II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1718 

To authorize the minting of a coin in honor of the 75th anniversary of 

the end of World War II, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 2, 2017 

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. NELSON, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. CASSIDY, and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 

Affairs 

A BILL 

To authorize the minting of a coin in honor of the 75th 

anniversary of the end of World War II, 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 ‘‘75th Anniversary of 

5 the End of World War II Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the United States entered World War II as 

9 a result of the surprise Japanese attack against our 


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1 fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 

2 1941, which killed 2,403 people of the United 

3 States; 

4 (2) the United States joined the wartime Allied 

5 cause against the militarist, fascist, and racist dicta6 torships of Germany, Japan, and Italy (the Axis), 

7 fighting for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s ‘‘Four 

8 Freedoms’’ (freedom of speech, of worship, from 

9 want, and from fear); 

10 (3) the United States placed no more than 

11 16,000,000 of its citizens into uniform in the course 

12 of the struggle, enduring a string of early defeats, 

13 recovering to conduct a total war on land, sea, and 

14 air, and eventually establishing total dominance over 

15 its enemies; 

16 (4) the war took the lives of 405,399 United 

17 States military personnel, fellow citizens who made 

18 the supreme sacrifice in a perilous moment in the 

19 history of the United States, giving their lives for 

20 the cause of democracy and peace; 

21 (5) the conflict led to a comprehensive trans22 formation of the home front from a civilian economy 

23 dedicated to peacetime production into the mightiest 

24 engine of military might in human history (labeled 

25 the ‘‘Arsenal of Democracy’’), demanding the parVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:39 Aug 16, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1718.IS S1718

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1 ticipation of the entire citizenry and thus leading to 

2 increased opportunities for racial minorities and 

3 women; 

4 (6) the war ended on September 2, 1945, after 

5 the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany, Fas6 cist Italy, and Imperial Japan, and a total victory 

7 for the United States and the Allies; 

8 (7) Allied victory in World War II transformed 

9 the United States into the leader of the ‘‘free 

10 world,’’ a community of countries dedicated to demo11 cratic principles and to resisting all forms of tyr12 anny, including authoritarian, militarist, or com13 munist, and an international order founded on open 

14 societies, liberal economies, and the peaceful resolu15 tion of disputes; 

16 (8) participation in the wartime struggle 

17 emboldened women, African Americans and other 

18 previously marginalized groups to seek equal rights, 

19 encouraged the growth of the civil rights movement, 

20 and thus contributed to the development of ‘‘a more 

21 perfect union,’’ guaranteeing freedom, justice, and 

22 equality for all; 

23 (9) the generation of United States citizens who 

24 fought World War II is passing away with the 

25 march of time, and that therefore the urgent need 


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1 to give honor to those who served is all the more 

2 critical; and 

3 (10) the period from May 8, 2020, to Sep4 tember 2, 2020, will mark the 75th anniversary of 

5 the end of the involvement of the United States in 

6 World War II and the surrender of Nazi Germany 

7 and Imperial Japan, respectively. 

8 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

9 (a) $5 GOLD COINS.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

10 (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and 

11 issue not more than 50,000 $5 coins in commemoration 

12 of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, each 

13 of which shall— 

14 (1) weigh 8.359 grams; 

15 (2) have a diameter of 0.850 inches; and 

16 (3) contain not less than 90 percent gold. 

17 (b) $1 SILVER COINS.—The Secretary shall mint and 

18 issue not more than 500,000 $1 coins in commemoration 

19 of the 75th Anniversary of the end of World War II, each 

20 of which shall— 

21 (1) weigh 26.73 grams; 

22 (2) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 

23 (3) contain not less than 90 percent silver. 

24 (c) HALF DOLLAR CLAD COINS.—The Secretary 

25 shall mint and issue not more than 750,000 half dollar 


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1 clad coins in commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of 

2 the end of World War II, each of which shall— 

3 (1) weigh 11.34 grams; 

4 (2) have a diameter of 1.205 inches; and 

5 (3) be minted to the specifications for half dol6 lar coins contained in section 5112 (b) of title 31, 

7 United States Code. 

8 (d) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this 

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

10 title 31, United States Code. 

11 (e) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 

12 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

13 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis14 matic items. 

15 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The design of the coins minted 

17 under this Act shall be emblematic of the great sacrifices 

18 made by millions of people of the United States 75 years 

19 ago to bring a victorious end to World War II. 

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

21 minted under this Act, there shall be— 

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

23 (2) an inscription of the year ‘‘2020’’; and 


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

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

3 ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

4 (c) DESIGN.—On each coin minted under this Act, 

5 there shall be a representation of the World War II Vic6 tory Medal, awarded to all 16 million United States mili7 tary personnel who served from December 7, 1941, to De8 cember 31, 1946. 

9 (d) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted 

10 under this Act shall be— 

11 (1) selected by the Secretary, after consultation 

12 with The National WWII Museum and the Commis13 sion of Fine Arts; and 

14 (2) reviewed by the Citizens of Coinage Advi15 sory 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.—Only 1 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 under this Act only during the period begin24 ning on January 1, 2020, and ending on December 31, 

25 2020. 


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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 Secretary at a price equal to the sum of— 

4 (1) the face value of the coins; 

5 (2) the surcharge provided in section 7 with re6 spect to such coins; and 

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

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

9 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

12 discount. 

13 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

15 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

16 before the issuance of such coins. 

17 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre18 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea19 sonable discount. 

20 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

22 Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 

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

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

25 (3) A surcharge of $5 per coin for the half dol26 lar coin. 


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1 (4) A surcharge of $50 per coin for the $1 coin 

2 described under section 3(d). 

3 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f) 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 paid to the congressionally designated The Na7 tional WWII Museum Inc. to fund its educational mission 

8 of telling the story of the United States experience in 

9 World War II. 

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

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

12 documents, and other data of The National WWII Mu13 seum Inc. as may be related to the expenditures of 

14 amounts paid under subsection (b). 

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

16 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

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

18 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

19 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro20 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 

21 commemorative coin programs issuance limitation under 

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

23 effect on the date of enactment of this Act). The Secretary 

24 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 any recipient designated in section 

9 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing all of 

10 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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