Mother’s Day Silver Dollar Commemorative Coins Approved in House

Coin legislation that has passed in the U.S. House of Representatives would mark the 100th anniversary of Mother’s Day with up to 400,000 commemorative silver dollars.

The Mother’s Day Centennial Commemorative Coin Act, H.R. 2421, was easily approved on May 5, 2010, with the help of 291 U.S. House cosponsors. It is now before the Senate, which has its own version of the bill (S. 1012) as well.

Should either of them pass in both houses and get signed into law by President Obama, the United States Mint would begin striking the coins for distribution in the year 2014, which is the centennial of Mother’s Day.

The 90% silver and 10% copper coins would have a design "emblematic of the 100th anniversary of President Wilson’s proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day," according to H.R. 2421’s language.

Beyond that, each silver dollar would include the standard year inscription (2014) as well as LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and E PLURBUS UNUM.

The silver pieces would have a weight of 26.73 grams, a diameter of 1.500 inches, and be minted in both proof and uncirculated condition for collectors.

H.R. 2421 was introduced in the House on May 14, 2009, by Rep. Shelly Moor Capito. The Senate version was proposed several days earlier (May 7, 2009) by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, who has introduced bills to honor mothers at least two times in the past.

Prior legislation has failed to muster both House and Senate support, with the Senate’s slower pace the stalling factor. The House had passed a similar bill (H.R. 2268) by Capito on June 10, 2008, but it died due to Senate inaction.

As is standard with commemorative silver coins, sales of each would include a surcharge. The Mother’s Day Centennial Commemorative Coin Act stipulates that $10 for every coin sold would be split between the organization Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Osteoporosis Foundation.