New-Look Coins? Maybe Lawmakers Will Flip for It

--Most members of Congress say it’s time for a change in change. But others think the idea isn’t worth a plugged nickel. At least 260 House members and 66 senators are co-sponsoring legislation to change the “tail” sides of coins, replacing such pictures as Thomas Jefferson’s home and the Lincoln Memorial with themes celebrating the Constitution and Bill of Rights. The “heads” would still carry portraits of Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, George Washington and John F. Kennedy, although the portraits would be revised. Rep. Frank Annunzio (D-Ill.) blocked similar legislation in the House last year. “On a scale of importance from one to 10, coin design change rates a zero,” he said. And U.S. Mint Director Donna Pope said there is no evidence that anyone who doesn’t collect coins “is dissatisfied with current coin designs, or even favors new ones.”

--Famous fans sang the praises of Irving Berlin, “a legendary man whose words and music will help define the history of our nation,” in the words of President Bush. Bush joined a Boston crowd of thousands in singing “God Bless America,” one of the classic songs by Berlin, who died Friday at age 101. Ginger Rogers, longtime partner of Fred Astaire, said working with Berlin in the 1935 film “Top Hat” was “like heaven.” Morton Gould, president of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, said Berlin’s works are “part of our language, part of our heartbeat, part of our soul.” Former President Ronald Reagan expressed his sorrow in a statement that called the composer “a wonderfully talented man whose musical genius delighted and stirred millions, and will live on forever.” John Wallowitch, who had organized Christmas Eve serenades outside Berlin’s Manhattan townhouse for more than two decades, said he and three friends went to the home after Berlin’s death. Wallowitch said: “We just stood there and cried a lot and sang: ‘I’ll be loving you always.’ ”

--Two rare books written or printed by Benjamin Franklin were stolen from the University of Pennsylvania library, police said. Franklin printed “A Sermon on Education,” by Richard Peters, in 1751. It includes a pamphlet by Franklin called “An Idea of an English School” and is worth $10,000. The second book, “A Log of Books to Be Sold,” was written by Franklin in 1744 and is worth between $25,000 and $50,000.