II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2714 

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

of the centennial of World War I. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2014 

Mr. BLUNT (for himself and Mrs. MCCASKILL) 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 centennial of World War I. 

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 ‘‘World War I American 

5 Veterans Centennial Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the year 2018 is the 100th anniversary of 

9 the signing of the armistice with Germany ending 

10 World War I battlefield hostilities; 


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1 (2) on April 6, 1917, the United States entered 

2 World War I by declaring war against Germany; 

3 (3) 2,000,000 American soldiers served overseas 

4 during World War I; 

5 (4) more than 4,000,000 men and women from 

6 the United States served in uniform during World 

7 War I; 

8 (5) the events of 1914 through 1918 shaped the 

9 world and the lives of millions of people for decades; 

10 (6) more than 9,000,000 soldiers worldwide lost 

11 their lives between 1914 and 1918; 

12 (7) the centennial of the involvement of the 

13 United States in World War I offers an opportunity 

14 for people in the United States to commemorate the 

15 commitment of their predecessors; 

16 (8) Frank Buckles, the last American veteran 

17 from World War I, died on February 27, 2011; 

18 (9) Mr. Buckles was the last direct American 

19 link to the ‘‘war to end all wars’’; 

20 (10) while other great conflicts, including the 

21 Civil War, World War II, the Korean War, and the 

22 Vietnam War, have all been memorialized on United 

23 States commemorative coins, there currently is no 

24 coin to honor the brave veterans of World War I; 

25 and 


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1 (11) the 112th Congress established the World 

2 War I Centennial Commission to plan, develop, and 

3 execute programs, projects, and activities to com4 memorate the centennial of World War I. 

5 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to— 

6 (1) commemorate the centennial of the involve7 ment of the United States in World War I; and 

8 (2) honor the more than 4,000,000 men and 

9 women from the United States who served during 

10 World War I. 

11 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

12 (a) $1 SILVER COINS.—The Secretary of the Treas13 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

14 shall mint and issue not more than 350,000 $1 coins to 

15 commemorate the centennial of the involvement of the 

16 United States in World War I, each of which shall— 

17 (1) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

19 (3) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent 

20 copper. 

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

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

23 title 31, United States Code. 

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

25 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 centennial of the involvement of the United States in 

8 World War I. 

9 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

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

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

12 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2018’’; and 

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

14 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer15 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

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

17 under this Act shall be selected by the Secretary based 

18 on the winning design from a design competition described 

19 in subsection (c). 

20 (c) DESIGN COMPETITION.— 

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

22 competition and provide compensation for the winner 

23 of the contest to design the obverse and reverse of 

24 the coins minted under this Act. 


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1 (2) MANNER OF COMPETITION.—The competi2 tion required by this subsection shall be held in the 

3 following manner: 

4 (A) The competition shall be judged by an 

5 expert jury— 

6 (i) chaired by the Secretary; and 

7 (ii) consisting of— 

8 (I) 3 members from the Citizens 

9 Coinage Advisory Committee, who 

10 shall be elected by the Committee; and 

11 (II) 3 members from the Com12 mission of Fine Arts, who shall be 

13 elected by the Commission. 

14 (B) The Secretary shall determine com15 pensation for the winning design, which shall be 

16 not less than $5,000. 

17 (C) The Secretary may not accept a design 

18 for the competition unless a plaster model ac19 companies the design. 

20 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

22 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

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

24 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 

25 of the coins minted under this Act. 


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

2 issue coins under this Act only during the period begin3 ning on January 1, 2018, and ending on December 31, 

4 2018. 

5 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

8 of— 

9 (1) the face value of the coins; 

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

11 respect to the coins; and 

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

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

14 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

17 discount. 

18 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

20 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

21 before the issuance of the coins. 

22 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre23 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea24 sonable discount. 


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1 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

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

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

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

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

7 shall be paid by the Secretary to the World War I Centen8 nial Commission, consistent with section 8. 

9 (c) UNUSED FUNDS UPON TERMINATION.—If, upon 

10 the termination of the World War I Centennial Commis11 sion, there remains a balance of funds from surcharges 

12 received from the Secretary pursuant to this section, the 

13 Commission shall transfer the funds to the general fund 

14 of the Treasury. 

15 (d) AUDITS.—The World War I Commission shall be 

16 subject to the audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of 

17 title 31, United States Code, with regard to the amounts 

18 received under subsection (b). 

19 (e) LIMITATION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 

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

22 the issuance under this Act of any coin during a cal23 endar year if, as of the time of the issuance, the 

24 issuance of the coin would result in the number of 

25 commemorative coin programs issued during the cal26 endar year to exceed the annual 2 commemorative 


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1 coin program issuance limitation under section 

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

3 (2) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary may issue guid4 ance 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 will not result in any net cost to the United States 

10 Government; and 

11 (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 

12 shall 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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