Commemorative Coins to Celebrate Basketball Hall of Fame

SPRINGFIELD, MA — Commemorative coins signifying the 60th anniversary of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame will be issued beginning next spring, according to an announcement made Thursday during the annual jacket presentation ceremony for the Hall of Fame Class of 2019.

Introduced by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Richard Neal, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act was authorized by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump in Dec. 2018. The Hall of Fame "is authorized to receive surcharges from the sale of the coins ($35 per gold coin, $10 per silver coin, and $5 per clad coin), which will fund an endowment that will enable increased operations and educational programming," according to the United States Mint.

In an exclusive interview with Patch in the Hall of Fame's Center Court, David J. Ryder, Director of the U.S. Mint, said plans call for production of 50,000 gold coins, 400,000 silver coins and 750,000 clad coins. Legislation for the program requires the coins be domed in a fashion similar to the 2014 National Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin. The common obverse of the coins will be concave, according to the mint.

"If we sell that program out, it will generate about $10 million of revenue for the Hall of Fame," Ryder said. "It's a very popular product and a very popular subject, and I think we're going to do a pretty good job at selling that program out."

Ryder was appointed by President George H.W. Bush as U.S. Mint director, serving from Sept. 1992 to Nov. 1993. After the position was vacant for seven years beginning in 2011, Ryder was reappointed to the post by Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in April 2018.

A design competition was held through the spring for artists to submit their ideas for the front and back sides of the coins. The designs were required to be emblematic of the game of basketball, and must contain the inscriptions “Liberty,” “In God We Trust,” and “2020.”

The final coin design will be unveiled Friday during the Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony.

(Video credit: Tim Jensen/Patch Media Corp.)