I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1683 

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

of the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 22, 2017 

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York (for himself, Mr. GALLAGHER, 

Mr. WALZ, Mr. COOK, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. 

NORTON, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. JONES, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 

Mr. SERRANO, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. SIRES, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. JUDY CHU of 

California, Mr. COLE, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. 

SABLAN, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. GARAMENDI, Ms. 

BROWNLEY of California, Mr. COLLINS of New York, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, 

Mr. HIMES, Mr. WEBSTER of Florida, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. LEVIN, 

Mr. RUIZ, Mr. CURBELO of Florida, Mr. POCAN, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. 

CA ́RDENAS, Mr. TAKANO, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. DONOVAN, Mr. COOPER, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. JEFFRIES, 

Mr. FASO, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. VALADAO, Mr. ROKITA, Ms. KUSTER of 

New Hampshire, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. KILDEE, 

Mr. PALLONE, Ms. PLASKETT, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. NEAL, Ms. TENNEY, 

and Ms. SA ́NCHEZ) 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 National Purple Heart Hall 

of Honor. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Purple Heart 

3 Hall of Honor Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor’s 

7 mission is— 

8 (A) to commemorate the extraordinary sac9 rifice of America’s servicemen and service10 women who were killed or wounded in combat; 

11 and 

12 (B) to collect and preserve the stories of 

13 National Purple Heart recipients from all 

14 branches of service and across generations to 

15 ensure that all recipients are represented. 

16 (2) The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor 

17 first opened its doors on November 10, 2006, in 

18 New Windsor, NY. 

19 (3) The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor 

20 is located at the New Windsor Cantonment State 

21 Historic Site, where General George Washington’s 

22 Army camped during the Revolutionary War and 

23 where he first awarded the Badge of Military Merit, 

24 a piece of purple cloth that became the model for the 

25 Purple Heart. 


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1 (4) The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor 

2 is the first to recognize the more than 1.7 million 

3 U.S. servicemembers wounded or killed in action 

4 ranging from the American Revolutionary War to 

5 the present day, serving as a living memorial to their 

6 sacrifice by sharing their stories through interviews, 

7 exhibits and the Roll of Honor, an interactive com8 puter database of each recipient. 

9 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

10 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas11 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

12 shall mint and issue the following coins: 

13 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 50,000 $5 

14 coins, which shall— 

15 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

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

17 (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent 

18 alloy. 

19 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 400,000 

20 $1 coins, which shall— 

21 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

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

24 (3) HALF-DOLLAR CLAD COINS.—Not more 

25 than 750,000 half-dollar coins which shall— 


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1 (A) weigh 11.34 grams; 

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

3 (C) be minted to the specifications for half4 dollar coins contained in section 5112(b) of title 

5 31, United States Code. 

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

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

8 title 31, United States Code. 

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

10 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted 

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

12 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

13 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

15 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 

16 National Purple Heart Hall of Honor. 

17 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

18 each coin minted under this Act there shall be— 

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

20 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2020’’; and 

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

22 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer23 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

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

25 under this Act shall be— 


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1 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

2 with the Commission of Fine Arts and the National 

3 Purple Heart Hall of Honor, Inc.; and 

4 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

5 Committee. 

6 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

8 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

9 (b) MINT FACILITY.—Only the West Point Mint may 

10 be used to strike any particular quality of the coins minted 

11 under this Act. 

12 (c) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may 

13 issue coins minted under this Act only during the 1-year 

14 period beginning on January 1, 2020. 

15 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

16 (a) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under this Act 

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

18 of— 

19 (1) the face value of the coins; 

20 (2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with 

21 respect to such coins; and 

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

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

24 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 


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

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

3 discount. 

4 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

6 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

7 before the issuance of such coins. 

8 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre9 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea10 sonable discount. 

11 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

13 Act shall include a surcharge of— 

14 (1) $35 per coin for the $5 coin; 

15 (2) $10 per coin for the $1 coin; and 

16 (3) $5 per coin for the half-dollar coin. 

17 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f)(1) of 

18 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges received by 

19 the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act 

20 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the National 

21 Purple Heart Hall of Honor, Inc., to help finance the con22 struction of a new building and renovation of existing Na23 tional Purple Heart Hall of Honor facilities. 

24 (c) AUDITS.—The National Purple Heart Hall of 

25 Honor, Inc., shall be subject to the audit requirements of 


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

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

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

4 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

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

6 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

7 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro8 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 

9 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 

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

11 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The Sec12 retary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

13 this subsection. 

Æ 


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