 90% silver, with a maximum of 400,000. The half dollars would be struck with a copper nickel clad composition, with a weight of 11.34 grams, diameter of 1.205 inches, and maximum mintage of 750,000.
Each of the coins would be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities, with only one facility of the United States Mint used to strike any particular quality of the coins. The coins may be issued only during the one year period beginning on January 1, 2016.
Designs are required to be emblematic of the game of professional football and would be selected by the Secretary of the Treasury following consultation with the Commission of Fine Arts, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and review by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.
Surcharges of $35 per gold coin, $10 per silver dollar, and $5 per half dollar would be added to the price of each coin. The surcharges would be paid to the Pro Football Hall of Fame to help finance construction of a new building and renovation of existing Pro Football Hall of Fame facilities.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act follows the introduction of bills in the House and Senate seeking to authorize production of commemorative coins for the National Baseball Hall of Fame for 2015.
So, now we want to recognize professional athletes as heroes? This type of undeserved “honor” does a disservice to our nation’s real heroes… those who have fought and died so we can remain a free country.
How long are we going to continue to dumb down as a society with ridiculous proposals such as this one that does nothing more than promote ourselves to the world that we are fast becoming a shallow society?
Robertszon,
We have been making commemorative and special sports coins for some time now. For example: http://moderncommemoratives.com/1992-olympic-silver-dollar/
We also did one for Olympic baseball again in 1995, and then we did the Jackie Robinson commemoratives in 1997. The Jackie Robinson silver dollar is one of my favorite commemoratives.
Furthermore, we’ve had three sets of military commemoratives in a row – the Army and Medal of Honor Commemoratives of 2011 and the Infantry coin of 2012 released just last month! The Infantry coin is selling briskly and the special Defenders of Freedom set is already halfway to a sellout.
So I don’t really understand your complaint that the nation’s heroes are being dishonored by Congress’ interest in producing baseball and football coins.
Congress’ interest in producing baseball and football coins.
That’s not exactly what is happening here. This is an attempt by a congressman to funnel some cash to a company in his state. I’d like to see a football coin program that uses the surcharge money to provide remedial English classes to former college players that are illiterate after 5 years of “college”.
Pro football is a megabusiness. A commemorative coin should not serve as advertising for a specific business like the NFL. This is a completely ridiculous concept for a U.S. coin. 50th anniversary of a shrine to a single sport. NONSENSE!!!