II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2768

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 19, 2004

Received 

AN ACT

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins 

in commemoration of Chief Justice John Marshall.

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 ‘‘John Marshall Com3 memorative Coin Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress hereby finds as follows: 

6 (1) John Marshall served as the Chief Justice 

7 of the United States Supreme Court from 1801 to 

8 1835, the longest tenure of any Chief Justice in the 

9 Nation’s history. 

10 (2) John Marshall authored more than 500 

11 opinions, including virtually all of the most impor12 tant cases decided by the Supreme Court during his 

13 tenure. 

14 (3) Under his leadership, the Supreme Court of 

15 the United States gave shape to the fundamental 

16 principles of the Constitution, most notably the prin17 ciple of judicial review. 

18 (4) John Marshall’s service to the United 

19 States—not only as a Chief Justice, but also as a 

20 soldier in the Revolutionary War, as a Member of 

21 Congress, and as Secretary of State—truly makes 

22 him one of the most important figures in our Na23 tion’s history. 

24 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

25 (a) DENOMINATION.—In commemoration of the 

26 250th anniversary of the birth of Chief Justice John Mar-
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1 shall, the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act 

2 referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and issue not 

3 more than 400,000 $1 coins, each of which shall—

4 (1) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

6 (3) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent 

7 copper. 

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

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

10 title 31, United States Code. 

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

12 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

13 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis14 matic items. 

15 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

16 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—

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

18 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of Chief 

19 Justice John Marshall and his immeasurable con20 tributions to the Constitution of the United States 

21 and the Supreme Court of the United States.

22 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

23 each coin minted under this Act there shall be—

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

25 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2005’’; and 
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1 (C) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, 

2 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer3 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

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 Commission of Fine Arts, and the Supreme 

8 Court Historical Society; and 

9 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coin Advisory 

10 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 quality 

16 of the coins minted under this Act. 

17 (c) COMMENCEMENT OF ISSUANCE.—The Secretary 

18 may issue coins minted under this Act beginning January 

19 1, 2005. 

20 (d) TERMINATION OF MINTING AUTHORITY.—No 

21 coins may be minted under this Act after December 31, 

22 2005. 
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1 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

4 of—

5 (1) the face value of the coins; 

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

7 respect to such coins; and 

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

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

10 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

13 discount. 

14 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.—

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

16 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

17 before the issuance of such coins. 

18 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre19 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea20 sonable discount. 

21 (d) MARKETING.—The Secretary, in cooperation with 

22 the Legacy Fund of the Library of Congress, shall develop 

23 and implement a marketing program to promote and sell 

24 the coins issued under this Act both within the United 

25 States and internationally. 
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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 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 Supreme 

8 Court Historical Society for the purposes of—

9 (1) supporting historical research and edu10 cational programs about the Supreme Court and the 

11 Constitution of the United States and related topics; 

12 (2) supporting fellowship programs, internships, 

13 and docents at the Supreme Court; and 

14 (3) collecting and preserving antiques, artifacts, 

15 and other historical items related to the Supreme 

16 Court and the Constitution of the United States and 

17 related topics. 

18 (c) AUDITS.—The Supreme Court Historical Society 

19 shall be subject to the audit requirements of section 

20 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, with regard 

21 to the amounts received by the Society under subsection 

22 (b).

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

24 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

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

26 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 
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1 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro2 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 

3 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 

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

5 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The Sec6 retary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

7 this subsection.

Passed the House of Representatives July 14, 2004. 

Attest: JEFF TRANDAHL, 

Clerk.