PUBLIC LAW 110–451—DEC. 2, 2008 122 STAT. 5021 

Public Law 110–451 

110th Congress 

An Act 

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

semicentennial of the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Civil Rights Act of 1964 

Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

The Congress hereby finds as follows: 

(1) On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks’ brave act of defiance, 

refusing to give up her seat to a white person on a segregated 

bus in Montgomery, Alabama, galvanized the modern civil 

rights movement and led to the desegregation of the South. 

(2) On February 1, 1960, 4 college students, Joseph McNeil, 

Franklin McCain, David Richmond, and Ezell Blair, Jr., asked 

to be served at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, 

and lunch counter sit-ins began to occur throughout the South 

to challenge segregation in places of public accommodation. 

(3) On May 4, 1961, the Freedom Rides into the South 

began to test new court orders barring segregation in interstate 

transportation, and riders were jailed and beaten by mobs 

in several places, including Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama. 

(4) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was the leading civil 

rights advocate of the time, spearheading the civil rights movement in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s with 

the goal of nonviolent social change and full civil rights for 

African Americans. 

(5) On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 

led over 250,000 civil rights supporters in the March on Washington and delivered his famous ‘‘I Have A Dream’’ speech 

to raise awareness and support for civil rights legislation. 

(6) Mrs. Coretta Scott King, a leading participant in the 

American civil rights movement, was side-by-side with her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during many civil rights 

marches, organized Freedom Concerts to draw attention to 

the Movement, and worked in her own right to create an 

America in which all people have equal rights. 

(7) The mass movement sparked by Rosa Parks and led 

by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., among others, called upon 

the Congress and Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon 

31 USC 5112 

note. 

Civil Rights 

Act of 1964 

Commemorative 

Coin Act. 

Dec. 2, 2008 

[H.R. 2040] 


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122 STAT. 5022 PUBLIC LAW 110–451—DEC. 2, 2008 

B. Johnson to pass civil rights legislation which culminated 

in the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

(8) The Civil Rights Act of 1964 greatly expanded civil 

rights protections, outlawing racial discrimination and segregation in public places and places of public accommodation, in 

federally funded programs, and employment and encouraging 

desegregation in public schools, and has served as a model 

for subsequent anti-discrimination laws. 

(9) We are an eminently better Nation because of Rosa 

Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and all those men and 

women who have confronted, and continue to confront, injustice 

and inequality wherever they see it. 

(10) Equality in education was one of the cornerstones 

of the civil rights movement. 

(11) On September 10, 1961, Dr. Martin Luther King, 

Jr., wrote that African American ‘‘students are coming to understand that education and learning have become tools for 

shaping the future and not devices of privilege for an exclusive 

few’’. 

(12) Over its long and distinguished history, the United 

Negro College Fund has provided scholarships and operating 

funds to its member colleges that have enabled more than 

300,000 young African Americans to earn college degrees and 

become successful members of society. 

(13) Those graduates include Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 

as well as leaders in the fields of education, science, medicine, 

law, entertainment, literature, the military, and politics who 

have made major contributions to the civil rights movement 

and the creation of a more equitable society. 

(14) Congress has an obligation to lead America’s continued 

struggle to fight discrimination and ensure equal rights for 

all. 

(15) The year 2014 will mark the semicentennial of the 

passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

(a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treasury (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and 

issue not more than 350,000 $1 coins each of which shall— 

(1) weigh 26.73 grams; 

(2) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 

(3) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper. 

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

be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of title 31, United 

States Code. 

(c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 5136 of title 

31, United States Code, all coins minted under this Act shall 

be considered to be numismatic items. 

SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

(a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—The design of the coins minted 

under this Act shall be emblematic of the enactment of the Civil 

Rights Act of 1964 and its contribution to civil rights in America. 

(b) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On each coin minted 

under this Act there shall be— 

(1) a designation of the value of the coin; 

(2) an inscription of the year ‘‘2014’’; and 


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PUBLIC LAW 110–451—DEC. 2, 2008 122 STAT. 5023 

(3) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, ‘‘In God We Trust’’, 

‘‘United States of America’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

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

Act shall be— 

(1) selected by the Secretary after consultation with the 

Commission of Fine Arts; and 

(2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee 

established under section 5135 of title 31, United States Code. 

SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

(b) COMMENCEMENT OF ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may issue 

coins minted under this Act beginning January 1, 2014, except 

that the Secretary may initiate sales of such coins, without issuance, 

before such date. 

(c) TERMINATION OF MINTING AUTHORITY.—No coins shall be 

minted under this Act after December 31, 2014. 

SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

(a) SALE PRICE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

the coins issued under this Act shall be sold by the Secretary 

at a price equal to the sum of the face value of the coins, the 

surcharge required under section 7(a) for the coins, and the cost 

of designing and issuing such coins (including labor, materials, 

dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses, and marketing). 

(b) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk sales of the 

coins issued under this Act at a reasonable discount. 

(c) PREPAID ORDERS AT A DISCOUNT.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept prepaid orders 

for the coins minted under this Act before the issuance of 

such coins. 

(2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to prepaid orders 

under paragraph (1) shall be at a reasonable discount. 

SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

(a) SURCHARGE REQUIRED.—All sales shall include a surcharge 

of $10 per coin. 

(b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f) of title 31, United 

States Code, all surcharges which are received by the Secretary 

from the sale of coins issued under this Act shall be promptly 

paid by the Secretary to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) 

to carry out the purposes of the Fund, including providing scholarships and internships for minority students and operating funds 

and technology enhancement services for 39 member historically 

black colleges and universities. 

(c) AUDITS.—The United Negro College Fund shall be subject 

to the audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United 

States Code, with regard to the amounts received by the Fund 

under subsection (b). 

(d) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), no surcharge 

may be included with respect to the issuance under this Act of 

any coin during a calendar year if, as of the time of such issuance, 

the issuance of such coin would result in the number of commemorative coin programs issued during such year to exceed the annual 

2 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under section 

5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code (as in effect on the 


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122 STAT. 5024 PUBLIC LAW 110–451—DEC. 2, 2008 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 2040: 

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 154 (2008): 

Apr. 1, considered and passed House. 

Nov. 19, considered and passed Senate. 

Æ 

date of the enactment of this Act). The Secretary of the Treasury 

may issue guidance to carry out this subsection. 

Approved December 2, 2008. 


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