II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1954 

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

recognition of the 75th anniversary of the integration of baseball. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 25, 2019 

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BOOZMAN, and 

Mrs. CAPITO) 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 commemorative coins in recognition of the 75th anniversary of 

the integration of baseball. 

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 ‘‘Integration of Baseball 

5 Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) On April 15, 1947, future Hall of Famer 

9 Jackie Robinson changed the landscape of the naVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:47 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1954.IS S1954

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1 tional pastime and the United States when he 

2 stepped onto the grass at Ebbets Field as the start3 ing first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the 

4 first African American to play Major League Base5 ball in the modern era. 

6 (2) On July 5, 1947, future Hall of Famer 

7 Larry Doby took his first at bat for the Cleveland 

8 Indians, ending the color barrier in the American 

9 League forever. 

10 (3) The integration of Major League Baseball 

11 in 1947 is recognized today as a seminal moment in 

12 the Civil Rights Movement and American history. 

13 (4) The integration of Major League Baseball 

14 preceded the landmark Supreme Court of the United 

15 States ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, 347 

16 U.S. 483 (1954), by 7 years and the enactment of 

17 the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public Law 88–352; 

18 78 Stat. 241) by 17 years. 

19 (5) The National Baseball Hall of Fame and 

20 Museum and the Jackie Robinson Foundation are 

21 dedicated to telling the story of baseball’s unique 

22 role in helping end racial segregation and advancing 

23 civil rights in the United States. 


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1 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

2 (a) SHAPE AND SURFACE TREATMENT.—All coins 

3 issued pursuant to this Act shall be square, with the de4 sign corner-aligned, shall be finished on the reverse with 

5 ‘‘enhanced uncirculated’’ treatment, and shall be of ap6 proximately the same size. The Secretary of the Treasury 

7 (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’), at the Sec8 retary’s discretion, may also use the ‘‘enhanced uncir9 culated’’ treatment on the coin obverse. 

10 (b) DENOMINATIONS.—In recognition and celebration 

11 of the 75th anniversary of the integration of baseball, the 

12 Secretary 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 1 ounce; 

16 (B) be struck on a planchet of appropriate 

17 dimensions; and 

18 (C) contain not less than 90 percent gold. 

19 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 500,000 

20 $1 coins, which shall— 

21 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

22 (B) be struck on a planchet of appropriate 

23 dimensions; and 

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

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

26 than 750,000 half-dollar coins, which shall be of 


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1 such specifications as the Secretary may choose, ex2 cept that, to the greatest extent possible, such half3 dollar coins shall match in size the other coins de4 scribed in this subsection. 

5 (c) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this 

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

7 title 31, United States Code. 

8 (d) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 

9 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

10 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis11 matic items. 

12 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The design for the coins minted 

14 under this Act shall be— 

15 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

16 with— 

17 (A) the National Baseball Hall of Fame 

18 and Museum; and 

19 (B) the Commission of Fine Arts; and 

20 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative 

21 Coin Advisory Committee. 

22 (b) DESIGNATIONS AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On each 

23 coin minted under this Act there shall be— 

24 (1) a designation of the value of the coin, 

25 which, for purposes of the coins described under 


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1 paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 3(b) shall use a 

2 dollar sign and a numeral rather than spelling out 

3 the denomination; 

4 (2) an inscription of the year ‘‘2022’’; and 

5 (3) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, ‘‘In 

6 God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of America’’, and 

7 ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

8 (c) COMMON REVERSE DESIGN.—The design on the 

9 common reverse of the coins minted under this Act shall 

10 depict a baseball diamond similar to those used by Major 

11 League Baseball. 

12 (d) SELECTION AND APPROVAL PROCESS FOR OB13 VERSE DESIGN.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall hold a 

15 competition to determine the design of the common 

16 obverse of the coins minted under this Act, with 

17 such design being emblematic of the integration of 

18 the game of baseball. 

19 (2) SELECTION AND APPROVAL.—Proposals for 

20 the design of coins minted under this Act may be 

21 submitted in accordance with the design selection 

22 and approval process developed by the Secretary in 

23 the sole discretion of the Secretary. The Secretary 

24 shall encourage 3-dimensional models to be sub25 mitted as part of the design proposals. 


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1 (3) PROPOSALS.—As part of the competition 

2 described in this subsection, the Secretary may ac3 cept proposals from artists, engravers of the United 

4 States Mint, and members of the general public, and 

5 shall endeavor to publicize the design contest to par6 ticipants in youth baseball programs. 

7 (4) COMPENSATION.—The Secretary shall de8 termine compensation for the winning design under 

9 this subsection, which shall be not less than $5,000. 

10 The Secretary shall take into account this compensa11 tion amount when determining the sale price de12 scribed in section 6(a). 

13 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

15 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

16 (b) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may 

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

18 period beginning on January 1, 2022. 

19 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

22 of— 

23 (1) the face value of the coins; 

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

25 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 winning design compensation, overhead expenses, 

4 marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

7 discount. 

8 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

10 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

11 before the issuance of such coins. 

12 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre13 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea14 sonable discount. 

15 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

17 this Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 

18 (1) A surcharge of $50 per coin for the $5 coin. 

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

20 (3) A surcharge of $5 per coin for the half-dol21 lar coin. 

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

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

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

25 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the National 


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1 Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, with the under2 standing that the National Baseball Hall of Fame and 

3 Museum shall work with the Jackie Robinson Foundation, 

4 so that the 2 organizations may develop and operate edu5 cation programs about the integration of baseball and pre6 serve artifacts related to the integration of baseball. 

7 (c) AUDITS.—The National Baseball Hall of Fame 

8 and Museum shall be subject to the audit requirements 

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

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

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

12 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

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

14 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

15 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro16 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual com17 memorative coin program issuance limitation under sec18 tion 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code (as in ef19 fect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The Sec20 retary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

21 this subsection. 

Æ 


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