I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1388 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins to honor and 

memorialize the tragedy of the Sultana steamboat explosion of 1865. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2023 

Mr. CRAWFORD (for himself, Mr. TURNER, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. SMITH of Missouri, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. CLOUD, 

Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. WOMACK, Mr. HERN, Mr. 

PFLUGER, Mr. BALDERSON, Ms. DE LA CRUZ, Mr. BOST, Mr. ZINKE, 

Mr. MOORE of Alabama, Mr. BABIN, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. KELLY of 

Pennsylvania, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Mr. JACKSON of Texas, Mr. 

JOHNSON of Louisiana, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. MANN, Mr. 

FLEISCHMANN, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. JOHNSON of South 

Dakota, Mr. TONY GONZALES of Texas, Mr. NEHLS, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, 

Mr. EMMER, Mr. HILL, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. FERGUSON, Mr. VAN ORDEN, 

Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. BURCHETT, Mr. 

GRAVES of Missouri, and Mr. COHEN) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins 

to honor and memorialize the tragedy of the Sultana 

steamboat explosion of 1865. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sultana Steamboat 

3 Disaster Commemorative Coin Act of 2023’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) On April 27, 1865, the Sultana, a Mis7 sissippi River paddlewheel steamboat, exploded kill8 ing nearly 1,200 of the 2,137 passengers and crew 

9 on board. Based on the number of recorded casual10 ties, this event is the worst maritime disaster in 

11 United States history. 

12 (2) Those aboard the boat were mostly paroled 

13 Union soldiers recently released from the Confed14 erate prisoner-of-war camps in Cahaba, Alabama, 

15 and Andersonville, Georgia. These men largely 

16 hailed from Ohio, Tennessee, Indiana, Michigan, 

17 Kentucky, and West Virginia. 

18 (3) The Sultana disaster was overshadowed by 

19 other major events surrounding the end of the 

20 American Civil War, including the assassination of 

21 President Abraham Lincoln on April 15, 1865, and 

22 subsequently, the killing of President Lincoln’s as23 sassin, John Wilkes Booth, on April 26, 1865, just 

24 1 day before the Sultana disaster. 

25 (4) The Sultana Historical Preservation Society 

26 now operates the Sultana Disaster Museum in MarVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:45 Apr 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1388.IH H1388

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1 ion, Arkansas, with artifacts, stories, and exhibits 

2 that tell this story. Plans and fundraising are pro3 gressing for a much larger facility that can better 

4 acquire and preserve the Sultana history. 

5 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

6 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—In recognition and remem7 brance of the tragedy of the Sultana steamboat explosion 

8 of 1865, which is the greatest maritime disaster in United 

9 States history, the Secretary of the Treasury (hereinafter 

10 in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and 

11 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 not less than 90 percent gold. 

17 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 500,000 

18 $1 coins, which shall— 

19 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

21 (C) contain not less than 90 percent silver. 

22 (3) HALF-DOLLAR CLAD COINS.—Not more 

23 than 750,000 half-dollar coins which shall— 

24 (A) weigh 11.34 grams; 

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


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1 (C) be minted to the specifications for half2 dollar coins contained in section 5112(b) of title 

3 31, United States Code. 

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

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

6 title 31, United States Code. 

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

8 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

9 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis10 matic items. 

11 SEC. 4. DESIGNS OF COIN. 

12 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—The designs of the 

13 coins minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 

14 historical significance of the Sultana disaster and the sac15 rifice of the many people of the United States who died 

16 and survived on April 27, 1865. 

17 (b) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On each coin 

18 minted under this Act, there shall be— 

19 (1) a designation of the value of the coin; 

20 (2) an inscription of the year ‘‘2023’’; and 

21 (3) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, ‘‘In 

22 God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of America’’, and 

23 ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

24 (c) SELECTION.—The designs for the coins minted 

25 under this Act shall be— 


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1 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

2 with the Commission of Fine Arts; and 

3 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

4 Committee. 

5 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

7 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

8 (b) PERIOD OF ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may issue 

9 coins minted under this Act only during the 1-year period 

10 beginning on January 1, 2023. 

11 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

14 of— 

15 (1) the face value of the coins; 

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

17 respect to such coins; and 

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

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

20 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

21 (b) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

23 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

24 before the issuance of such coins. 


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1 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre2 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea3 sonable discount. 

4 (c) MARKETING AND EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN.— 

5 The Secretary shall develop and execute a marketing, pro6 motion, and educational program to promote the collecting 

7 of the coins authorized under this Act. 

8 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

10 Act shall include a surcharge of— 

11 (1) $35 per coin for the $5 coin; 

12 (2) $10 per coin for the $1 coin; and 

13 (3) $5 per coin for the half-dollar coin. 

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

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

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

17 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the Sultana 

18 Historical Preservation Society for the purpose of estab19 lishing, operating, and maintaining a museum to tell the 

20 story of the Sultana, including— 

21 (1) constructing the museum facility; 

22 (2) creating, maintaining, and updating as nec23 essary museum exhibits; 


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1 (3) acquiring and preserving artifacts, memora2 bilia, and historic sites related to the Sultana dis3 aster; and 

4 (4) maintaining an operational reserve fund for 

5 the purposes described in this subsection. 

6 (c) AUDITS.—The Sultana Historical Preservation 

7 Society shall be subject to the audit requirements of sec8 tion 5134(f) of title 31, United States Code, with regard 

9 to the amounts received under subsection (b). 

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

11 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

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

13 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

14 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro15 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 

16 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 

17 section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code (as in 

18 effect on the date of enactment of this Act). The Secretary 

19 may issue guidance to carry out this subsection. 

20 SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES. 

21 The Secretary shall take such actions as may be nec22 essary to ensure that— 

23 (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act 

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

25 Government; and 


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1 (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 

2 are disbursed to the recipient designated in section 

3 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing all of 

4 the coins authorized by this Act (including labor, 

5 materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses, 

6 marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the United 

7 States Treasury, consistent with sections 5112(m) 

8 and 5134(f) of title 31, United States Code. 

Æ 


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