104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2627

AN ACT

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint

of the founding of the Smithsonian Institution.coins in commemoration of the sesquicentennial
104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2627

AN ACT

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins

in commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the founding of the Smithsonian Institution.

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 ‘‘Smithsonian Institu5 tion Sesquicentennial Commemorative Coin Act of 1995’’.
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1 SEC. 2. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

2 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas3 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’)

4 shall mint and issue the following coins in commemoration

5 of the sesquicentennial of the founding of the Smithsonian

6 Institution:

7 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 100,000 5

8 dollar coins, which shall—

9 (A) weigh 8.359 grams;

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

11 (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent

12 alloy.

13 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 650,000

14 1 dollar coins, which shall—

15 (A) weigh 26.73 grams;

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

17 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per18 cent copper.

19 (b) PLATINUM COINS.—The Secretary may mint and

20 issue not more than 100,000 5 dollar platinum coins in21 stead of the gold coins required under subsection (a)(1)

22 in accordance with such specifications as the Secretary de23 termines to be appropriate.

24 (c) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this

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

26 title 31, United States Code.
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1 (d) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section

2 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted

3 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.

4 SEC. 3. SOURCES OF BULLION.

5 (a) GOLD.—The Secretary shall obtain gold for mint6 ing coins under this Act pursuant to the authority of the

7 Secretary under other provisions of law.

8 (b) SILVER.—The Secretary shall obtain silver for

9 minting coins under this Act only from stockpiles estab10 lished under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock

11 Piling Act.

12 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS.

13 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—

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

15 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the sci16 entific, educational, and cultural significance and

17 importance of the Smithsonian Institution.

18 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On

19 each coin minted under this Act there shall be—

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

21 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘1996’’;

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

23 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer24 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’; and
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1 (D) an inscription of the following phrase

2 from the original bequest of James Smithson:

3 ‘‘for the increase and diffusion of knowledge’’.

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

5 under this Act shall be—

6 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation

7 with the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Insti8 tution and the Commission of Fine Arts; and

9 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative

10 Coin Advisory Committee.

11 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS.

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

13 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities.

14 (b) MINT FACILITY.—Only 1 facility of the United

15 States Mint may be used to strike any particular combina16 tion of denomination and quality of the coins minted under

17 this Act.

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

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

20 period beginning on August 1, 1996.

21 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS.

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

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

24 of—

25 (1) the face value of the coins;
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1 (2) the surcharge provided in subsection (d)

2 with respect to such coins; and

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

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

5 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping).

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

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

8 discount.

9 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.—

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

11 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act

12 before the issuance of such coins.

13 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre14 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea15 sonable discount.

16 (d) SURCHARGES.—All sales shall include a sur17 charge of—

18 (1) $35 per coin for the $5 coin; and

19 (2) $10 per coin for the $1 coin.

20 SEC. 7. GENERAL WAIVER OF PROCUREMENT REGULA21 TIONS.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

23 (b), no provision of law governing procurement or public

24 contracts shall be applicable to the procurement of goods
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1 and services necessary for carrying out the provisions of

2 this Act.

3 (b) EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY.—Sub4 section (a) shall not relieve any person entering into a con5 tract under the authority of this Act from complying with

6 any law relating to equal employment opportunity.

7 SEC. 8. DISTRIBUTION OF SURCHARGES.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—All surcharges received by the

9 Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act shall

10 be promptly paid by the Secretary to the Smithsonian In11 stitution for the following purposes:

12 (1) 85 percent of the amount transferred shall

13 be available for such purposes as the Board of Re14 gents of the Smithsonian Institution determines to

15 be appropriate.

16 (2) 15 percent of the amount transferred shall

17 be dedicated to the support of the operation and ac18 tivities of the National Numismatic Collection at the

19 National Museum of American History.

20 (b) AUDITS.—The Comptroller General of the United

21 States shall have the right to examine such books, records,

22 documents, and other data of the Smithsonian Institution

23 as may be related to the expenditures of amounts paid

24 under subsection (a).
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1 SEC. 9. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES.

2 (a) NO NET COST TO THE GOVERNMENT.—The Sec3 retary shall take such actions as may be necessary to en4 sure that minting and issuing coins under this Act will

5 not result in any net cost to the United States Govern6 ment.

7 (b) PAYMENT FOR COINS.—A coin shall not be issued

8 under this Act unless the Secretary has received—

9 (1) full payment for the coin;

10 (2) security satisfactory to the Secretary to in11 demnify the United States for full payment; or

12 (3) a guarantee of full payment satisfactory to

13 the Secretary from a depository institution whose

14 deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insur15 ance Corporation or the National Credit Union Ad16 ministration Board.

Passed the House of Representatives December 19,

1995.

Attest:

Clerk.