II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2196

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

of the sesquicentennial of the birth of Thomas Alva Edison, to redesign

the half dollar circulating coin for 1997 to commemorate Thomas Edison,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 3, 1996

Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. BRADLEY, and Mr. DEWINE)

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 sesquicentennial of the birth

of Thomas Alva Edison, to redesign the half dollar circulating coin for 1997 to commemorate Thomas Edison,

and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘Thomas Alva Edison

5 Sesquicentennial Commemorative Coin Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress hereby finds the following:
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1 (1) Thomas Alva Edison, one of America’s

2 greatest inventors, was born on February 11, 1847,

3 in Milan, Ohio.

4 (2) Thomas A. Edison’s inexhaustible energy

5 and genius produced more than 1,300 inventions in

6 his lifetime, including the incandescent light bulb

7 and the phonograph.

8 (3) In 1928, Thomas A. Edison received the

9 Congressional gold medal ‘‘for development and ap10 plication of inventions that have revolutionized civili11 zation in the last century’’.

12 (4) 1997 will mark the sesquicentennial of

13 Thomas A. Edison’s birth.

14 TITLE I—COMMEMORATIVE

15 COINS

16 SEC. 101. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

17 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—In commemoration of the ses18 quicentennial of the birth of Thomas A. Edison, the Sec19 retary of the Treasury (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec20 retary’’) shall mint and issue the following coins:

21 (1) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 350,000

22 1 dollar coins, each of which shall—

23 (A) weigh 26.73 grams;

24 (B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and
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1 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per2 cent copper.

3 (2) HALF DOLLAR SILVER COINS.—Not more

4 than 350,000 half dollar coins, each of which shall—

5 (A) weigh 12.50 grams;

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

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

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

10 title shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of

11 title 31, United States Code.

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

13 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted

14 under this title shall be considered to be numismatic items.

15 SEC. 102. SOURCES OF BULLION.

16 The Secretary shall obtain silver for minting coins

17 under this title only from stockpiles established under the

18 Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act.

19 SEC. 103. DESIGN OF COINS.

20 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—

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

22 minted under this title shall be emblematic of the

23 many inventions made by Thomas A. Edison

24 throughout his prolific life.
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1 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On

2 each coin minted under this title there shall be—

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

4 (B) an inscription of the years ‘‘1847–

5 1997’’; and

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

7 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer8 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’.

9 (3) OBVERSE OF COIN.—The obverse of each

10 coin minted under this title shall bear the likeness

11 of Thomas A. Edison.

12 (b) DESIGN COMPETITION.—Before the end of the 3-

13 month period beginning on the date of the enactment of

14 this Act, the Secretary shall conduct an open design com15 petition for the design of the obverse and the reverse of

16 the coins minted under this title.

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

18 under this title shall be—

19 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation

20 with the Commission of Fine Arts; and

21 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative

22 Coin Advisory Committee.

23 SEC. 104. ISSUANCE OF COINS.

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

25 title 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 title.

4 (c) COMMENCEMENT OF ISSUANCE.—The Secretary

5 may issue coins minted under this title beginning January

6 1, 1997.

7 (d) TERMINATION OF MINTING AUTHORITY.—No

8 coins may be minted under this title after December 31,

9 1997.

10 SEC. 105. SALE OF COINS.

11 (a) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under this title

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

13 of—

14 (1) the face value of the coins;

15 (2) the surcharge provided in subsection (d)

16 with respect to such coins; and

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

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

19 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping).

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

21 sales of the coins issued under this title at a reasonable

22 discount.

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

2 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this title

3 before the issuance of such coins.

4 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre5 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea6 sonable discount.

7 (d) SURCHARGES.—All sales of coins minted under

8 this title shall include a surcharge of—

9 (1) $14 per coin for the $1 coin; and

10 (2) $7 per coin for the half dollar coin.

11 SEC. 106. GENERAL WAIVER OF PROCUREMENT REGULA12 TIONS.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

14 (b), no provision of law governing procurement or public

15 contracts shall be applicable to the procurement of goods

16 and services necessary for carrying out the provisions of

17 this title.

18 (b) EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY.—Sub19 section (a) shall not relieve any person entering into a con20 tract under the authority of this title from complying with

21 any law relating to equal employment opportunity.

22 SEC. 107. DISTRIBUTION OF SURCHARGES.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The first $7,000,000 of the sur24 charges received by the Secretary from the sale of coins
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1 issued under this title shall be promptly paid by the Sec2 retary as follows:

(1) 1 3 ⁄7 to the Museum of Arts and History, in

4 the city of Port Huron, Michigan for the endowment

5 and construction of a special museum on Thomas A.

6 Edison’s life in Port Huron.

(2) 1 7 ⁄7 to the Edison Birthplace Association, In8 corporated, in Milan, Ohio, to assist in such associa9 tion’s efforts to raise an endowment as a permanent

10 source of support for the repair and maintenance of

11 the Thomas A. Edison birthplace, a national historic

12 landmark.

(3) 1 13 ⁄7 to the National Park Service for use in

14 protecting, restoring, and cataloguing historic docu15 ments and objects at Thomas A. Edison’s ‘‘invention

16 factory’’ in West Orange, New Jersey.

(4) 1 17 ⁄7 to the Edison Plaza Museum in Beau18 mont, Texas, for expanding educational programs on

19 Thomas A. Edison and for the repair and mainte20 nance of the museum.

(5) 1 21 ⁄7 to the Edison Winter Home and Mu22 seum in Fort Myers, Florida, for historic preserva23 tion, restoration, and maintenance of Thomas A.

24 Edison’s historic home and chemical laboratory.
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(6) 1 1 ⁄7 to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michi2 gan, for use in maintaining and expanding displays

3 and educational programs associated with Thomas

4 A. Edison.

(7) 1 5 ⁄7 to the Edison Memorial Tower in Edi6 son, New Jersey, for the preservation, restoration,

7 and expansion of the tower and museum.

8 (b) EXCESS PAYABLE TO THE NATIONAL NUMIS9 MATIC COLLECTION.—After payment of the amount re10 quired under subsection (a), the Secretary shall pay the

11 remaining surcharges to the National Museum of Amer12 ican History, Washington, D.C., for the support of the Na13 tional Numismatic Collection at the museum.

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

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

16 documents, and other data of any organization which re17 ceives any payment from the Secretary under this section,

18 as may be related to the expenditures of amounts paid

19 under this section.

20 SEC. 108. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES.

21 (a) NO NET COST TO THE GOVERNMENT.—The Sec22 retary shall take such actions as may be necessary to en23 sure that minting and issuing coins under this title will

24 not result in any net cost to the United States Govern25 ment.
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1 (b) PAYMENT FOR COINS.—A coin shall not be issued

2 under this title unless the Secretary has received—

3 (1) full payment for the coin;

4 (2) security satisfactory to the Secretary to in5 demnify the United States for full payment; or

6 (3) a guarantee of full payment satisfactory to

7 the Secretary from a depository institution whose

8 deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insur9 ance Corporation or the National Credit Union Ad10 ministration Board.

11 TITLE II—CIRCULATING COINS

12 SEC. 201. REDESIGN OF HALF DOLLAR CIRCULATING COINS

13 FOR 1997.

14 Section 5112(d) of title 31, United States Code, is

15 amended by inserting after the 6th sentence the following

16 new sentence: ‘‘The obverse side of half dollar coins mint17 ed after December 31, 1996, and before January 1, 1998,

18 shall have the same likeness of Thomas Alva Edison as

19 the commemorative coins minted under title I of the

20 Thomas Alva Edison Sesquicentennial Commemorative

21 Coin Act.’’.

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