I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 678

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

of the sesquicentennial of the birth of Thomas Alva Edison, to redesign

the half dollar circulating coin for 1997 to commemorate Thomas Edison,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 11, 1997

Mr. GILLMOR (for himself, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. GOSS, Mr.

PALLONE, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. NEY, Mr.

PORTMAN, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. REGULA, Mr. SAWYER, Mr. HALL of Ohio,

Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. KASICH, Mr. HOBSON, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. LEVIN,

Ms. RIVERS, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. FROST, Ms. NORTON, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. SABO, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. HORN, Mr. BERMAN,

Mr. SAXTON, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. BARCIA, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. STEARNS,

Mr. HASTERT, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. BORSKI, Mrs.

THURMAN, Mr. SHAYS, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mrs. CLAYTON,

Mr. KING, Mr. SMITH of Michigan, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, and

Ms. STABENOW) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Banking and Financial Services

A BILL

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins

in commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the birth

of Thomas Alva Edison, to redesign the half dollar circulating coin for 1997 to commemorate Thomas Edison,

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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Thomas Alva Edison

3 Sesquicentennial Commemorative Coin Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds that—

6 (1) Thomas Alva Edison, one of America’s

7 greatest inventors, was born on February 11, 1847,

8 in Milan, Ohio;

9 (2) the inexhaustible energy and genius of

10 Thomas A. Edison produced more than 1,300 inven11 tions in his lifetime, including the incandescent light

12 bulb and the phonograph;

13 (3) in 1928, Thomas A. Edison received the

14 Congressional gold medal ‘‘for development and ap15 plication of inventions that have revolutionized civili16 zation in the last century’’; and

17 (4) 1997 will mark the sesquicentennial of the

18 birth of Thomas A. Edison.

19 TITLE I—COMMEMORATIVE

20 COINS

21 SEC. 101. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

22 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—In commemoration of the ses23 quicentennial of the birth of Thomas A. Edison, the Sec24 retary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to

25 as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and issue—
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1 (1) not more than 350,000 $1 coins, each of

2 which shall—

3 (A) weigh 26.73 grams;

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

5 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per6 cent copper; and

7 (2) not more than 350,000 half dollar coins,

8 each of which shall—

9 (A) weigh 12.50 grams;

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

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

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

14 title shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of

15 title 31, United States Code.

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

17 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted

18 under this title shall be considered to be numismatic items.

19 SEC. 102. SOURCES OF BULLION.

20 The Secretary shall obtain silver for minting coins

21 under this title only from stockpiles established under the

22 Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act.

23 SEC. 103. DESIGN OF COINS.

24 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The design of the coins

2 minted under this title shall be emblematic of the

3 many inventions made by Thomas A. Edison

4 throughout his prolific life.

5 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On

6 each coin minted under this title there shall be—

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

8 (B) an inscription of the years ‘‘1847–

9 1997’’; and

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

11 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer12 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’.

13 (3) OBVERSE OF COIN.—The obverse of each

14 coin minted under this title shall bear the likeness

15 of Thomas A. Edison.

16 (b) DESIGN COMPETITION.—Before the end of the 3-

17 month period beginning on the date of enactment of this

18 Act, the Secretary shall conduct an open design competi19 tion for the design of the obverse and the reverse of the

20 coins minted under this title.

21 (c) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted

22 under this title shall be—

23 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation

24 with the Commission of Fine Arts; and
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1 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative

2 Coin Advisory Committee.

3 SEC. 104. ISSUANCE OF COINS.

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

5 title shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities.

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

7 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality

8 of the coins minted under this title.

9 (c) COMMENCEMENT OF ISSUANCE.—The Secretary

10 may issue coins minted under this title beginning on and

11 after the date of enactment of this Act.

12 (d) TERMINATION OF MINTING AUTHORITY.—No

13 coins may be minted under this title after July 31, 1998.

14 SEC. 105. SALE OF COINS.

15 (a) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under this title

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

17 of—

18 (1) the face value of the coins;

19 (2) the surcharge provided in subsection (d)

20 with respect to such coins; and

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

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

23 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping).
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1 (b) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk

2 sales of the coins issued under this title at a reasonable

3 discount.

4 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.—

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

6 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this title

7 before the issuance of such coins.

8 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre9 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea10 sonable discount.

11 (d) SURCHARGES.—All sales of coins minted under

12 this title shall include a surcharge of—

13 (1) $14 per coin for the $1 coin; and

14 (2) $7 per coin for the half dollar coin.

15 SEC. 106. GENERAL WAIVER OF PROCUREMENT

16 REGULATIONS.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

18 (b), no provision of law governing procurement or public

19 contracts shall be applicable to the procurement of goods

20 and services necessary for carrying out this title.

21 (b) EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY.—Sub22 section (a) shall not relieve any person entering into a con23 tract under the authority of this title from complying with

24 any law relating to equal employment opportunity.
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1 SEC. 107. DISTRIBUTION OF SURCHARGES.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 5134(f) of title

3 31, United States Code, the first $7,000,000 of the sur4 charges received by the Secretary from the sale of coins

5 issued under this title shall be promptly paid by the Sec6 retary as follows:

(1) MUSEUM OF ARTS AND HISTORY.—Up to 1 7 ⁄7

8 to the Museum of Arts and History, in the city of

9 Port Huron, Michigan, for the endowment and con10 struction of a special museum on the life of Thomas

11 A. Edison in Port Huron.

12 (2) EDISON BIRTHPLACE ASSOCIATION.—Up to

1 13 ⁄7 to the Edison Birthplace Association, Incor14 porated, in Milan, Ohio, to assist in the efforts of

15 the association to raise an endowment as a perma16 nent source of support for the repair and mainte17 nance of the Thomas A. Edison birthplace, a na18 tional historic landmark.

(3) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.—Up to 1 19 ⁄7 to the

20 National Park Service, for use in protecting, restor21 ing, and cataloguing historic documents and objects

22 at the ‘‘invention factory’’ of Thomas A. Edison in

23 West Orange, New Jersey.
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(4) EDISON PLAZA MUSEUM.—Up to 1 1 ⁄7 to the

2 Edison Plaza Museum in Beaumont, Texas, for ex3 panding educational programs on Thomas A. Edison

4 and for the repair and maintenance of the museum.

5 (5) EDISON WINTER HOME AND MUSEUM.—Up

to 1 6 ⁄7 to the Edison Winter Home and Museum in

7 Fort Myers, Florida, for historic preservation, res8 toration, and maintenance of the historic home and

9 chemical laboratory of Thomas A. Edison.

(6) EDISON INSTITUTE.—Up to 1 10 ⁄7 to the Edi11 son Institute, otherwise known as ‘‘Greenfield Vil12 lage’’, in Dearborn, Michigan, for use in maintaining

13 and expanding displays and educational programs

14 associated with Thomas A. Edison.

(7) EDISON MEMORIAL TOWER.—Up to 1 15 ⁄7 to

16 the Edison Memorial Tower in Edison, New Jersey,

17 for the preservation, restoration, and expansion of

18 the tower and museum.

19 (b) EXCESS PAYABLE TO THE NATIONAL NUMIS20 MATIC COLLECTION.—After payment of the amounts re21 quired under subsection (a), the Secretary shall pay the

22 remaining surcharges to the National Museum of Amer23 ican History in Washington, D.C., for the support of the

24 National Numismatic Collection at the museum.
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1 (c) AUDITS.—Each organization that receives any

2 payment from the Secretary under this section shall be

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

4 title 31, United States Code.

5 SEC. 108. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES.

6 (a) NO NET COST TO THE GOVERNMENT.—The Sec7 retary shall take such actions as may be necessary to en8 sure that minting and issuing coins under this title will

9 not result in any net cost to the United States

10 Government.

11 (b) PAYMENT FOR COINS.—A coin shall not be issued

12 under this title unless the Secretary has received—

13 (1) full payment for the coin;

14 (2) security satisfactory to the Secretary to in15 demnify the United States for full payment; or

16 (3) a guarantee of full payment satisfactory to

17 the Secretary from a depository institution whose

18 deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insur19 ance Corporation or the National Credit Union Ad20 ministration Board.

21 TITLE II—CIRCULATING COINS

22 SEC. 201. AUTHORITY TO REDESIGN HALF DOLLAR CIR23 CULATING COINS.

24 Section 5112(d) of title 31, United States Code, is

25 amended by inserting after the 6th sentence the following:
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1 ‘‘At the discretion of the Secretary, half dollar coins mint2 ed after December 31, 1996, and before July 31, 1998,

3 may bear the same design as the commemorative coins

4 minted under title I of the Thomas Alva Edison Sesqui5 centennial Commemorative Coin Act, as established under

6 section 103 of that Act.’’.

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