II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 305 

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

of the 250th anniversary of the United States Marine Corps, and to 

support programs at the Marine Corps Heritage Center. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2023 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. 

ROUNDS, Mr. YOUNG, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. WARNER, Mr. HEINRICH, and 

Ms. DUCKWORTH) 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 250th anniversary of the 

United States Marine Corps, and to support programs 

at the Marine Corps Heritage Center. 

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 ‘‘250th Anniversary of 

5 the United States Marine Corps Commemorative Coin 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) November 10, 2025, marks the 250th anni4 versary of the United States Marine Corps. 

5 (2) The United States Marine Corps has, over 

6 the course of its illustrious 250-year history, fought 

7 gallantly in defense of the United States. 

8 (3) The United States Marine Corps has estab9 lished itself as a leading military force, always pre10 pared for tomorrow’s challenges and to contend with 

11 the future character of war. 

12 (4) The United States Marine Corps continues 

13 to exemplify the warrior ethos that has made it a 

14 fighting force of international repute. 

15 (5) All Americans should commemorate the leg16 acy of the United States Marine Corps and recog17 nize the significant contributions the values em18 bodied in the Corps have made in protecting the 

19 United States against its enemies. 

20 (6) In 2000, Congress authorized the construc21 tion of the Marine Corps Heritage Center as a mul22 tipurpose facility for historical displays for the pub23 lic viewing, curation and storage of artifacts, re24 search facilities, classrooms, offices and associated 

25 activities consistent with the mission of the Marine 

26 Corps. 


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1 (7) On November 10, 2006, the Marine Corps 

2 Heritage Center opened to the public, with exhibits 

3 that share the history of the Marine Corps from 

4 1775 until 1975, and with planned future exhibits 

5 on modern day Marine Corps history from the end 

6 of the Vietnam War through the wars in Iraq and 

7 Afghanistan. 

8 (8) The United States should pay tribute to the 

9 250th anniversary of the United States Marine 

10 Corps by minting and issuing a commemorative coin. 

11 (9) The surcharge proceeds from the sale of a 

12 commemorative coin, which would have no net costs 

13 to the taxpayers, would raise valuable funding for 

14 the continuation of educational programs of the Ma15 rine Corps Heritage Center. 

16 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

17 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—In commemoration of the 

18 250th anniversary of the United States Marine Corps, the 

19 Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred 

20 to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and issue the following 

21 coins: 

22 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 50,000 $5 

23 coins, which shall— 

24 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

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


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1 (C) contain not less than 90 percent gold. 

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

3 $1 coins, which shall— 

4 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

6 (C) contain not less than 90 percent silver. 

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

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

9 (A) weigh 11.34 grams; 

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

11 (C) be minted to the specifications for half12 dollar coins contained in section 5112(b) of title 

13 31, United States Code. 

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

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

16 title 31, United States Code. 

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

18 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

19 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis20 matic items. 

21 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

22 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—The design of the 

23 coins minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 

24 250th anniversary of the United States Marine Corps. 


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

2 minted under this Act there shall be— 

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

4 (2) an inscription of the year ‘‘2025’’; and 

5 (3) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, ‘‘In 

6 God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of America’’, and 

7 ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

8 (c) SELECTION.—The design for the coin minted 

9 under this Act shall be— 

10 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

11 with the Commission of Fine Arts, the Commandant 

12 of the Marine Corps, and the Marine Corps Heritage 

13 Foundation; and 

14 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

15 Committee. 

16 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

18 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

19 (b) MINT FACILITY.—Any facility of the United 

20 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 

21 of the coins minted under this Act. 

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

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

24 period beginning on January 1, 2025. 


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1 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

4 of— 

5 (1) the face value of the coins; 

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

7 respect to such coins; and 

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

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

10 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

13 discount. 

14 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

16 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

17 before the issuance of such coins. 

18 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre19 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea20 sonable discount. 

21 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

23 Act shall include— 

24 (1) a surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 coin; 

25 (2) a surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 coin; 

26 and 


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1 (3) a surcharge of $5 per coin for the half dol2 lar coin. 

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

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

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

6 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the Marine 

7 Corps Heritage Foundation and shall only be used for the 

8 purposes of supporting the mission of the Marine Corps 

9 Heritage Center. 

10 (c) AUDITS.—The Marine Corps Heritage Founda11 tion, shall be subject to the audit requirements of section 

12 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, with regard 

13 to the amounts received under subsection (b). 

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

15 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

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

17 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

18 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro19 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 

20 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 

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

22 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The Sec23 retary may issue guidance to carry out this subsection. 


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1 SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES. 

2 The Secretary shall take such actions as may be nec3 essary to ensure that— 

4 (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act 

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

6 Government; and 

7 (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 

8 are disbursed to the Marine Corps Heritage Founda9 tion until the total cost of designing and issuing all 

10 of the coins authorized by this Act (including labor, 

11 materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses, 

12 marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the United 

13 States Treasury, consistent with sections 5112(m) 

14 and 5134(f) of title 31, United States Code. 

Æ 


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