II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 368

To authorize the minting and issuance of a commemorative coin in honor

of the founding of Biloxi, Mississippi.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 4, 1999

Mr. COCHRAN (for himself and Mr. LOTT) 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 and issuance of a commemorative

coin in honor of the founding of Biloxi, Mississippi.

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 Biloxi Tricentennial

5 Commemorative Coin Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. COMMEMORATIVE COINS IN HONOR OF THE

7 FOUNDING OF BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI.

8 (a) COIN SPECIFICATIONS.—The Secretary of the

9 Treasury (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec10 retary’’) shall mint and issue each of the following coins:
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1 (1) $10 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 100,000

2 $10 coins, each of which shall—

3 (A) weigh 16.718 grams;

4 (B) have a diameter of 1.06 inches; and

5 (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent

6 alloy.

7 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 500,000

8 $1 coins, each of which shall—

9 (A) weigh 26.73 grams;

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

11 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per12 cent copper.

13 (3) HALF DOLLAR CLAD COINS.—Not more

14 than 750,000 half dollar coins each of which shall—

15 (A) weigh 11.34 grams;

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

17 (C) be minted to the specifications for half

18 dollar coins contained in section 5112(b) of title

19 31, United States Code.

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

21 section shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103

22 of title 31, United States Code.

23 (c) SOURCES OF BULLION.—The Secretary shall ob24 tain gold and silver for minting coins under this section

25 pursuant to the authority of the Secretary under other
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1 provisions of law, including authority relating to the use

2 of silver stockpiles established under the Strategic and

3 Critical Materials Stockpiling Act, as applicable.

4 (d) DESIGN OF COINS.—

5 (1) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The design of the coins

7 minted under this section shall be emblematic

8 of the landing of Pierre LeMoyne Sieur

9 D’Iberville on the shores of present day Biloxi,

10 Mississippi, on February 13, 1699.

11 (B) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—

12 On each coin minted under this section there

13 shall be—

14 (i) a designation of the value of the

15 coin;

16 (ii) an inscription of the year 1999;

17 and

18 (iii) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Lib19 erty’’, ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States

20 of America’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’.

21 (2) SELECTION.—The design for the coins

22 minted under this section shall be—

23 (A) selected by the Secretary after con24 sultation with the Board of Directors of the Bi-
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1 loxi Tricentennial Commission and the Commis2 sion of Fine Arts; and

3 (B) reviewed by the Citizens Commemora4 tive Coin Advisory Committee.

5 (e) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE OF COINS.—The Sec6 retary may issue coins minted under this section only dur7 ing the period beginning on January 1, 1999, and ending

8 on December 31, 1999.

9 (f) SALE OF COINS.—

10 (1) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under this

11 section shall be sold by the Secretary at a price

12 equal to the sum of—

13 (A) the face value of the coins;

14 (B) the surcharge provided in paragraph

15 (4) with respect to such coins; and

16 (C) the cost of designing and issuing the

17 coins (including labor, materials, dies, use of

18 machinery, overhead expenses, marketing, and

19 shipping).

20 (2) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall make

21 bulk sales of the coins issued under this section at

22 a reasonable discount.

23 (3) PREPAID ORDERS.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ac2 cept prepaid orders for the coins minted under

3 this section before the issuance of such coins.

4 (B) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect

5 to prepaid orders under subparagraph (A) shall

6 be at a reasonable discount.

7 (4) SURCHARGES.—All sales shall include a

8 surcharge of—

9 (A) $35 per coin for the $10 coin;

10 (B) $10 per coin for the $1 coin; and

11 (C) $1 per coin for the half dollar coin.

12 (g) GENERAL WAIVER OF PROCUREMENT REGULA13 TIONS.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para15 graph (2), no provision of law governing procure16 ment or public contracts shall be applicable to the

17 procurement of goods and services necessary for car18 rying out this section.

19 (2) EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY.—

20 Paragraph (1) does not relieve any person entering

21 into a contract under the authority of this section

22 from complying with any law relating to equal em23 ployment opportunity.

24 (h) TREATMENT AS NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For pur25 poses of sections 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States
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1 Code, all coins minted under this subsection shall be con2 sidered to be numismatic items.

3 (i) DISTRIBUTION OF SURCHARGES.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 5134 of

5 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges received

6 by the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under

7 this section shall be promptly paid by the

8 Secretary—

9 (A) to the Biloxi Tricentennial Commis10 sion, Inc., for the purpose of planning and im11 plementing the 1999 Tricentennial Celebration

12 in Biloxi, Mississippi; and

13 (B) upon dissolution of the Biloxi Tri14 centennial Commission, Inc., to Biloxi First,

15 Inc., for the purpose of funding educational

16 projects directly related to local history instruc17 tion for students in the public school system in

18 Biloxi, Mississippi.

19 (2) AUDITS.—The Comptroller General of the

20 United States shall have the right to examine such

21 books, records, documents, and other data of the Bi22 loxi Tricentennial Commission, Inc., and Biloxi

23 First, Inc., as may be related to the expenditures of

24 amounts paid under paragraph (1).
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1 (j) FINANCIAL ASSURANCES.—The Secretary shall

2 take such actions as may be necessary to ensure that mint3 ing and issuing coins under this section will not result in

4 any net cost to the United States Government.

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