I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1805 

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

of the centennial of the establishment of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2019 

Mr. WENSTRUP (for himself, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. CHABOT, 

Mr. KILMER, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Mr. 

TURNER, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. MOULTON, Mrs. 

BEATTY, Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. COLE, Ms. 

GABBARD, Mr. LATTA, and Mr. HICE of Georgia) 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 centennial of the establishment 

of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

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 ‘‘Tomb of the Unknown 

5 Soldier Centennial Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a me2 morial site at Arlington National Cemetery. On 

3 March 4, 1921, Congress approved the burial of an 

4 unidentified soldier of the United States on the site 

5 to commemorate the unknown soldiers who died dur6 ing World War I. 

7 (2) As of the date of enactment of this Act, the 

8 site also includes unknown soldiers from World War 

9 II and the Korean War. These graves are marked 

10 with white marble slabs embedded in the plaza below 

11 the original sarcophagus. 

12 (3) The original white marble sarcophagus of 

13 the unknown soldier from World War I features 3 

14 Greek figures representing peace, victory, and valor. 

15 There are 6 wreaths, 3 sculpted on each side, which 

16 represent the major campaigns of World War I. 

17 (4) The original unknown soldier lay in the ro18 tunda of the Capitol from his arrival in the United 

19 States until Armistice Day, 1921. President Warren 

20 G. Harding officiated at the interment ceremonies at 

21 the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National 

22 Cemetery. 

23 (5) The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is 

24 guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and in 

25 any weather by Tomb Guard sentinels. The sentiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1805.IH H1805

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1 nels, all of whom are volunteers, are considered to 

2 be the best of the elite 3d Infantry Regiment of the 

3 Army (commonly known as the ‘‘Old Guard’’), 

4 headquartered at Fort Myer, Virginia. 

5 (6) Inscribed on the back of the Tomb of the 

6 Unknown Soldier are the words, ‘‘Here rests in hon7 ored glory an American soldier known but to God’’. 

8 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

9 (a) $1 SILVER COINS.—The Secretary of the Treas10 ury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint 

11 and issue not more than 100,000 $1 coins in commemora12 tion of the centennial of the establishment of the Tomb 

13 of the Unknown Soldier, each of which shall— 

14 (1) weigh 26.73 grams; 

15 (2) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 

16 (3) contain not less than 90 percent silver. 

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

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

19 title 31, United States Code. 

20 (c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 

21 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

22 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis23 matic items. 

24 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

25 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 


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

2 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 

3 centennial of the establishment of the Tomb of the 

4 Unknown Soldier. 

5 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

6 each coin minted under this Act, there shall be— 

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

8 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2021’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer11 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

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

13 under this Act shall be— 

14 (1) chosen by the Secretary after consultation 

15 with— 

16 (A) the Society of the Honor Guard, Tomb 

17 of the Unknown Soldier; and 

18 (B) the Commission of Fine Arts; and 

19 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

20 Committee. 

21 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

23 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 


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

2 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 

3 of the coins minted under this Act. 

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

5 issue coins under this Act only during the 1-year period 

6 beginning on January 1, 2021. 

7 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

10 of— 

11 (1) the face value of the coins; 

12 (2) the surcharge described in section 7 with re13 spect to the coins; and 

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

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

16 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

19 discount. 

20 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

22 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

23 before the date on which the coins are issued. 


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1 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre2 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea3 sonable discount. 

4 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

6 Act shall include a surcharge of $10 per coin. 

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

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

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

10 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the National 

11 World War I Museum and Memorial for the purposes of 

12 commemorating the centennial of the establishment of the 

13 Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

14 (c) AUDITS.—The National World War I Museum 

15 and Memorial shall be subject to the audit requirements 

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

17 with respect to the amounts received under subsection (b). 

18 (d) LIMITATION.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 

20 (a), no surcharge may be included with respect to 

21 the issuance of any coin under this Act during a cal22 endar year if, on the date of the issuance, the 

23 issuance of the coin would result in the number of 

24 commemorative coin programs issued during that 


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1 year to exceed the limitation under section 

2 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code. 

3 (2) ISSUANCE OF GUIDANCE.—The Secretary 

4 may issue guidance to carry out this subsection. 

5 SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES. 

6 The Secretary shall take such actions as may be nec7 essary to ensure that— 

8 (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act 

9 shall result in no net cost to the Federal Govern10 ment; and 

11 (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 

12 may be disbursed to any recipient designated in sec13 tion 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing 

14 all of the coins authorized by this Act (including 

15 labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead ex16 penses, marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the 

17 United States Treasury, consistent with sections 

18 5112(m) and 5134(f) of title 31, United States 

19 Code. 

Æ 


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