II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1929 

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

of Mark Twain. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 30, 2011 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. 

BLUNT, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) 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 Mark Twain. 

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 ‘‘Mark Twain Com5 memorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark 

9 Twain, was a unique American voice whose literary 


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1 work has had a lasting effect on the history and cul2 ture of the United States. 

3 (2) Mark Twain remains one of the best known 

4 Americans in the world, with over 6,500 editions of 

5 his books translated into 75 languages. 

6 (3) The literary and educational legacy of Mark 

7 Twain remains strong. Nearly every book he wrote 

8 is still in print, including The Adventures of Tom 

9 Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 

10 neither of which has gone out of print since it was 

11 first published, more than a century ago. 

12 (4) In the past 2 decades alone, there have been 

13 more than 100 books published and more than 250 

14 doctoral dissertations written on the life and work of 

15 Mark Twain. 

16 (5) Even today, people in the United States 

17 seek to know more about the life and work of Mark 

18 Twain. People from around the world and all 50 

19 States visit national historic landmarks like the 

20 Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Con21 necticut, and the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and 

22 Museum in Hannibal, Missouri. 

23 (6) The work of Mark Twain is remembered for 

24 addressing the complex social issues facing the 

25 United States at the turn of the century, including 


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1 the legacy of the Civil War, race relations, and the 

2 economic inequalities of the so-called ‘‘Gilded Age’’. 

3 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

4 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas5 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

6 shall mint and issue the following coins in commemoration 

7 of Mark Twain: 

8 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 100,000 

9 $5 coins, which shall— 

10 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

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

12 (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent 

13 alloy. 

14 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 350,000 

15 $1 coins, which shall— 

16 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

18 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per19 cent copper. 

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

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

22 title 31, United States Code. 

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

24 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 


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1 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis2 matic items. 

3 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

4 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

6 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the life 

7 and legacy of Mark Twain. 

8 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

9 each coin minted under this Act there shall be— 

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

11 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2016’’; and 

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

13 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer14 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

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

16 under this Act shall be— 

17 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

18 with the Commission of Fine Arts and the Board of 

19 the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, 

20 Connecticut; and 

21 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

22 Committee. 

23 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

25 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 


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

2 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 

3 of the coins minted under this Act. 

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

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

6 period beginning on January 1, 2016. 

7 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

10 of— 

11 (1) the face value of the coins; 

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

13 respect to such coins; and 

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

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

16 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

19 discount. 

20 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

22 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

23 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 issued under this 

6 Act shall include a surcharge of— 

7 (1) $35 per coin for the $5 coin; and 

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

9 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f)(1) of 

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

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

12 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary as follows: 

13 (1) One-fourth of the surcharges shall be paid 

14 to the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, 

15 Connecticut, to support the restoration of the Mark 

16 Twain house and grounds and to ensure growth and 

17 innovation in museum programming to research, 

18 promote, and educate on the legacy of Mark Twain. 

19 (2) One-fourth of the surcharges shall be paid 

20 to the Mark Twain Project at the Bancroft Library 

21 of the University of California, Berkeley, California, 

22 to support programs to study and promote the leg23 acy of Mark Twain. 

24 (3) One-fourth of the surcharges shall be paid 

25 to the Center for Mark Twain Studies at Elmira 


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1 College, New York, to support programs to study 

2 and promote the legacy of Mark Twain. 

3 (4) One-fourth of the surcharges shall be paid 

4 to the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in 

5 Hannibal, Missouri, to preserve historical sites relat6 ing to Mark Twain and to support programs to 

7 study and promote the legacy of Mark Twain. 

8 (c) AUDITS.—The Comptroller General of the United 

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

10 documents, and other data of each of the organizations 

11 referred to in subsection (b) as may be related to the ex12 penditures of amounts paid under that subsection. 

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

14 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

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

16 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

17 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro18 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 

19 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 

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

21 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The Sec22 retary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

23 this subsection. 

Æ 


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