II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2036 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in recognition and 

celebration of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 26, 2012 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. ISAKSON, 

and Mr. SCHUMER) 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 recognition and celebration of the National Baseball 

Hall of Fame. 

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 ‘‘National Baseball Hall 

5 of Fame Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) On June 12, 1939, the National Baseball 

9 Hall of Fame and Museum opened in Cooperstown, 


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1 New York. Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy 

2 Mathewson, Babe Ruth, and Honus Wagner com3 prised the inaugural class of inductees. This class 

4 set the standard for all future inductees. Since 

5 1939, just one percent of all Major League Baseball 

6 players have earned induction into the National 

7 Baseball Hall of Fame. 

8 (2) The National Baseball Hall of Fame and 

9 Museum is dedicated to preserving history, honoring 

10 excellence, and connecting generations through the 

11 rich history of our national pastime. Baseball has 

12 mirrored our Nation’s history since the Civil War, 

13 and is now an integral part of our Nation’s heritage. 

14 (3) The National Baseball Hall of Fame and 

15 Museum chronicles the history of our national pas16 time and houses the world’s largest collection of 

17 baseball artifacts, including more than 38,000 three 

18 dimensional artifacts, 3,000,000 documents, 

19 500,000 photographs, and 12,000 hours of recorded 

20 media. This collection ensures that baseball history 

21 and its unique connection to American history will 

22 be preserved and recounted for future generations. 

23 (4) Since its opening in 1939, more than 

24 14,000,000 baseball fans have visited the National 

25 Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum to learn about 


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1 the history of our national pastime and the game’s 

2 connection to the American experience. 

3 (5) The National Baseball Hall of Fame and 

4 Museum is an educational institution, reaching 

5 10,000,000 Americans annually. Utilizing video con6 ference technology, students and teachers participate 

7 in interactive lessons led by educators from the Na8 tional Baseball Hall of Fame Museum. These award9 winning educational programs draw upon the won10 ders of baseball to reach students in classrooms na11 tionwide. Each educational program uses baseball as 

12 a lens for teaching young Americans important les13 sons on an array of topics, including mathematics, 

14 geography, civil rights, women’s history, economics, 

15 industrial technology, arts, and communication. 

16 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

17 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—In recognition and celebration 

18 of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the Secretary of 

19 the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec20 retary’’) shall mint and issue the following coins: 

21 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 50,000 $5 

22 coins, which shall— 

23 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

24 (B) have diameter of 0.850 inches; and 


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1 (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent 

2 alloy. 

3 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 400,000 

4 $1 coins, which shall— 

5 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

7 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per8 cent copper. 

9 (3) HALF-DOLLAR CLAD COINS.—Not more 

10 than 750,000 half-dollar coins which shall— 

11 (A) weigh 11.34 grams; 

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

13 (C) be minted to the specifications for half14 dollar coins contained in section 5112(b) of title 

15 31, United States Code. 

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

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

18 title 31, United States Code. 

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

20 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

21 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis22 matic items. 

23 (d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con24 gress that, to the extent possible without significantly add25 ing to the purchase price of the coins, the $1 coins and 


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1 $5 coins minted under this Act should be produced in a 

2 fashion similar to the 2009 International Year of Astron3 omy coins issued by Monnaie de Paris, the French Mint, 

4 so that the reverse of the coin is convex to more closely 

5 resemble a baseball and the obverse concave, providing a 

6 more dramatic display of the obverse design chosen pursu7 ant to section 4(c). 

8 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

9 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

11 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 

12 game of baseball. 

13 (2) DESIGNATIONS AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

14 each coin minted under this Act there shall be— 

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

16 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2015’’; and 

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

18 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer19 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

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

21 under this Act shall be— 

22 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

23 with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the 

24 Commission of Fine Arts and in accordance with 

25 subparagraph (c); and 


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1 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

2 Committee. 

3 (c) OBVERSE DESIGN COMPETITION.—The Secretary 

4 shall hold a competition and provide compensation for its 

5 winner to design the common obverse of the coins minted 

6 under this Act, with such design being emblematic of the 

7 game of baseball. The competition shall be held in the fol8 lowing manner: 

9 (1) The competition shall be judged by an ex10 pert jury chaired by the Secretary and consisting of 

11 3 members from the Citizens Coinage Advisory Com12 mittee who shall be elected by such Committee and 

13 3 members from the Commission of Fine Arts who 

14 shall be elected by such Commission. 

15 (2) The Secretary shall determine compensation 

16 for the winning design, which shall be not less than 

17 $5,000. 

18 (3) The Secretary may not accept a design for 

19 the competition unless a plaster model accompanies 

20 the design. 

21 (d) REVERSE DESIGN.—The design on the common 

22 reverse of the coins minted under this Act shall depict a 

23 baseball similar to those used by Major League Baseball. 


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1 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

3 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

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

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

6 period beginning on January 1, 2015. 

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. 

24 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre25 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea26 sonable discount. 


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1 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

3 this Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 

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

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

6 (3) A surcharge of $5 per coin for the half-dol7 lar coin. 

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

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

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

11 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the National 

12 Baseball Hall of Fame to help finance its operations. 

13 (c) AUDITS.—The National Baseball Hall of Fame 

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 under subsection (b). 

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

18 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

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

20 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

21 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro22 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual com23 memorative coin program issuance limitation under sec24 tion 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code (as in ef25 fect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The SecVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:33 Jan 27, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2036.IS S2036

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1 retary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

2 this subsection. 

3 SEC. 8. BUDGET COMPLIANCE. 

4 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

5 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

6 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

7 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

8 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

9 by the Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the 

10 House of Representatives, provided that such statement 

11 has been submitted prior to the vote on passage. 

Æ 


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