II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2568 

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

of the tercentenary of the birth of Benjamin Franklin, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 23 (legislative day, JUNE 22), 2004 

Mr. BIDEN 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 tercentenary of the birth of 

Benjamin Franklin, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Benjamin Franklin 

5 Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) Benjamin Franklin made historic contribu9 tions to the development of our Nation in a number 
2 

•S 2568 IS 

1 of fields, including government, business, science, 

2 communications, and the arts; 

3 (2) Benjamin Franklin was the only Founding 

4 Father to sign all of our Nation’s organizational 

5 documents; 

6 (3) Benjamin Franklin spent his career as a 

7 successful printer, which included printing the offi8 cial currency for the colonies of Pennsylvania, Dela9 ware, New Jersey and Maryland; 

10 (4) Franklin’s ‘‘Essay on Paper Currency’’ of 

11 1741 proposed methods to fix the rate of exchange 

12 between the colonies and Great Britain; 

13 (5) Benjamin Franklin, during the American 

14 Revolution, designed the first American coin, the 

15 ‘‘Continental’’ penny; 

16 (6) Franklin made ‘‘A Penny Saved is A Penny 

17 Earned’’ a household phrase to describe the Amer18 ican virtues of hard work and economical living; 

19 (7) Franklin played a major role in the design 

20 of the Great Seal of the United States, which ap21 pears on the $1 bill, and other major American sym22 bols; 

23 (8) Before 1979, Benjamin Franklin was the 

24 only non-president of the United States whose image 

25 graced circulating coin and paper currency; 
3 

•S 2568 IS 

1 (9) the official United States half dollar from 

2 1948–1963 showed Franklin’s portrait, as designed 

3 by John Sinnock; 

4 (10) Franklin’s ‘‘Way to Wealth’’ has come to 

5 symbolize America’s commitment to free enterprise; 

6 (11) the Franklin Institute Science Museum in 

7 Philadelphia (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Frank8 lin Institute’’) is a museum with an interactive ap9 proach to science and technology dedicated to the 

10 work of Benjamin Franklin; 

11 (12) the Franklin Institute houses the first 

12 steam printing machine for coinage used by the 

13 United States Mint, which was placed in service in 

14 1836, the 130th anniversary year of Franklin’s 

15 birth; 

16 (13) in 1976, Franklin Hall in the Franklin In17 stitute was named the Official National Monument 

18 to the great patriot, scientist, and inventor; 

19 (14) the Franklin Institute and 4 other major 

20 Benjamin Franklin-related Philadelphia cultural in21 stitutions joined hands in 2000 to organize inter22 national programs to commemorate the forthcoming 

23 300th anniversary of Franklin’s birth in 2006; and 

24 (15) in 2002, Congress passed the Benjamin 

25 Franklin Tercentenary Commission Act (Public Law 
4 

•S 2568 IS 

1 107–202), creating a panel of distinguished Ameri2 cans to work with the private sector in recom3 mending appropriate Tercentenary programs, with 

4 the Franklin Institute serving as its administrative 

5 secretariat. 

6 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

7 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas8 ury (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint 

9 and issue the following coins: 

10 (1) $1 SILVER COINS WITH YOUNGER FRANKLIN

11 IMAGE ON OBVERSE.—Not more than 250,000 $1 

12 coins bearing the designs specified in section 

13 4(a)(2), each of which shall— 

14 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

16 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per17 cent copper. 

18 (2) $1 SILVER COINS WITH OLDER FRANKLIN

19 IMAGE ON OBVERSE.—Not more than 250,000 $1 

20 coins bearing the designs specified in section 

21 4(a)(3), each of which shall— 

22 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

24 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per25 cent copper. 
5 

•S 2568 IS 

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

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

3 title 31, United States Code. 

4 (c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

5 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted 

6 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 

7 (d) USE OF THE UNITED STATES MINT AT PHILA8 DELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.—It is the sense of the Con9 gress that the coins minted under this Act should be 

10 struck at the United States Mint at Philadelphia, Pennsyl11 vania, to the greatest extent possible. 

12 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

13 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

15 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the life 

16 and legacy of Benjamin Franklin. 

17 (2) $1 COINS WITH YOUNGER FRANKLIN

18 IMAGE.— 

19 (A) OBVERSE.—The obverse of the coins 

20 minted under section 3(a)(1) shall bear the 

21 image of Benjamin Franklin as a young man. 

22 (B) REVERSE.—The reverse of the coins 

23 minted under section 3(a)(1) shall bear an 

24 image related to Benjamin Franklin’s role as a 

25 patriot and a statesman. 
6 

•S 2568 IS 

1 (3) $1 COINS WITH OLDER FRANKLIN IMAGE.— 

2 (A) OBVERSE.—The obverse of the coins 

3 minted under section 3(a)(2) shall bear the 

4 image of Benjamin Franklin as an older man. 

5 (B) REVERSE.—The reverse of the coins 

6 minted under section 3(a)(2) shall bear an 

7 image related to Benjamin Franklin’s role in 

8 developing the early coins and currency of the 

9 new country. 

10 (4) DESIGNATION 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 ‘‘2006’’; 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 be— 

19 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

20 with the Commission of Fine Arts; and 

21 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coin Advisory 

22 Committee established under section 5135 of title 

23 31, United States Code. 
7 

•S 2568 IS 

1 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

3 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

4 (b) COMMENCEMENT OF ISSUANCE.—The Secretary 

5 may issue coins minted under this Act beginning January 

6 1, 2006, except that the Secretary may initiate sales of 

7 such coins, without issuance, before such date. 

8 (c) TERMINATION OF MINTING AUTHORITY.—No 

9 coins shall be minted under this Act after December 31, 

10 2006. 

11 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

12 (a) SALE PRICE.—Notwithstanding any other provi13 sion of law, the coins issued under this Act shall be sold 

14 by the Secretary at a price equal to the face value, plus 

15 the cost of designing and issuing such coins (including 

16 labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead ex17 penses, and marketing). 

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

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

20 discount. 

21 (c) PREPAID ORDERS AT A DISCOUNT.— 

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

23 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

24 before the issuance of such coins. 
8 

•S 2568 IS 

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

4 (d) SALES OF SINGLE COINS AND SETS OF COINS.— 

5 Coins of each design specified under section 4 may be sold 

6 separately or as a set containing a coin of each such de7 sign. 

8 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

9 (a) SURCHARGE REQUIRED.—All sales of coins mint10 ed under this Act shall include a surcharge of $10 per 

11 coin. 

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

13 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges which are re14 ceived by the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under 

15 this Act shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the 

16 Franklin Institute, for purposes of the celebration of the 

17 Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary. 

18 (c) AUDITS.—The Franklin Institute shall be subject 

19 to the audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, 

20 United States Code, for purposes of this Act. 

Æ