I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1953

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

of the Old Mint at San Francisco, otherwise known as the ‘‘Granite 

Lady’’, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 28, 2005

Ms. PELOSI (for herself and Mr. CASTLE) 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 Old Mint at San Francisco, 

otherwise known as the ‘‘Granite Lady’’, and for other 

purposes.

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 ‘‘San Francisco Old 

5 Mint Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress hereby finds as follows: 
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1 (1) The Granite Lady played an important role 

2 in the history of the Nation. 

3 (2) The San Francisco Mint was established 

4 pursuant to an Act of Congress of July 3, 1852, to 

5 convert miners’ gold from the California gold rush 

6 into coins. 

7 (3) The San Francisco Old Mint Building was 

8 designed by architect A.B. Mullett, who also de9 signed the United States Treasury Building and the 

10 Old Executive Office Building. 

11 (4) The solid construction of the Granite Lady 

12 enabled it to survive the 1906 San Francisco earth13 quake and fire, making it the only financial institu14 tion that was able to operate immediately after the 

15 earthquake as the treasury for disaster relief funds 

16 for the city of San Francisco. 

17 (5) Coins struck at the San Francisco Old Mint 

18 are distinguished by the ‘‘S’’ mint mark. 

19 (6) The San Francisco Old Mint is famous for 

20 having struck many rare, legendary issues, such as 

21 the 1870–S $3 coin, which is valued today at well 

22 over $1,000,000, and the 1894–S dime which is 

23 comparatively rare. 
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1 (7) The San Francisco Old Mint Commemora2 tive Coin will be the first commemorative coin to 

3 honor a United States mint. 

4 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

5 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—Notwithstanding any other 

6 provision of law, and in commemoration of the San Fran7 cisco Old Mint, the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter 

8 in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and 

9 issue the following coins: 

10 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 100,000 

11 $5 coins, which shall—

12 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

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

14 (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent 

15 alloy. 

16 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 500,000 

17 $1 coins, which shall—

18 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

20 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per21 cent copper. 

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

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

24 title 31, United States Code. 
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1 (c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 

2 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

3 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis4 matic items. 

5 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

6 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—

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

8 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 

9 San Francisco Old Mint Building, its importance to 

10 California and the history of the United States, and 

11 its role in rebuilding San Francisco after the 1906 

12 earthquake and fire. 

13 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

14 each coin minted under this Act there shall be—

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

16 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2006’’; and 

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

18 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer19 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

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

21 under this Act shall be—

22 (1) selected by the Secretary, after consultation 

23 with the Commission of Fine Arts, and the Board of 

24 the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society; 

25 and 
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1 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

2 Committee. 

3 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

5 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

6 (b) MINT FACILITY.—The coins authorized under 

7 this Act shall be struck at the San Francisco Mint to the 

8 greatest extent possible. 

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

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

11 period beginning on January 1, 2006. 

12 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

15 of—

16 (1) the face value of the coins; 

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

18 respect to such coins; and 

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

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

21 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

24 discount. 

25 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept 

2 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

3 before the issuance of such coins. 

4 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre5 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea6 sonable discount. 

7 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—All sales of coins minted under 

9 this Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 

10 (1) A surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 coin. 

11 (2) A surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 coin. 

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

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

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

15 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the San Fran16 cisco Museum and Historical Society for use for the pur17 poses of rehabilitating the Historic Old Mint in San Fran18 cisco as a city museum and an American Coin and Gold 

19 Rush Museum. 

20 (c) AUDITS.—The San Francisco Museum and His21 torical Society shall be subject to the audit requirements 

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

23 regard to the amounts received by the Fund under sub24 section (b).

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