Jeff Starck writes:

Key Bridge coins: They worked for the U.S.S. Constellation.

The steel salvaged from the deck of the Dali and the bottom of the Patapsco River can certainly be piled up and sold for salvage for a few hundred dollars a ton, or maybe we can do better. Let's stamp coins from the steel salvaged from Francis Scott Key Bridge with all proceeds going to help the businesses and employees whose livelihoods are affected by the tragedy and extended harbor closing and those families who lost loved ones in the collapse.

These coins could be made as keepsakes, with part of the price donated to a fund to be managed and fairly distributed to our affected community. They could be struck with the image of the bridge on one side and a commemoration on the other. Make them available online. I'd easily pay $15 to $20, and with tens of thousands of tons of steel being removed that could be worth millions of dollars. We might get help from other sources as well, but why not make something good from something bad?

When I was 10 years old in 1964, my grandfather took me to see the Constellation, a wreck at the time moored in the Inner Harbor. He bought me a coin struck from the shiny metal trimmings known as of the ship emblazoned with an image of her sailing. It raised money for her renovations and provided me with a lifetime free pass to walk her decks. More than three decades later, I took the kids and that coin to see her again, and sure enough, I held up that coin as I approached the Constellation kiosk, still 15 feet away and the attendant immediately waived me through. I still have it. That coin helped to fund and promote restoration of that ship that still floats in our Inner Harbor today more than 60 years since I first visited her.

This is worth a chance. How do we get this done, Baltimore?

To read the complete article, see:
Key Bridge collector coins could help families hurt by collapse | READER COMMENTARY(https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/04/06/key-bridge-collector-coins/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
THE CONSTELLATION SOUVENIR MEDAL(https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v14n27a09.html)