II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1021 

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

of the United States Coast Guard. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 3, 2017 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. BOOZMAN) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins 

in commemoration of the United States Coast Guard. 

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 ‘‘United States Coast 

5 Guard Commemorative Coin Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the United States Coast Guard was founded 

9 on August 4, 1790, as the Revenue Cutter Service 


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1 under the United States Department of the Treas2 ury; 

3 (2) Congress created the Coast Guard on Janu4 ary 28, 1915, by merging the Revenue Cutter Serv5 ice and the United States Lifesaving Service, which 

6 was moved to the Department of Transportation in 

7 1967, and on February 25, 2003, became part of 

8 the Department of Homeland Security; 

9 (3) although the smallest of the uniformed serv10 ices, today the United States Coast Guard conducts 

11 a wide variety of missions to protect the public, the 

12 environment, and the United States economic and 

13 security interests in any maritime region, including 

14 international waters and coasts, ports, and inland 

15 waterways in the United States; 

16 (4) every day, the United States Coast Guard 

17 plays a broad and important role in homeland secu18 rity, law enforcement, search and rescue, marine en19 vironmental pollution response, and the maintenance 

20 of river, intracoastal, and offshore aids to naviga21 tion; 

22 (5) the United States Coast Guard is the oldest 

23 seagoing military service in the United States, stay24 ing true to their motto, ‘‘Semper Paratus’’ or ‘‘Al25 ways Ready’’, for 225 years; 


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1 (6) the United States Coast Guard is supported 

2 by over 50,000 active duty, reserve, and civilian per3 sonnel, who in 2015 responded to 16,400 search and 

4 rescue cases saving 3,500 lives, conducted 20,775 

5 waterborne patrols of critical maritime infrastruc6 ture, escorted over 1,955 high-capacity passenger 

7 vessels, conducted nearly 8,600 security boardings in 

8 and around U.S. ports, removed $4,900,000,000 

9 worth of illegal drugs, interdicted 6,000 undocu10 mented migrants attempting to illegally enter the 

11 United States, and maintained 47,000 navigation 

12 aids that support $3,200,000,000,000 in economic 

13 activity on the waterways of the United States; 

14 (7) section 213 of the Coast Guard and Mari15 time Transportation Act of 2004 (Public Law 108– 

16 293; 118 Stat. 1037) stated that the ‘‘Commandant 

17 may establish a National Coast Guard Museum, on 

18 lands which will be federally owned and administered 

19 by the Coast Guard, and are located in New Lon20 don, Connecticut, at, or in close proximity to, the 

21 Coast Guard Academy’’; 

22 (8) the National Coast Guard Museum Associa23 tion, a nonprofit association dedicated to improve 

24 public understanding of the history, service and mis25 sions of the Coast Guard, is working with the 


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1 United States Coast Guard, the City of New Lon2 don, the State of Connecticut, and a range of local, 

3 regional, and national stakeholders to develop, plan 

4 and raise capital for the National Coast Guard Mu5 seum, to be located in New London, Connecticut; 

6 and 

7 (9) the United States Coast Guard is the only 

8 military service without a national museum through 

9 which to share its history and legacy with the Amer10 ican public. 

11 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

12 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas13 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

14 shall mint and issue the following coins: 

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 

25 (C) contain at least 90 percent silver. 


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1 (3) HALF DOLLAR CLAD COINS.—Not more 

2 than 750,000 half dollar coins, which shall— 

3 (A) weigh 11.34 grams; 

4 (B) have a diameter of 1.205 inches; and 

5 (C) be minted to the specifications for half 

6 dollar coins, contained in section 5112(b) of 

7 title 31, United States Code. 

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 COIN. 

16 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

18 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 

19 traditions, history, and heritage of the United States 

20 Coast Guard, and the role of the United States 

21 Coast Guard in securing the United States since 

22 1790. 

23 (2) DESIGNATIONS AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

24 each coin minted under this Act, there shall be— 

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


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1 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2020’’; and 

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

3 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer4 ica’’, ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’, and ‘‘Semper 

5 Paratus’’. 

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

7 under this Act shall— 

8 (1) contain motifs that specifically honor the 

9 United States Coastguardsman of both today and 

10 yesterday, in wartime and in peace, such designs to 

11 be consistent with the traditions and heritage of the 

12 United States Coast Guard, the mission and goals of 

13 the National Coast Guard Museum, and the mis14 sions and goals of the National Coast Guard Mu15 seum Association; 

16 (2) be selected by the Secretary, after consulta17 tion with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 

18 National Coast Guard Museum Association, and the 

19 Commission of Fine Arts; and 

20 (3) be reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advi21 sory Committee. 

22 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

24 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 


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1 (b) MINT FACILITIES.—For each of the 3 coins mint2 ed under this Act, at least 1 facility of the United States 

3 Mint shall be used to strike proof quality coins, while at 

4 least 1 other such facility shall be used to strike the uncir5 culated quality coins. 

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

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

8 period beginning on January 1, 2020. 

9 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

12 of— 

13 (1) the face value of the coins; 

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

15 respect to such coins; and 

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

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

18 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

21 discount. 

22 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

24 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

25 before the issuance of such coins. 


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1 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre2 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea3 sonable discount. 

4 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

6 this Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 

7 (1) A surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 coin. 

8 (2) A surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 coin. 

9 (3) A surcharge of $5 per coin for the half dol10 lar coin. 

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

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

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

14 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the National 

15 Coast Guard Museum Association to help finance the de16 sign, construction, operations, and maintenance of the Na17 tional Coast Guard Museum. 

18 (c) AUDITS.—The National Coast Guard Museum 

19 Association shall be subject to the audit requirements of 

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

21 regard to the amounts received under subsection (b). 

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

23 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

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

25 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. The 

5 Secretary may issue guidance to carry out this subsection. 

6 SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES. 

7 The Secretary shall take such actions as may be nec8 essary to ensure that— 

9 (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act 

10 will not result in any net cost to the United States 

11 Government; and 

12 (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 

13 shall be disbursed to any recipient designated in sec14 tion 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing 

15 all of the coins authorized by this Act (including 

16 labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead ex17 penses, marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the 

18 United States Treasury, consistent with sections 

19 5112(m) and 5134(f) of title 31, United States 

20 Code. 

Æ 


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