II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 398

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

of Native American history and culture.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 10, 1999

Mr. CAMPBELL 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 Native American history and culture.

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 ‘‘Buffalo Coin Act of

5 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. BUFFALO HALF-DOLLAR.

7 Section 5112 of title 31, United States Code, is

8 amended by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(n) BUFFALO HALF-DOLLAR.—
2

•S 398 IS

1 ‘‘(1) DENOMINATIONS.—Notwithstanding any

2 other provision of law, during the 3-year period be3 ginning on January 1, 2001, the Secretary shall

4 mint and issue each year not more than 500,000

5 half-dollar coins, minted in accordance with this

6 title.

7 ‘‘(2) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—The design of

8 the half-dollar coins minted under this subsection

9 shall be based on the original 5-cent buffalo nickel

10 designed by James Earle Fraser and minted from

11 1913 to 1938. Each coin shall have on the obverse

12 side a profile representation of a Native American,

13 and on the reverse side a representation of a buffalo.

14 ‘‘(3) SELECTION.—The design for the coins

15 minted under this subsection shall be—

16 ‘‘(A) selected by the Secretary, after con17 sultation with the Committee on Banking,

18 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate, the

19 Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate, and

20 the Commission of Fine Arts; and

21 ‘‘(B) reviewed by the Citizens Commemo22 rative Coin Advisory Committee.

23 ‘‘(4) QUALITY OF COINS.—Coins minted under

24 this subsection shall be issued in uncirculated and

25 proof qualities.
3

•S 398 IS

1 ‘‘(5) SOURCES OF BULLION.—The Secretary

2 shall obtain silver for minting coins under this sub3 section from sources that the Secretary deems ap4 propriate, including from stockpiles established

5 under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock6 piling Act.

7 ‘‘(6) MINT FACILITY.—Only 1 facility of the

8 United States Mint may be used to strike any par9 ticular quality of the coins minted under this sub10 section.

11 ‘‘(7) SALE OF COINS.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The coins issued

13 under this subsection shall be sold by the Sec14 retary at a price equal to the sum of—

15 ‘‘(i) the face value of the coins;

16 ‘‘(ii) the surcharge provided in sub17 paragraph (D) with respect to such coins;

18 and

19 ‘‘(iii) the cost of designing and issuing

20 the coins (including labor, materials, dies,

21 use of machinery, overhead expenses, mar22 keting, and shipping).

23 ‘‘(B) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall

24 make bulk sales of the coins issued under this

25 subsection at a reasonable discount.
4

•S 398 IS

1 ‘‘(C) PREPAID ORDERS.—The Secretary

2 shall accept prepaid orders for the coins minted

3 under this subsection before the issuance of

4 such coins. Sale prices with respect to prepaid

5 orders shall be at a reasonable discount.

6 ‘‘(D) SURCHARGES.—All sales of coins

7 minted under this subsection shall include a

8 surcharge of $3.00 per coin.

9 ‘‘(8) DISTRIBUTION OF SURCHARGES.—

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—All surcharges re11 ceived by the Secretary from the sale of coins

12 issued under this subsection shall be paid

13 promptly by the Secretary to the Numismatic

14 Public Enterprise Fund established under sec15 tion 5134.

16 ‘‘(B) PROCEEDS.—Proceeds from the sale

17 of coins minted under this subsection shall be

18 made available to the National Museum of the

19 American Indian for the purposes of—

20 ‘‘(i) commemorating the tenth anni21 versary of the establishment of the Mu22 seum; and
5

•S 398 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) supplementing the endowment

2 and educational outreach funds of the Mu3 seum.’’.

Æ