cost nothing more than the making of the dies". On being told that the dies, per the legislation, would be at the Association's expense, Harding replied, "I did not notice that. Then, it essentially costs the Government nothing whatever to render this mark of tribute and assistance." The committee reported the bill favorably on January 18, amending the bill to allow for the 100,000 gold dollars, to be purchased by the Association at par and sold at a profit to help build the memorial. The report indicated that the committee members "believe it is a deserved testimonial to the worth and service of a great man who lost his life while serving our Nation as its Chief Executive". The bill passed the House on February 7, 1916, and the Senate on February 15. It was enacted when President Woodrow Wilson signed it on February 23, 1916. The act provided that no more than 100,000 pieces be struck, with the necessary gold bullion to be acquired in the open market. The Association could purchase the coins at face value. The act required that the pieces be struck at the Philadelphia Mint, one of only two pieces of authorizing legislation in the classic commemorative coin series (through 1954) that specified the place of striking (the Panama–Pacific issue of 1915 had to be struck in San Francisco). The act also required that the dies be destroyed after the coining was done, something numismatists Anthony Swiatek and Walter Breen questioned as duplicating provisions in the Coinage Act of 1873. The designs were prepared in-house at the Philadelphia Mint by Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber, who designed the obverse and his assistant, George T. Morgan, who prepared the reverse. They did not seek outside artists to submit proposals. Numismatic author Q. David Bowers suggested that this was because Secretary McAdoo had sought non-employees to propose designs for the five Panama–Pacific coins along with those sketches prepared by Barber and his assistants, and the Mint's engravers had prepared only two of the five, and that because the artist assigned one, Evelyn Beatrice Longman, had fallen ill. When the McKinley designs were submitted to the Commission of Fine Arts on March 31, 1916, it recommended changes, though Don Taxay, who so stated, does not say what they were. In any event, no alteration was made, and the designs were approved. Design The obverse of the dollar features