II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5714 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 17 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Received 

AN ACT 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins 

in recognition and celebration of the establishment of 

the United States Army in 1775, to honor the American 

soldier of both today and yesterday, in wartime and 

in peace, and to commemorate the traditions, history, 

and heritage of the United States Army and its role 

in American society, from the Colonial period to today. 


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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 ‘‘United States Army 

5 Commemorative Coin Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the United States Army, founded in 1775, 

9 has served this country well for over 230 years; 

10 (2) the United States Army has played a deci11 sive role in protecting and defending freedom 

12 throughout the history of the United States, from 

13 the Colonial period to today, in wartime and in 

14 peace, and has consistently answered the call to 

15 serve the American people at home and abroad since 

16 the Revolutionary War; 

17 (3) the sacrifice of the American soldier, of all 

18 ranks, since the earliest days of the Republic has 

19 been immense and is deserving of the unique rec20 ognition bestowed by commemorative coinage; 

21 (4) the Army, the Nation’s oldest and largest 

22 military service, is the only service branch that cur23 rently does not have a comprehensive national mu24 seum celebrating, preserving, and displaying its her25 itage and honoring its veterans; 


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1 (5) the National Museum of the United States 

2 Army will be— 

3 (A) the Army’s only service-wide, national 

4 museum honoring all soldiers, of all ranks, in 

5 all branches since 1775; and 

6 (B) located at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, 

7 across the Potomac River from the Nation’s 

8 Capitol, a 10-minute drive from Mount Vernon, 

9 the home of the Army’s first Commander-in10 Chief, and astride the Civil War’s decisive 

11 Washington-Richmond corridor; 

12 (6) the Army Historical Foundation (hereafter 

13 in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Foundation’’), found14 ed in 1983— 

15 (A) is dedicated to preserving the history 

16 and heritage of the American soldier; and 

17 (B) seeks to educate future Americans to 

18 fully appreciate the sacrifices that generations 

19 of American soldiers have made to safeguard 

20 the freedoms of this Nation; 

21 (7) the completion and opening to the public of 

22 the National Museum of the United States Army 

23 will immeasurably help in fulfilling that mission; 

24 (8) the Foundation is a nongovernmental, mem25 ber-based, and publicly supported nonprofit organiVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:35 Nov 17, 2008 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5714.RDS H5714

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1 zation that is dependent on funds from members, 

2 donations, and grants for support; 

3 (9) the Foundation uses such support to help 

4 create the National Museum of the United States 

5 Army, refurbish historical Army buildings, acquire 

6 and conserve Army historical art and artifacts, sup7 port Army history educational programs, for re8 search, and publication of historical materials on the 

9 American soldier, and to provide support and coun10 sel to private and governmental organizations com11 mitted to the same goals as the Foundation; 

12 (10) in 2000, the Secretary of the Army des13 ignated the Foundation as its primary partner in the 

14 building of the National Museum of the United 

15 States Army; and 

16 (11) the Foundation is actively engaged in exe17 cuting a major capital campaign to support the Na18 tional Museum of the United States Army. 

19 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

20 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—In recognition and celebration 

21 of the founding of the United States Army in 1775, and 

22 notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary 

23 of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the 

24 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and issue the following coins: 


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

2 $5 coins, which shall— 

3 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

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

5 (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent 

6 alloy. 

7 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 500,000 

8 $1 coins, which shall— 

9 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

11 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per12 cent copper. 

13 (3) HALF DOLLAR CLAD COINS.—Not more 

14 than 750,000 half dollar coins, which shall— 

15 (A) weigh 11.34 grams; 

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

17 (C) be minted to the specifications for half 

18 dollar coins, contained in section 5112(b) of 

19 title 31, United States Code. 

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

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

22 title 31, United States Code. 

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

24 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 


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1 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis2 matic items. 

3 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

4 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

6 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 

7 traditions, history, and heritage of the United States 

8 Army, and its role in American society from the Co9 lonial period to today. 

10 (2) DESIGNATIONS AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

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

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

13 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2011’’; and 

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

15 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer16 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

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

18 under this Act shall— 

19 (1) contain motifs that specifically honor the 

20 American soldier of both today and yesterday, in 

21 wartime and in peace, such designs to be consistent 

22 with the traditions and heritage of the United States 

23 Army, the mission and goals of the National Mu24 seum of the United States Army, and the missions 

25 and goals of the Foundation; 


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1 (2) be selected by the Secretary, after consulta2 tion with the Secretary of the Army, the Founda3 tion, and the Commission of Fine Arts; and 

4 (3) be reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advi5 sory 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 FACILITIES.—For each of the 3 coins mint10 ed under this Act, at least 1 facility of the United States 

11 Mint shall be used to strike proof quality coins, while at 

12 least 1 other such facility shall be used to strike the uncir13 culated quality coins. 

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

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

16 period beginning on January 1, 2011. 

17 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

20 of— 

21 (1) the face value of the coins; 

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

23 respect to such coins; and 


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

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

3 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

6 discount. 

7 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

9 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

10 before the issuance of such coins. 

11 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre12 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea13 sonable discount. 

14 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

16 this Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 

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

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

19 (3) A surcharge of $5 per coin for the half dol20 lar coin. 

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

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

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

24 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the Foundation 


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1 to help finance the National Museum of the United States 

2 Army. 

3 (c) AUDITS.—The Foundation shall be subject to the 

4 audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, 

5 United States Code, with regard to the amounts received 

6 by the Foundation under subsection (b). 

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

8 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

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

10 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

11 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro12 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 

13 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 

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

15 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The Sec16 retary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

17 this subsection. 

Passed the House of Representatives October 3, 

2008. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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