II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2303 

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

of the United States Coast Guard. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 7, 2014 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) 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 United States Coast Guard. 

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 Coast 

5 Guard Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The United States Coast Guard was found9 ed on August 4, 1790, as the Revenue Cutter ServVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:49 May 12, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2303.IS S2303

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1 ice under the United States Department of the 

2 Treasury. 

3 (2) Congress created the Coast Guard on Janu4 ary 28, 1915, by merging the Revenue Cutter Serv5 ice and the United States Lifesaving Service, was 

6 moved to the Department of Transportation in 

7 1967, and on February 25, 2003, became part of 

8 the Department of Homeland Security. 

9 (3) Although the smallest of the uniformed 

10 services, today the United States Coast Guard con11 ducts a wide variety of missions to protect the pub12 lic, the environment, and the United States economic 

13 and security interests in any maritime region, in14 cluding international waters and America’s coasts, 

15 ports, and inland waterways. 

16 (4) Every day, the United States Coast Guard 

17 plays a broad and important role in homeland secu18 rity, law enforcement, search and rescue, marine en19 vironmental pollution response, and the maintenance 

20 of river, intra-coastal and offshore aids to navigation 

21 (ATON). 

22 (5) The United States Coast Guard is our Na23 tion’s oldest seafaring military service, staying true 

24 to their motto, Semper Paratus or ‘‘Always Ready,’’ 

25 for 223 years. 


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1 (6) The United States Coast Guard has an esti2 mated 42,300 men and women on active duty, who 

3 in 2012 responded to nearly 20,000 search and res4 cue incidents saving over 3,500 lives and protecting 

5 $77 million in property, removed 107 metric tons of 

6 cocaine and 56 metric tons of marijuana headed to 

7 the United States, and interdicted nearly 3,000 un8 documented migrants on the high seas attempting to 

9 illegally enter the United States. 

10 (7) Section 213 of Public Law 108–293 states 

11 that ‘‘The Commandant may establish a National 

12 Coast Guard Museum, on lands which will be feder13 ally owned and administered by the Coast Guard, 

14 and are located in New London, Connecticut, at, or 

15 in close proximity to, the Coast Guard Academy’’. 

16 (8) The National Coast Guard Museum Asso17 ciation, a nonprofit association dedicated to improve 

18 public understanding of the history, service and mis19 sions of the Coast Guard, is working with the 

20 United States Coast Guard, the City of New Lon21 don, the State of Connecticut, and a range of local, 

22 regional, and national stakeholders to develop, plan 

23 and raise capital for the National Coast Guard Mu24 seum, to be located in New London, Connecticut. 


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1 (9) The United States Coast Guard is the only 

2 military service without a national museum through 

3 which to share its history and legacy with the Amer4 ican public. 

5 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

6 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas7 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

8 shall mint and issue the following coins: 

9 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 100,000 

10 $5 coins, which shall— 

11 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

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

13 (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent 

14 alloy. 

15 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 500,000 

16 $1 coins, which shall— 

17 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

19 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per20 cent copper. 

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

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

23 (A) weigh 11.34 grams; 

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


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1 (C) be minted to the specifications for half 

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

3 title 31, United States Code. 

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

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

6 title 31, United States Code. 

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

8 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

9 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis10 matic items. 

11 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COIN. 

12 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

14 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 

15 traditions, history, and heritage of the United States 

16 Coast Guard, and its role in securing our Nation 

17 since 1790. 

18 (2) DESIGNATIONS AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

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

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

21 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2017’’; and 

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

23 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer24 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 


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

2 under this Act shall— 

3 (1) contain motifs that specifically honor the 

4 American Coast Guardsman of both today and yes5 terday, in wartime and in peace, such designs to be 

6 consistent with the traditions and heritage of the 

7 United States Coast Guard, the mission and goals of 

8 the National Coast Guard Museum, and the mis9 sions and goals of the National Coast Guard Mu10 seum Foundation; 

11 (2) be selected by the Secretary, after consulta12 tion with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 

13 National Coast Guard Museum Foundation, and the 

14 Commission of Fine Arts; and 

15 (3) be reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advi16 sory Committee. 

17 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

19 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

20 (b) MINT FACILITIES.—For each of the 3 coins mint21 ed under this Act, at least 1 facility of the United States 

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

23 least 1 other such facility shall be used to strike the uncir24 culated quality coins. 


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

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

3 period beginning on January 1, 2017. 

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 minted under 

3 this Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 

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

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

6 (3) A surcharge of $5 per coin for the half dol7 lar coin. 

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

12 Coast Guard Museum Foundation to help finance the de13 sign, construction, operations, and maintenance of the Na14 tional Coast Guard Museum. 

15 (c) AUDITS.—The National Coast Guard Museum 

16 Foundation shall be subject to the audit requirements of 

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

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

Æ 


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