IIB 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2097 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

AN ACT 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins 

in commemoration of the bicentennial of the writing of 

the Star-Spangled Banner, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Star-Spangled Banner 

3 Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds as follows: 

6 (1) During the Battle for Baltimore of the War 

7 of 1812, Francis Scott Key visited the British fleet 

8 in the Chesapeake Bay on September 7, 1814, to se9 cure the release of Dr. William Beanes, who had 

10 been captured after the British burned Washington, 

11 DC. 

12 (2) The release of Dr. Beanes was secured, but 

13 Key and Beanes were held by the British during the 

14 shelling of Fort McHenry, one of the forts defending 

15 Baltimore. 

16 (3) On the morning of September 14, 1814, 

17 after the 25-hour British bombardment of Fort 

18 McHenry, Key peered through the clearing smoke to 

19 see a 42-foot by 30-foot American flag flying proud20 ly atop the Fort. 

21 (4) He was so inspired to see the enormous flag 

22 still flying over the Fort that he began penning a 

23 song, which he named The Defence of Fort McHenry, 

24 to commemorate the occasion and he included a note 

25 that it should be sung to the tune of the popular 

26 British melody To Anacreon in Heaven. 


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1 (5) In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson or2 dered that the anthem, which had been popularly re3 named the Star-Spangled Banner, be played at mili4 tary and naval occasions. 

5 (6) On March 3, 1931, President Herbert Hoo6 ver signed a resolution of Congress that officially 

7 designated the Star-Spangled Banner as the Na8 tional Anthem of the United States. 

9 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

10 (a) $1 SILVER COINS.—The Secretary of the Treas11 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

12 shall mint and issue the following coins in commemoration 

13 of the bicentennial of the writing of the Star-Spangled 

14 Banner: 

15 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 100,000 

16 $5 coins, which shall— 

17 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

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

19 (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent 

20 alloy. 

21 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 500,000 

22 $1 coins, which shall— 

23 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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


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1 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per2 cent copper. 

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

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

5 title 31, United States Code. 

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

7 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

8 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis9 matic items. 

10 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

11 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

13 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 

14 War of 1812 and particularly the Battle for Balti15 more that formed the basis for the Star-Spangled 

16 Banner. 

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 year ‘‘2012’’; and 

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

22 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer23 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

24 (b) SELECTION.—The design 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 Maryland War of 1812 Bicentennial Com3 mission and the Commission of Fine Arts; and 

4 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

5 Committee. 

6 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

8 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

9 (b) MINT FACILITY.—Only one facility of the United 

10 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 

11 of the coins minted under this Act. 

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

13 issue coins under this Act only during the calendar year 

14 beginning on January 1, 2012. 

15 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

18 of— 

19 (1) the face value of the coins; 

20 (2) the surcharge provided in section 7 with re21 spect to such coins; and 

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

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

24 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 


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

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

3 discount. 

4 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

6 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

7 before the issuance of such coins. 

8 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre9 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea10 sonable discount. 

11 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

13 Act shall include a surcharge of— 

14 (1) $35 per coin for the $5 coin; and 

15 (2) $10 per coin for the $1 coin. 

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

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

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

19 shall be paid to the Maryland War of 1812 Bicentennial 

20 Commission for the purpose of supporting bicentennial ac21 tivities, educational outreach activities (including sup22 porting scholarly research and the development of exhib23 its), and preservation and improvement activities per24 taining to the sites and structures relating to the War of 

25 1812. 


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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 the Maryland War of 1812 

4 Bicentennial Commission as may be related to the expend5 itures of amounts paid under subsection (b). 

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

7 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

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

9 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

10 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro11 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 

12 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 

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

14 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The Sec15 retary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

16 this subsection. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 9, 

2009. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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