The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) is meeting next week to review designs of the upcoming George H.W. Bush Presidential Dollar. The meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 at 1:00 PM Eastern and the meeting will last until 3:00 PM Eastern.
Because of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) restrictions put in place throughout much of the United States, the meeting will be held via phone conference only. Interested members of the public may dial in to listen by calling (866) 564-9287 and using Access Code: 62956028. This teleconference is “listen only.” No comments or questions will be taken during the meeting.
At the end of January 2020, President Trump signed a law permitting the United States Mint to make the Bush Presidential Dollar and First Lady gold coins. That law requires that the coin bearing the likeness of the 43rd President of the United States be released this year. It is likely that we will not see this new dollar until the end of the year, especially in light of restrictions on the Mint caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Mint will now be obligated to produce an Uncirculated and Proof specimen of the Presidential Dollar and Uncirculated 1/2 ounce gold First Spouse coin for Barbara Bush. The First Spouse coin will be produced at the West Point facility while the George H. W. Bush Presidential Dollar will be minted at Denver, Philadelphia, and San Francisco (for Proofs) Mints. It is also possible that we will see a Reverse Proof of the coin as one was produced for the last handful of coins produced in 2015 and 2016.
CCAC has already released the candidate images for the First Lady Barbara Bush gold coin after meeting last month. You can find those images here with a final decision likely not to be made until late this summer.
The original Presidential Coin Act of 2005 requires that a President must be deceased two years before a coin can be produced with their image. Both President Bush and First Lady Bush died in 2018. However, the last coin authorized under the original 2005 Act was for President Ronald Reagan. Subsequent coins will have to have an Act passed by Congress in order to be approved. That means that Coins for President Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama will all require an Act similar to this one for “Bush Sr.”