Design suggestions are being sought by the American Numismatic Association for commemorative coins that would honor the Old U.S. Mint at San Francisco in 2006.

Legislation before Congress calls for a $5 gold coin and a $1 silver coin. Sales of these would help raise money for the proposed American Money & Gold Rush Museum in the building.

The winning concepts will be forwarded to the Mint for consideration.
Next year will mark the centennial of the building?s survival of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire and its role in rebuilding San Francisco.

For more information and general design guidelines, visit www.money.org and click on AMGRM.

Submissions must include a narrative and sketch and should be e-mailed to coinconcept@money.org, or mailed to: Coin Concept, c/o ANA, 818 N. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903. The submission deadline is Dec. 31.

The judging panel will include AMGRM president and ANA governor Donald H. Kagin, ANA executive director Chris Cipoletti, Coin World editor Beth Deisher, Numismatic News editor David C. Harper and COINage editor Marcy Gibbel.

The San Francisco Old Mint Commemorative Act has been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and awaits approval by the Senate as Senate Bill 1881. The bill would authorize the U.S. Mint to issue 100,000 $5 gold coins and 500,000 $1 silver coins emblematic of the Old Mint, commonly known as ?The Granite Lady.?

Hobbyists are urged by the ANA to contact their U.S. senators to ask them to support the bill to allow mintage of the commemorative coins.
?If the bill is not passed this session of Congress, we may not get another chance,? warned Kagin.