II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 509 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration 

of the United States Coast Guard. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2019 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, 

Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins 

in commemoration of the United States Coast Guard. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Coast 

5 Guard Commemorative Coin Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The United States Coast Guard was found9 ed on August 4, 1790, as the Revenue Cutter ServVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Feb 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.IS S509

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1 ice under the United States Department of the 

2 Treasury. 

3 (2) Congress created the Coast Guard on Janu4 ary 28, 1915, by merging the Revenue Cutter Serv5 ice and the United States Lifesaving Service, was 

6 moved to the Department of Transportation in 

7 1967, and on February 25, 2003, became part of 

8 the Department of Homeland Security. 

9 (3) Although the smallest of the uniformed 

10 services, today the United States Coast Guard con11 ducts a wide variety of missions to protect the pub12 lic, the environment, and the United States economic 

13 and security interests in any maritime region, in14 cluding international waters and America’s coasts, 

15 ports, and inland waterways. 

16 (4) Every day, the United States Coast Guard 

17 plays a broad and important role in homeland secu18 rity, law enforcement, search and rescue, marine en19 vironmental pollution response, and the maintenance 

20 of river, intra-coastal and offshore aids to navigation 

21 (ATON). 

22 (5) The United States Coast Guard is our Na23 tion’s oldest seagoing military service, staying true 

24 to their motto, Semper Paratus or ‘‘Always Ready’’, 

25 for 227 years. 


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1 (6) The United States Coast Guard is sup2 ported by over 55,000 Active Duty, Reserve, and Ci3 vilian personnel, who in 2016 responded to 16,304 

4 search and rescue cases saving 5,221 lives, con5 ducted 47,418 waterborne patrols of critical mari6 time infrastructure, escorted over 2671 high-capac7 ity passenger vessels, conducted 7022 security 

8 boardings in and around United States ports, re9 moved $5.7 billion worth of illegal drugs, interdicted 

10 6,346 undocumented migrants attempting to illegally 

11 enter the United States, and maintained 45,114 

12 navigation aids that support $3.2 trillion in eco13 nomic activity on our Nation’s waterways. 

14 (7) Section 213 of Public Law 108–293 states 

15 that ‘‘The Commandant may establish a National 

16 Coast Guard Museum, on lands which will be feder17 ally owned and administered by the Coast Guard, 

18 and are located in New London, Connecticut, at, or 

19 in close proximity to, the Coast Guard Academy.’’. 

20 (8) The National Coast Guard Museum Asso21 ciation, a nonprofit association dedicated to improve 

22 public understanding of the history, service and mis23 sions of the Coast Guard, is working with the 

24 United States Coast Guard, the City of New Lon25 don, the State of Connecticut, and a range of local, 


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1 regional, and national stakeholders to develop, plan 

2 and raise capital for the National Coast Guard Mu3 seum, to be located in New London, Connecticut. 

4 (9) The United States Coast Guard is the only 

5 military service without a national museum through 

6 which to share its history and legacy with the Amer7 ican public. 

8 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

9 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas10 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

11 shall mint and issue the following coins: 

12 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 100,000 

13 $5 coins, which shall— 

14 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

15 (B) have a diameter of 0.850 inches; and 

16 (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent 

17 alloy. 

18 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 500,000 

19 $1 coins, which shall— 

20 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

21 (B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 

22 (C) contain at least 90 percent silver. 

23 (3) HALF DOLLAR CLAD COINS.—Not more 

24 than 750,000 half dollar coins, which shall— 

25 (A) weigh 11.34 grams; 


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1 (B) have a diameter of 1.205 inches; and 

2 (C) be minted to the specifications for half 

3 dollar coins, contained in section 5112(b) of 

4 title 31, United States Code. 

5 (b) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this 

6 Act shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of 

7 title 31, United States Code. 

8 (c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 

9 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

10 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis11 matic items. 

12 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COIN. 

13 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The design of the coins 

15 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 

16 traditions, history, and heritage of the United States 

17 Coast Guard, and its role in securing our Nation 

18 since 1790. 

19 (2) DESIGNATIONS AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

20 each coin minted under this Act, there shall be— 

21 (A) a designation of the value of the coin; 

22 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2020’’; and 

23 (C) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, 

24 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of AmerVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Feb 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.IS S509

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1 ica’’, ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’, and ‘‘Semper 

2 Paratus’’. 

3 (b) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted 

4 under this Act shall— 

5 (1) contain motifs that specifically honor the 

6 United States Coastguardsman of both today and 

7 yesterday, in wartime and in peace, such designs to 

8 be consistent with the traditions and heritage of the 

9 United States Coast Guard, the mission and goals of 

10 the National Coast Guard Museum, and the mis11 sions and goals of the National Coast Guard Mu12 seum Association; 

13 (2) be selected by the Secretary, after consulta14 tion with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 

15 National Coast Guard Museum Association, and the 

16 Commission of Fine Arts; and 

17 (3) be reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advi18 sory Committee. 

19 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

20 (a) QUALITY OF COINS.—Coins minted under this 

21 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

22 (b) MINT FACILITIES.—For each of the 3 coins mint23 ed under this Act, at least one facility of the United States 

24 Mint shall be used to strike proof quality coins, while at 


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1 least one other such facility shall be used to strike the 

2 uncirculated quality coins. 

3 (c) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may 

4 issue coins minted under this Act only during the 1-year 

5 period beginning on January 1, 2020. 

6 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

7 (a) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under this Act 

8 shall be sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum 

9 of— 

10 (1) the face value of the coins; 

11 (2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with 

12 respect to such coins; and 

13 (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins 

14 (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, 

15 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

16 (b) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk 

17 sales of the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable 

18 discount. 

19 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept 

21 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

22 before the issuance of such coins. 

23 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre24 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea25 sonable discount. 


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1 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—All sales of coins minted under 

3 this Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 

4 (1) A surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 coin. 

5 (2) A surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 coin. 

6 (3) A surcharge of $5 per coin for the half dol7 lar coin. 

8 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f) of 

9 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges received by 

10 the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act 

11 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the National 

12 Coast Guard Museum Association to help finance the de13 sign, construction, operations, and maintenance of the Na14 tional Coast Guard Museum. 

15 (c) AUDITS.—The National Coast Guard Museum 

16 Association shall be subject to the audit requirements of 

17 section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, with 

18 regard to the amounts received under subsection (b). 

19 (d) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 

20 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

21 under this Act of any coin during a calendar year if, as 

22 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

23 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro24 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 

25 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 


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1 section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code. The 

2 Secretary may issue guidance to carry out this subsection. 

3 SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES. 

4 The Secretary shall take such actions as may be nec5 essary to ensure that— 

6 (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act 

7 will not result in any net cost to the United States 

8 Government; and 

9 (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 

10 shall be disbursed to any recipient designated in sec11 tion 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing 

12 all of the coins authorized by this Act (including 

13 labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead ex14 penses, marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the 

15 United States Treasury, consistent with sections 

16 5112(m) and 5134(f) of title 31, United States 

17 Code. 

Æ 


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