I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2980 

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

of the 400th anniversary of arrival of the Pilgrims. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 8, 2015 

Mr. FOSTER (for himself and Mr. CRAMER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins 

in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of arrival 

of the Pilgrims. 

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 ‘‘Mayflower Commemo5 rative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, 

9 Massachusetts, in 1620 has major significance in the 

10 history of the United States. 


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1 (2) The Mayflower Compact laid the foundation 

2 and moral framework for the future laws of the 

3 United States. 

4 (3) The General Society of Mayflower Dece5 dents’ mission is— 

6 (A) to tell the story of the Pilgrim’s jour7 ney on the Mayflower in 1620, bringing with 

8 them principles of civil and religious liberty to 

9 America as memorialized in the Mayflower 

10 Compact; 

11 (B) to raise public awareness and increase 

12 the public understanding of the importance of 

13 the Pilgrim’s lives and legacies; and 

14 (C) to encourage a passion for history. 

15 (4) A commemorative coin will bring national 

16 and international attention to the lasting legacy of 

17 this important event. 

18 (5) The proceeds from a surcharge on the sale 

19 of such commemorative coin will assist the financing 

20 of educational, scholarship, and outreach programs; 

21 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

22 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas23 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

24 shall mint and issue the following coins: 


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

2 coins, which shall— 

3 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

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

5 (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent 

6 alloy. 

7 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 100,000 

8 $1 coins, which shall— 

9 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

11 (C) contain at least 90 percent silver. 

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

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

14 title 31, United States Code. 

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

16 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted 

17 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 

18 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

19 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

21 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the ar22 rival of the Pilgrims. 

23 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

24 each coin minted under this Act there shall be— 

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


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1 (B) an inscription of— 

2 (i) the mint date ‘‘2020’’; and 

3 (ii) the year ‘‘1620’’; and 

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

5 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer6 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

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

8 under this Act shall be— 

9 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

10 with the Commission of Fine Arts and the General 

11 Society of Mayflower Descendants; and 

12 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

13 Committee. 

14 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

16 Act shall be issued in proof quality and uncirculated qual17 ity. 

18 (b) MINT FACILITY.—Only 1 facility of the United 

19 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 

20 of the coins minted under this Act. 

21 (c) PERIOD OF ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may issue 

22 coins, to the public, minted under this Act only during 

23 the 1-year period beginning on January 1, 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 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 a surcharge as follows: 

24 (1) A surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 gold 

25 coin. 


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1 (2) A surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 sil2 ver 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 General 

7 Society of Mayflower Descendants for educational pur8 poses. 

9 (c) AUDITS.—The General Society of Mayflower De10 scendants shall be subject to the audit requirements of 

11 section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, with 

12 regard to the amounts received under subsection (b). 

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

14 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

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

16 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

17 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro18 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 

19 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 

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

21 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The Sec22 retary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

23 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 shall be disbursed to any recipient designated in sec9 tion 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing 

10 all of the coins authorized by this Act (including 

11 labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead ex12 penses, marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the 

13 United States Treasury, consistent with sections 

14 5112(m) and 5134(f) of title 31, United States 

15 Code. 

Æ 


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