Q. David Bowers
(6) Uncirculated 1989-D half dollar. Pre-issue price (through July 17, 1989) $5, regular price $6. Coins were packaged in a velvet-lined box. Sales amounted to 65,792 coins through this option.
(7) Uncirculated 1989-D silver dollar. Pre-issue price (through July 17, 1989) $23, regular price $26. Each coin was mounted in a plastic capsule and contained in a velvet-lined dark blue box. Sales amounted to 37,242 coins through this option.
(8) Two-coin Uncirculated set containing the 1989-D half dollar and 1989-D silver dollar. Pre-issue price (through July 17, 1989) $ 27, regular issue price $ 29.50. Coins in plastic capsules were set on a brown felt tray with a plaque of a heraldic eagle, the entire being contained in a brown cardboard box imprinted with the Great Seal and "United States Congressional Coins." Sales amounted to 57,054 sets through this option.
(9) Uncirculated 1989-W $5 gold coin. Pre-issue price (through July 17, 1989) $185, regular price $ 200. Coins were packaged in a velvet-lined box. Sales amounted to 5,992 coins through this option.
(12) Prestige Proof set containing the regular 1989 Proof coins plus the 1989-S Congress Bicentennial half dollar and 1989-S Congress Bicentennial silver dollar. Pre-issue price (through July 17, 1989) $49, regular issue price, $52. Each set was mounted in a brown plastic holder with hinged covers of brown suede with a plaque of the Great Seal mounted on the front cover. The holder and a descriptive card were housed in a brown cardboard box imprinted with the Great Seal. Sales amounted to 211,087 sets through this option.
Uncirculated 1989-D and Proof 1989-S Congress Bicentennial half dollars are readily available today in condition as they were issued.
Commemorating: Bicentennial of the U.S. Congress operating under the Constitution
Obverse motif: Head of the Statue of Freedom
Reverse motif: U.S. Capitol
Authorization date: November 17, 1988
Dates on coins: 1989 (also 1789)
Dates when coins were actually minted: 1989-1990
Mints used: Denver, San Francisco
Maximum quantity authorized: 4,000,000
Total quantity minted: Information not released by the Mint
Quantity melted: Information not released by the Mint
Net number distributed: 163,753 Uncirculated Denver Mint coins; 767,897 Proof San Francisco Mint coins
Issued by: U.S. Mint, P.O. Box 13636, Philadelphia, PA 19162-0030; also P.O. Box 8140, Philadelphia, PA 19101-8140; also Customer Service Center, United States Mint, 10001 Aerospace Road, Lanham, MD 20706
Standard original packaging: Velvet-lined box (or cherry wood box as part of a six-coin set)
Official sale prices: Uncirculated Denver Mint coins $5 in advance (later, $6; also sold as part of other options-see text); Proof San Francisco Mint coins $7 in advance (later, $8; also sold as part of other options-see text)
Designer of obverse: Patricia L. Verani (from a statue element by Thomas Crawford) Designer of reverse: William Woodward, sculpted by Edgar Z. Steever IV
Interesting fact: The coin contains no new motifs but, like the 1925 Lexington-Concord Sesquicentennial half dollar, depicts an existing statue (an element thereof) on the obverse and an existing building on the reverse.
(average market prices)
1990 (spring) MS-65 $6.50
1990 (December) MS-65 $8
(average market prices)
1990 (spring) Proof-65 $8.50
1990 (December) Proof-65 $9.50