Bill of Rights Silver (Dacono, Colorado)

DistributorIssuer

Bill of Rights Silver Overview

Bill of Rights Silver, Dacono, Colorado, was a privately operated issuer of .999 fine silver and copper medallions dedicated to the first ten amendments of the U.S. Constitution. It was founded in 2009 by Jim and Janet Lee Meisinger as Second Amendment Silver, operating at 2ndamendmentsilver.com, and took the name Bill of Rights Silver around 2010 with a new website at billofrightssilver.com. The rights to the designs were held in the name of the Bill of Rights Trust, credited on the issuer’s own artwork as “© Janet Lee Meisinger for the Bill of Rights Trust.”

The Meisingers set out to strike one silver piece for each article of the Bill of Rights. They began with the Second Amendment in 2009, describing it as the amendment that secures all the rest, and followed with the Ninth, Seventh, and Tenth Amendments in 2010. A Benjamin Franklin copper medallion based on the 1787 Fugio cent was added later. Each piece paired an amendment-themed obverse with a common Liberty Bell reverse carrying the line the issuer placed on every piece: “God gives us freedom from which all other gifts flow.”

The program was built as an American Open Currency Standard currency. Every documented piece carries the struck “AOCS APPROVED” legend, AOCS listed the program in its own directory of approved currencies, and AOCS Mint (Frisco, TX) sold the series in its storefront. The Meisingers sold direct through their own website, promoted the pieces for barter and community exchange, and offered quantity pricing to patriotic organizations raising funds. Rather than operating a mint, Bill of Rights Silver commissioned its medallions and sold them under its own copyright, functioning as Issuer and Distributor of its own line.

Location: Dacono, Colorado (mailing address: Bill of Rights Trust, P.O. Box 216, Dacono, CO 80514)

Years Active: c. 2009–2015 (documented)

Website: 2ndamendmentsilver.com (2009–2010, archived); billofrightssilver.com (from 2010, archived)

Leadership: Jim and Janet Lee Meisinger

Founders

By their own account, Jim and Janet Lee Meisinger were born and raised in Nebraska, met at Lincoln High School, and married in 1960. Jim served in the Army during the Vietnam era, reporting for duty at Fort Wolters, Texas, and the couple later ran a horse-boarding operation for more than 25 years while Jim worked in lumber sales. In the late 1970s Jim partnered in restoring a lumber yard in southwest Lincoln, a business they lost when interest rates spiked in the early 1980s. They described that loss as their turn toward studying the nation’s founding documents and monetary law, and toward the idea of memorializing the Bill of Rights in silver.

From Second Amendment Silver to Bill of Rights Silver

The issuer operated under two names, and the change is visible on the coins themselves.

EvidenceDateWhat it shows
2ndamendmentsilver.com, earliest captureNov. 30, 2009“© 2nd Amendment Silver 2009”; plan for one piece per amendment
2ndamendmentsilver.com order page2009Names “Bill of Rights Trust ©” as the umbrella for the Second Amendment piece and all later pieces
billofrightssilver.com, earliest captureSep. 22, 2010New name and domain
Both domains capturedSep.–Dec. 2010Transition period
“Bill of Rights Silver Club Newsletter – October/November 2010”Late 2010New name in use with members
AOCS Approved Currencies directoryNov. 22, 2011AOCS still lists the program as “2nd Amendment Silver,” the first medallion in the Bill of Rights Silver Series
Silver amendment reverseStruckWeb line “2ndamendmentsilver.com”
Copper Franklin reverseStruckWeb line “BILLOFRIGHTSSILVER.COM”

The billofrightssilver.com welcome page carries the same founder’s text as the 2009 site, with “Bill of Rights Silver ©” in place of “2nd Amendment Silver,” and the same biography. No rebrand announcement has been located; the change is dated from website captures.

Bill of Rights Silver Known Issues

IssueMetalYearObverse
[Second Amendment]([add URL])Silver2009American Minute Man
Ninth AmendmentSilver2010The Power of the People
[Seventh Amendment]([add URL])Silver2010American Common Law
[Tenth Amendment]([add URL])Silver2010Free & Independent
[Benjamin Franklin Fugio]([add URL])Copperc. 2012Fugio sundial, “MIND YOUR BUSINESS”

The issuer’s website, captured as late as 2015, lists these five pieces and still states the intention to mint a medallion for each of the Bill of Rights. No other amendment piece has been documented.

Bill of Rights Silver Notes

  • The common Liberty Bell reverse exists in at least two states: a silver state reading “2ndamendmentsilver.com” and “© 2009 JLM,” used on all four amendment rounds, and a copper state reading “BILLOFRIGHTSSILVER.COM,” used on the Franklin medallion.
  • “JLM” on the reverse is Janet Lee Meisinger, identified by the issuer’s own artwork credit.
  • The silver reverse carries no trade-value denomination, unlike most AOCS rounds. This, with the Liberty Bell and the web line, separates Bill of Rights Silver pieces from the HNH Coins Second Amendment rounds and the Tenth Amendment Center “Tenther,” both of which carry “FIFTY.”
  • The issuer described its silver pieces as uncirculated, 1 oz., .999 silver and its copper pieces as uncirculated, 1 oz., .999 copper. AOCS Mint filed the silver amendment rounds under Proof-Like.
  • AOCS Mint sold the series in its storefront as the “Bill of Rights Silver Series” and later under “Bill of Rights Trust” product titles.
  • No mark on any documented piece names the physical manufacturer. Bill of Rights Silver pieces are recorded under AOCS Mint (Frisco, TX) on the site’s standard for AOCS-program rounds.
  • Bill of Rights Silver has no independent Texas connection. Texas Stacker entries for its medallions rely on the struck AOCS Approved mark and the AOCS Mint (Frisco, TX) relationship.

Bill of Rights Silver References

Coins from Bill of Rights Silver (Dacono, Colorado) (1)