I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2768

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

of Chief Justice John Marshall. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 17, 2003

Mr. BACHUS (for himself, Mr. LEACH, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. 

ISAKSON, Mr. GINGREY, Mr. FROST, Mr. BURNS, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, 

Ms. MAJETTE, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. GERLACH, Mrs. 

WILSON of New Mexico, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. COOPER, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. 

CULBERSON, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. MATHESON, Mr. GEPHARDT, Mr. TERRY, 

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. GOODE, and Mr. JENKINS) 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 

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘John Marshall Com5 memorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress hereby finds as follows: 
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1 (1) John Marshall served as the Chief Justice 

2 of the United States Supreme Court from 1801 to 

3 1835, the longest tenure of any Chief Justice in the 

4 Nation’s history. 

5 (2) John Marshall authored more than 500 

6 opinions, including virtually all of the most impor7 tant cases decided by the Supreme Court during his 

8 tenure. 

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

10 the United States gave shape to the fundamental 

11 principles of the Constitution, most notably the prin12 ciple of judicial review. 

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

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

15 soldier in the Revolutionary War, as a Member of 

16 Congress, and as Secretary of State—truly makes 

17 him one of the most important figures in our Na18 tion’s history. 

19 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

20 (a) DENOMINATION.—In commemoration of the 

21 250th anniversary of the birth of Chief Justice John Mar22 shall, the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act 

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

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

25 (1) weigh 26.73 grams; 
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1 (2) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 

2 (3) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent 

3 copper. 

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. DESIGN OF COINS. 

12 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—

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

14 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of Chief 

15 Justice John Marshall and his immeasurable con16 tributions to the Constitution of the United States 

17 and the Supreme Court of the United States.

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 ‘‘2005’’; and 

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

23 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer24 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 
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1 (b) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted 

2 under this Act shall be—

3 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

4 with the Commission of Fine Arts, and the Supreme 

5 Court Historical Society; and 

6 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coin Advisory 

7 Committee. 

8 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

10 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

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

12 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 

13 of the coins minted under this Act. 

14 (c) COMMENCEMENT OF ISSUANCE.—The Secretary 

15 may issue coins minted under this Act beginning January 

16 1, 2005. 

17 (d) TERMINATION OF MINTING AUTHORITY.—No 

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

19 2005. 

20 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

23 of—

24 (1) the face value of the coins; 
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1 (2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with 

2 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) MARKETING.—The Secretary, in cooperation with 

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

18 and implement a marketing program to promote and sell 

19 the coins issued under this Act both within the United 

20 States and internationally. 

21 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

23 this Act shall include a surcharge of $10 per coin. 

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

25 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges received by 
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1 the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act 

2 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the Supreme 

3 Court Historical Society for the purposes of—

4 (1) supporting historical research and edu5 cational programs about the Supreme Court and the 

6 Constitution of the United States and related topics; 

7 (2) supporting fellowship programs, internships, 

8 and docents at the Supreme Court; and 

9 (3) collecting and preserving antiques, artifacts, 

10 and other historical items related to the Supreme 

11 Court and the Constitution of the United States and 

12 related topics. 

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

14 shall be subject to the audit requirements of section 

15 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, with regard 

16 to the amounts received by the Society under subsection 

17 (b).

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