New legislation seeking to commemorate the Girl Scouts 100th anniversary with up to 350,000 silver dollars in 2013 was reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, January 21.
The Girl Scouts USA Centennial Commemorative Coin Act was brought back under a new bill number (H.R. 621) by Rep. Jack Kingston after the first version failed to make its way through the 110th Congress.
The Boy Scouts Centennial Commemorative Coin Act was signed into law in October of 2008, making it more likely the Girl Scouts legislation would pass as well. However, the Boy Scouts celebrate their centennial a year earlier and required quicker consideration. And the busy 2008 fall political season was less than conducive in getting many bills mustered through for passage. The new 111th Congress will now have the opportunity to help celebrate the history of the Girl Scouts.
In 1911, Juliette Gordon Low met Sir Robert Baden-Powell, a war hero and the founder of the Boy Scouts, and began planning an association for girls that would become Girl Scouts of the USA.
As is typical with legislation involving coins, H.R. 621 does not contain specific coin design language except for the standard commemorative inscriptions (Liberty’, ‘In God We Trust’, ‘United States of America’, and ‘E Pluribus Unum’), weight (26.73 grams) and dimensions (diameter of 1.5 inches).
The final design would evolve through collaborative efforts of the United States Mint, the Girl Scouts of the United States of America, the Commission of Fine Arts, and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.
The bill includes a provision for a $10 surcharge per coin paid to the Girl Scouts of the United States of America and made available for Girl Scout program development and delivery.
Why don’t the Girl Scouts date their coin for 2012, their real anniversary? There is an open slot for a 2012 commemorative coin. They just repeated their 2008 legislation, which aimed at 2011 because there were lots of competitive coin bills aimed at 2012, but only the Army Infantry Museum got signed.
According to the Girl Scouts Of Colorado website, the bill states the coin will be minted in 2013, not 2011. Not sure if it’s a typo, but that’s what the GSUSA website also says. Here is an excerpt from the Girl Scouts USA press release: The legislation directs the U.S. Mint to produce 350,000 silver coins. Ten dollars from the sale of each coin will go to GSUSA to help fund much-needed renovations at the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace in Savannah, Ga. The bill also calls for the Secretary of the Treasury, in collaboration with the GSUSA and the Commission… Read more »
Exactly so. Thanks Brent. The original legislation as published during the time of this article stated 2011 in the summary. That had since changed, and we’ve updated the date. Thanks again.