I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5255

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

of the sesquicentennial of the birth of Thomas Alva Edison.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 7, 1994

Mr. BONIOR (for himself, Mr. BROOKS, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. PALLONE, Mr.

GILLMOR, Mr. PAYNE of New Jersey, and Mr. GOSS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Banking, Finance

and Urban Affairs

A BILL

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins

in commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the birth

of Thomas Alva Edison.

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 ‘‘Thomas Alva Edison

5 Sesquicentennial Commemorative Coin Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress hereby finds the following:
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1 (1) Thomas Alva Edison, one of America’s

2 greatest inventors, was born on February 11, 1847,

3 in Milan, Ohio.

4 (2) Thomas A. Edison’s inexhaustible energy

5 and genius produced more than 1,300 inventions in

6 his lifetime, including the incandescent light bulb

7 and the phonograph.

8 (3) In 1928, Thomas A. Edison received the

9 Congressional gold medal ‘‘for development and ap10 plication of inventions that have revolutionized civili11 zation in the last century’’.

12 (4) 1997 will mark the sesquicentennial of

13 Thomas A. Edison’s birth.

14 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

15 (a) $1 SILVER COINS.—In commemoration of the

16 sesquicentennial of the birth of Thomas A. Edison, the

17 Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred

18 to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and issue not more than

19 750,000 1 dollar coins, which shall—

20 (1) weigh 26.73 grams;

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

22 (3) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent

23 copper.
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1 (b) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this

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

3 title 31, United States Code.

4 (c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section

5 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted

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

7 SEC. 4. SOURCES OF BULLION.

8 The Secretary shall obtain silver for minting coins

9 under this Act only from stockpiles established under the

10 Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act.

11 SEC. 5. 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 the

15 many inventions made by Thomas A. Edison

16 throughout his prolific life.

17 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On

18 each coin minted under this Act there shall be—

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

20 (B) an inscription of the years 1847–

21 1997’’; 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 (3) OBVERSE OF COIN.—The obverse of each

2 coin minted under this Act shall bear the likeness of

3 Thomas A. Edison.

4 (b) DESIGN COMPETITION.—Before the end of the 3-

5 month period beginning on the date of the enactment of

6 this Act, the Secretary shall conduct an open design com7 petition for the design of the obverse and the reverse of

8 the coins minted under this Act.

9 (c) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted

10 under this Act shall be—

11 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation

12 with the Commission of Fine Arts; and

13 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative

14 Coin Advisory Committee.

15 SEC. 6. ISSUANCE OF COINS.

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

17 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities.

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

19 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality

20 of the coins minted under this Act.

21 (c) COMMENCEMENT OF ISSUANCE.—The Secretary

22 may issue coins minted under this Act beginning January

23 1, 1997.
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1 (d) TERMINATION OF MINTING AUTHORITY.—No

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

3 1997.

4 SEC. 7. 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 provided in subsection (d)

10 with respect to such 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 issuance of such coins.

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

24 (d) SURCHARGES.—All sales shall include a sur25 charge of $10 per coin.
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1 SEC. 8. GENERAL WAIVER OF PROCUREMENT REGULA2 TIONS.

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

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

5 contracts shall be applicable to the procurement of goods

6 and services necessary for carrying out the provisions of

7 this Act.

8 (b) EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY.—Sub9 section (a) shall not relieve any person entering into a con10 tract under the authority of this Act from complying with

11 any law relating to equal employment opportunity.

12 SEC. 9. DISTRIBUTION OF SURCHARGES.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The first $7,000,000 of the sur14 charges received by the Secretary from the sale of coins

15 issued under this Act shall be promptly paid by the Sec16 retary as follows:

(1) 1 17 ⁄7 to the Edison Birthplace Association, In18 corporated, in Milan, Ohio, to assist in such associa19 tion’s efforts to raise an endowment as a permanent

20 source of support for the repair and maintenance of

21 the Thomas A. Edison birthplace, a national historic

22 landmark.

(2) 1 23 ⁄7 to the Museum of Arts and History, in

24 the city of Port Huron, Michigan for the endowment

25 and construction of a special museum on Thomas A.

26 Edison’s life in Port Huron.
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(3) 1 1 ⁄7 to the National Park Service for use in

2 protecting, restoring, and cataloguing historic docu3 ments and objects at Thomas A. Edison’s ‘‘invention

4 factory’’ in West Orange, New Jersey.

(4) 1 5 ⁄7 to the Edison Plaza Museum in Beau6 mont, Texas, for expanding educational programs on

7 Thomas A. Edison and for the repair and mainte8 nance of the museum.

(5) 1 9 ⁄7 to the Edison Winter Home and Mu10 seum in Fort Myers, Florida, for historic preserva11 tion, restoration, and maintenance of Thomas A.

12 Edison’s historic home and chemical laboratory.

(6) 1 13 ⁄7 to the Edison Memorial Tower in Edi14 son, New Jersey, for the preservation, restoration,

15 and expansion of the tower and museum.

(7) 1 16 ⁄7 to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michi17 gan, for use in maintaining and expanding displays

18 and educational programs associated with Thomas

19 A. Edison.

20 (b) EXCESS PAYABLE TO THE NATIONAL NUMIS21 MATIC COLLECTION.—After payment of the amount re22 quired under subsection (a), the Secretary shall pay the

23 remaining surcharges to the National Museum of Amer24 ican History, Washington, D.C., for the support of the Na25 tional Numismatic Collection at the museum.
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1 (c) AUDITS.—The Comptroller General of the United

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

3 documents, and other data of any organization which re4 ceives any payment from the Secretary under this section,

5 as may be related to the expenditures of amounts paid

6 under this subsection.

7 SEC. 10. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES.

8 (a) NO NET COST TO THE GOVERNMENT.—The Sec9 retary shall take such actions as may be necessary to en10 sure that minting and issuing coins under this Act will

11 not result in any net cost to the United States Govern12 ment.

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

14 under this Act unless the Secretary has received—

15 (1) full payment for the coin;

16 (2) security satisfactory to the Secretary to in17 demnify the United States for full payment; or

18 (3) a guarantee of full payment satisfactory to

19 the Secretary from a depository institution whose

20 deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insur21 ance Corporation or the National Credit Union Ad22 ministration Board.

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