Now the Senate and the House have acted on the “Native American $1 Coin Act,” which would add scenes from our American Indian past to our current dollar coinage, and a linguistic battle has emerged that could well prevent the measure from becoming law.

At stake is the pronunciation and spelling of the name of Lewis and Clark’s great heroine, Sacagawea (Senate bill) or Sakakawea (House version).

Introduced May 17 by Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Mo., H.R. 2358 moved to rapid House passage June 12, and was received in the Senate the following day. S. 585 was introduced Feb. 14 of this year by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., with a goal of replacing “the designs on the obverse the so-called ‘Sacagawea design’” with new ones honoring all Native Americans.

The Standard Catalog of World Coins, Krause Publication’s industry standard identification and price guide for more than 50 years, is now available in a three-DVD set. The set contains actual page images from Standard Catalog of World Coins 2001 to Date, 2nd Edition; Standard Catalog of World Coins 1901 to 2000, 35th Edition; and Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 5th Edition. Authors are Colin R. Bruce II and Thomas Michael. The DVDs feature 3,760 pages from three volumes, 82,750 images that can be enlarged 300 percent and up-to-date pricing.

This is part three covering the last four of the endangered (so-called) birds of Malaysia. I will tell you about the spectacular black and red broadbill (Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchos), KM-97); great egret (Ardea alba [= Casmerodius albus], KM-99); green imperial pigeon (Ducula aenea), KM-98); and brown shrike (Lanius cristatus), KM-100. Black and Red Broadbill The broadbill family has only 15 species, 11 Asian and four African. Nine occur in Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo. The black and red species occurs in Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra. In Peninsular Malaysia it lives in primarily lowland rainforests and is usually observed around water. It is fairly common and easily observed.

Monnaie de Paris, the French Mint, has released a new, low-mintage coin program commemorating the 250th anniversary of the birth of Marquis de Lafayette, hero of the American Revolution. The two coins in the program, one gold and one silver, feature a portrait of the young general on the obverse, with his frigate and the French and American Revolutionary flags on the reverse. The release of the Lafayette program is timed to coincide with the Independence Days of both democracies in whose revolutions Lafayette fought for freedom, July 4 in the United States and July 14 (Bastille Day) in France. Lafayette died in 1834 in Paris. In accord with his last wishes, dirt he had taken from the Bunker Hill battlefield was spread over his grave, because he wished to be buried in both American and French soil.

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The NASA 50th Anniversary Coin Act, a bill introduced by Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18) and John Culberson (TX-07), successfully passed the House yesterday by a vote of 402 - 0. “This important bill honors the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on its golden anniversary for touching the lives and hearts of every American today. “This commemorative coin set is one small piece of the ongoing work that Congress is doing in support of NASA. I am proud to honor the men and women of NASA and the extraordinary discoveries they are making.”

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