Civil Rights Movement In Gold

The Drive is on to commemorate the 50th anniversery
of the civil rights movement. Two coins are done a year
to remember the history of the U.S. so certainly the
civil rights movement has been as historic and as colorful
as any other of the past historical events of this nation.
This piece legislation should be a shoe-in. So how do
you feel about this commemorative coin?


Images of a beaten and bloodied young black man from Troy, Ala., named John Lewis helped push President Lyndon Johnson and Congress to respond to the civil rights movement. Now a congressman, Lewis wants to commemorate the movement with a limited-edition silver dollar marking the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.

"I'd be one of the first people in line to buy one," the Atlanta Democrat said.

Lewis has joined with Ohio Republican Deborah Pryce to introduce legislation calling for the U.S. Mint to produce 350,000 $1 coins marking the golden anniversary of the landmark law's signing in 1964. Among other things, the law barred restaurants, hotels and other public places from denying service to blacks and outlawed employment discrimination against women and minorities.

The 2014 coin would be sold with a $10 surcharge, expected to generate $2 million to $3 million that would go to the United Negro College Fund for university scholarships and improvements at historically black colleges. The United Negro College Fund would be required to raise matching funds from private donors and other sources before accepting money generated by the government coins.

Lewis, who repeatedly encountered violence as he led campaigns to register black voters across the Deep South and who led the historic 1965 voting rights march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., said the coin would serve to educate people about the movement.
"Many of the young people growing up today ... don't know what happened and how it happened," said Lewis, whose skull was cracked by state troopers in the "Bloody Sunday" bridge-crossing. "You can use it to educate but also to raise resources and funds for education."

Congress authorizes just two commemorative coins for each year to honor the nation's history and culture and raise money for historic sites such as George Washington's home and monuments such as the Vietnam War Memorial. Since the modern program began in 1982, the Mint has raised nearly $420 million in surcharges. The coins are sold at prices that cover the Treasury's costs.





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