II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1715 

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

of the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Pilgrims. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 8, 2015 

Mr. HOEVEN (for himself and Mr. KING) 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 the 400th anniversary of the 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: 


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

2 Massachusetts, in 1620 has major significance in the 

3 history of the United States. 

4 (2) The Mayflower Compact laid the foundation 

5 and moral framework for the future laws of the 

6 United States. 

7 (3) The General Society of Mayflower Dece8 dents’ mission is— 

9 (A) to tell the story of the Pilgrim’s jour10 ney on the Mayflower in 1620, bringing with 

11 them principles of civil and religious liberty to 

12 America as memorialized in the Mayflower 

13 Compact; 

14 (B) to raise public awareness and increase 

15 the public understanding of the importance of 

16 the Pilgrim’s lives and legacies; and 

17 (C) to encourage a passion for history. 

18 (4) A commemorative coin will bring national 

19 and international attention to the lasting legacy of 

20 this important event. 

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

22 of such commemorative coin will assist the financing 

23 of educational, scholarship, and outreach programs. 


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1 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

2 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas3 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

4 shall mint and issue the following coins: 

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

6 coins, which shall— 

7 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

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

9 (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent 

10 alloy. 

11 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 100,000 

12 $1 coins, which shall— 

13 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

15 (C) contain at least 90 percent silver. 

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

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

18 title 31, United States Code. 

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

20 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted 

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

22 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

23 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

25 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the ar26 rival of the Pilgrims. 


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1 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

2 each coin minted under this Act there shall be— 

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

4 (B) an inscription of— 

5 (i) the mint date ‘‘2020’’; and 

6 (ii) the year ‘‘1620’’; and 

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

8 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer9 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

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

11 under this Act shall be— 

12 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

13 with the Commission of Fine Arts and the General 

14 Society of Mayflower Descendants; and 

15 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

16 Committee. 

17 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

19 Act shall be issued in proof quality and uncirculated qual20 ity. 

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

22 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 

23 of the coins minted under this Act. 


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

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

3 the 1-year period beginning on January 1, 2020. 

4 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

7 of— 

8 (1) the face value of the coins; 

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

10 respect to such coins; and 

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

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

13 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

16 discount. 

17 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

19 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

20 before the issuance of such coins. 

21 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre22 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea23 sonable discount. 


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1 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

3 Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 

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

5 coin. 

6 (2) A surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 sil7 ver coin. 

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

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

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

11 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the General 

12 Society of Mayflower Descendants for educational pur13 poses. 

14 (c) AUDITS.—The General Society of Mayflower De15 scendants shall be subject to the audit requirements of 

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

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

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

19 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

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

21 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

22 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro23 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 

24 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 

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

26 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:35 Jul 09, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1715.IS S1715

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1 retary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

2 this subsection. 

3 SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES. 

4 The Secretary shall take such actions as may be nec5 essary to ensure that— 

6 (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act 

7 will not result in any net cost to the United States 

8 Government; and 

9 (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 

10 shall be disbursed to any recipient designated in sec11 tion 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing 

12 all of the coins authorized by this Act (including 

13 labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead ex14 penses, marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the 

15 United States Treasury, consistent with sections 

16 5112(m) and 5134(f) of title 31, United States 

17 Code. 

Æ 


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