A Semiquincentennial Proposal

Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate to issue a $2½ coin recognizing the 2026 United States semiquincentennial. Congressman Robert Aderholt (R-Alabama) and Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-New Jersey), along with America 250 Commissioners Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Florida) and Dwight Evans (D-Pennsylvania), introduced the act in the House. In the Senate, Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) and several cosponsors introduced a companion bill. “The signing of the Declaration of Independence was a turning point in the history of the United States and the world, one that warrants national recognition,” says Representative Aderholt. “[This bill would] celebrate the values we hold so dear and create a lasting tribute families can treasure for generations.”

The bill would authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to issue two $2½ coins: a collectable silver coin and a circulating version. Both would replicate the $2½ coin design from 1926 made for the United States sesquicentennial. On the original coin, the obverse depicts Lady Liberty holding the Declaration of Independence in one hand with a torch in the other. The reverse features Philadelphia’s Independence Hall. 

The House version of the bill has 45 cosponsors (26 Republicans and 19 Democrats), and it awaits a potential vote by the House Financial Services Committee. In the Senate, the bill will first go to the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee.