II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 639 

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

of the centennial of the establishment of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 4, 2019 

Mr. COTTON (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. JONES, Ms. WARREN, Mrs. 

CAPITO, Mr. DAINES, and Mrs. HYDE-SMITH) 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 centennial of the establishment 

of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

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 ‘‘Tomb of the Unknown 

5 Soldier Centennial Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a me9 morial site at Arlington National Cemetery. On 


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1 March 4, 1921, Congress approved the burial of an 

2 unidentified soldier of the United States on the site 

3 to commemorate the unknown soldiers who died dur4 ing World War I. 

5 (2) As of the date of enactment of this Act, the 

6 site also includes unknown soldiers from World War 

7 II and the Korean War. These graves are marked 

8 with white marble slabs embedded in the plaza below 

9 the original sarcophagus. 

10 (3) The original white marble sarcophagus of 

11 the unknown soldier from World War I features 3 

12 Greek figures representing peace, victory, and valor. 

13 There are 6 wreaths, 3 sculpted on each side, which 

14 represent the major campaigns of World War I. 

15 (4) The original unknown soldier lay in the ro16 tunda of the Capitol from his arrival in the United 

17 States until Armistice Day, 1921. President Warren 

18 G. Harding officiated at the interment ceremonies at 

19 the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National 

20 Cemetery. 

21 (5) The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is 

22 guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and in 

23 any weather by Tomb Guard sentinels. The senti24 nels, all of whom are volunteers, are considered to 

25 be the best of the elite 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 


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1 Army (commonly known as the ‘‘Old Guard’’), head2 quartered at Fort Myer, Virginia. 

3 (6) Inscribed on the back of the Tomb of the 

4 Unknown Soldier are the words, ‘‘Here rests in hon5 ored glory an American soldier known but to God’’. 

6 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

7 (a) $1 SILVER COINS.—The Secretary of the Treas8 ury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint 

9 and issue not more than 100,000 $1 coins in commemora10 tion of the centennial of the establishment of the Tomb 

11 of the Unknown Soldier, each of which shall— 

12 (1) weigh 26.73 grams; 

13 (2) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 

14 (3) contain not less than 90 percent silver. 

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

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

17 title 31, United States Code. 

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

19 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

20 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis21 matic items. 

22 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

23 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

25 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 


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1 centennial of the establishment of the Tomb of the 

2 Unknown Soldier. 

3 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

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

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

6 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2021’’; and 

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

8 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer9 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

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

11 under this Act shall be— 

12 (1) chosen by the Secretary after consultation 

13 with— 

14 (A) the Society of the Honor Guard, Tomb 

15 of the Unknown Soldier; and 

16 (B) the Commission of Fine Arts; and 

17 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

18 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 FACILITY.—Only 1 facility of the United 

23 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 

24 of the coins minted under this Act. 


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

2 issue coins under this Act only during the 1-year period 

3 beginning on January 1, 2021. 

4 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

7 of— 

8 (1) the face value of the coins; 

9 (2) the surcharge described in section 7 with re10 spect to the coins; and 

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

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

13 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

16 discount. 

17 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

19 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

20 before the date on which the coins are issued. 

21 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre22 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea23 sonable discount. 


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1 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

3 Act shall include a surcharge of $10 per coin. 

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

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

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

7 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the National 

8 World War I Museum and Memorial for the purposes of 

9 commemorating the centennial of the establishment of the 

10 Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

11 (c) AUDITS.—The National World War I Museum 

12 and Memorial shall be subject to the audit requirements 

13 under section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, 

14 with respect to the amounts received under subsection (b). 

15 (d) LIMITATION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 

17 (a), no surcharge may be included with respect to 

18 the issuance of any coin under this Act during a cal19 endar year if, on the date of the issuance, the 

20 issuance of the coin would result in the number of 

21 commemorative coin programs issued during that 

22 year to exceed the limitation under section 

23 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code. 

24 (2) ISSUANCE OF GUIDANCE.—The Secretary 

25 may issue guidance to carry out this subsection. 


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1 SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES. 

2 The Secretary shall take such actions as may be nec3 essary to ensure that— 

4 (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act 

5 shall result in no net cost to the Federal Govern6 ment; and 

7 (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 

8 may be disbursed to any recipient designated in sec9 tion 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing 

10 all of the coins authorized by this Act (including 

11 labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead ex12 penses, marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the 

13 United States Treasury, consistent with sections 

14 5112(m) and 5134(f) of title 31, United States 

15 Code. 

16 SEC. 9. BUDGET COMPLIANCE. 

17 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

18 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 

19 (2 U.S.C. 931 et seq.), shall be determined by reference 

20 to the latest statement titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of 

21 PAYGO Legislation’’ for this Act, submitted for printing 

22 in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the Com23 mittee on the Budget of the Senate, provided that such 

24 statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage. 

Æ 


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