IB 

Union Calendar No. 331 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3916 

[Report No. 108–568] 

To improve circulation of the $1 coin, create a new bullion coin, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 9, 2004 

Mr. CASTLE (for himself and Mrs. MALONEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

JUNE 24, 2004 

Additional sponsors: Mr. PITTS, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. GILLMOR, 

Mr. ENGLISH, Mr. LEACH, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. HOUGHTON, and Ms. PELOSI

JUNE 24, 2004 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 9, 2004] 

A BILL 

To improve circulation of the $1 coin, create a new bullion 

coin, 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 SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential $1 Coin 

3 Act of 2004’’ . 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds as follows: 

6 (1) There are sectors of the United States econ7 omy, including public transportation, parking meters, 

8 vending machines and low-dollar value transactions, 

9 in which the use of a $1 coin is both useful and desir10 able for keeping costs and prices down. 

11 (2) For a variety of reasons, the new $1 coin in12 troduced in 2000 has not been widely sought-after by 

13 the public, leading to higher costs for merchants and 

14 thus higher prices for consumers. 

15 (3) The success of the 50 States Commemorative 

16 Coin Program for circulating quarter dollars shows 

17 that a rotating design on a United States circulating 

18 coin radically increases demand for the coin, rapidly 

19 pulling it through the economy. 

20 (4) The 50 States Commemorative Coin Program 

21 also has been an educational tool, teaching both 

22 Americans and visitors something about each State 

23 for which a quarter has been issued. 

24 (5) A national survey and study by the General 

25 Accounting Office has indicated that many Ameri26 cans who do not seek, or who reject, the new $1 coin 
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1 for use in commerce would actively seek the coin if an 

2 attractive, educational rotating design were to be 

3 struck on the coin. 

4 (6) The President is the leader of our tripartite 

5 government and the President’s spouse has often set 

6 the social tone for the White House while spear7 heading and highlighting important issues for the 

8 country. 

9 (7) Many people cannot name all of the Presi10 dents, and fewer can name the spouses, nor can many 

11 people accurately place each President in the proper 

12 time period of American history. 

13 (8) First Spouses have not generally been recog14 nized on American coinage. 

15 (9) Sacagewea, as currently represented on the 

16 new $1 coin, is an important symbol of American 

17 history. 

18 (10) In order to revitalize the design of United 

19 States coinage and return circulating coinage to its 

20 position as not only a necessary means of exchange 

21 in commerce but also as an object of aesthetic beauty 

22 in its own right, it is appropriate to move many of 

23 the mottos and emblems, the inscription of the year, 

24 and the so-called ‘‘mint marks’’ that currently appear 

25 on the 2 faces of each circulating coin to the edge of 
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1 the coin, which would allow larger and more dra2 matic artwork on the coins reminiscent of the so3 called ‘‘Golden Age of Coinage’’ in the United States, 

4 at the beginning of the Twentieth Century, initiated 

5 by President Theodore Roosevelt, with the assistance 

6 of noted sculptors and medallic artists James Earle 

7 Fraser and Augustus St. Gaudens. 

8 (11) Placing inscriptions on the edge of coins, 

9 known as edge-incusing, is a hallmark of modern 

10 coinage and is common in large-volume production of 

11 coinage elsewhere in the world, such as the 

12 2,700,000,000 2-Euro coins in circulation and coins 

13 of the People’s Republic of China, but it has not been 

14 done on a large scale in United States coinage in re15 cent years. 

16 (12) Bullion coins are a valuable tool for the in17 vestor and, in some cases, an important aspect of coin 

18 collecting. 

19 (13) Although the Congress has authorized the 

20 Secretary of the Treasury to issue gold coins with a 

21 purity of 99.99 percent, the Secretary has not done so. 

22 (14) By commencing the issuance of the presi23 dential $1 coins in 2006, coins issued in uncirculated 

24 or proof qualities that commemorate the presidency of 

25 Thomas Jefferson may appropriately be sold in sets 
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1 with the coins of similar qualities that are issued in 

2 2006 and commemorate the Lewis and Clark expedi3 tion, together with $1 coins that bear the image of 

4 Sacagewea and are struck for numismatic purposes 

5 under section 5112(n)(1)(B) of title 31, United States 

6 Code (as amended by section 3 of this Act). 

7 SEC. 3. PRESIDENTIAL $1 COIN PROGRAM. 

8 Section 5112 of title 31, United States Code, is amend9 ed by inserting after subsection (m) the following new sub10 section: 

11 ‘‘(n) REDESIGN AND ISSUANCE OF CIRCULATING $1 

12 COINS HONORING EACH OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE

13 UNITED STATES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) REDESIGN BEGINNING IN 2006.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sub16 section (d) and in accordance with the provisions 

17 of this subsection, $1 coins issued during the pe18 riod beginning January 1, 2006, and ending 

19 upon the termination of the program under 

20 paragraph (6) shall have designs on the obverse 

21 selected in accordance with paragraph (2)(B) 

22 which are emblematic of the Presidents of the 

23 United States and a design on the reverse se24 lected in accordance with paragraph (2)(A). 
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1 ‘‘(B) TRANSITION PROVISION.—Notwith2 standing subparagraph (A), the Secretary may 

3 continue to mint and issue $1 coins in 2006 

4 which bear the design in effect before the redesign 

5 required under this subsection, as required for 

6 numismatic purposes and to ensure a smooth 

7 transition into the presidential coin program 

8 under this subsection. 

9 ‘‘(2) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—The $1 coins 

10 issued in accordance with paragraph (1)(A) shall 

11 meet the following design requirements: 

12 ‘‘(A) COIN REVERSE.—The design on the re13 verse shall bear— 

14 ‘‘(i) a likeness of the Statue of Liberty 

15 extending to the rim of the coin and large 

16 enough to provide a dramatic representa17 tion of Liberty while not being large enough 

18 to create the impression of a ‘2-headed’ coin; 

19 ‘‘(ii) the inscription ‘$1’ ; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) the inscription ‘United States of 

21 America’. 

22 ‘‘(B) COIN OBVERSE.—The design on the ob23 verse shall contain the name and likeness of a 

24 President of the United States and basic infor25 mation about the President, including the dates 
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1 or years of the term of office of such President 

2 and a number indicating the order of the period 

3 of service in which the President served. 

4 ‘‘(C) EDGE-INCUSED INSCRIPTIONS.—The 

5 inscription of the year of minting or issuance of 

6 the coin and the inscriptions ‘E Pluribus Unum’ 

7 and ‘In God We Trust’ shall be edge-incused into 

8 the coin. 

9 ‘‘(D) INSCRIPTIONS OF ‘LIBERTY’.—Not10 withstanding the 2d sentence of subsection (d)(1), 

11 because the use of a design bearing the likeness 

12 of the Statue of Liberty on the reverse of the 

13 coins issued under this subsection adequately 

14 conveys the concept of Liberty, the inscription of 

15 ‘Liberty’ shall not appear on the coins. 

16 ‘‘(E) PROHIBITION ON SITTING PRESIDENT

17 IN SERIES.—No coin issued under this subsection 

18 may bear the image of a President who has not 

19 completed such President’s period of service. 

20 ‘‘(3) ISSUANCE OF COINS COMMEMORATING

21 PRESIDENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) ORDER OF ISSUANCE.—The coins 

23 issued under this subsection commemorating 

24 Presidents of the United States shall be issued in 

25 the order of the period of service of each Presi-
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1 dent, beginning with President George Wash2 ington. 

3 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF PERIOD OF SERV4 ICE.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

6 (ii), only 1 coin design shall be issued for 

7 a period of service for any President, no 

8 matter how many consecutive terms of office 

9 the President served. 

10 ‘‘(ii) NONCONSECUTIVE TERMS.—If a 

11 President has served during 2 or more non12 consecutive periods of service, a coin shall 

13 be issued under this subsection for each such 

14 nonconsecutive period of service. 

15 ‘‘(4) ISSUANCE OF COINS COMMEMORATING 4 

16 PRESIDENTS DURING EACH YEAR OF THE PERIOD.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The designs for the $1 

18 coins issued during each year of the period re19 ferred to in paragraph (1) shall be emblematic of 

20 4 Presidents until the year the program termi21 nates. 

22 ‘‘(B) NUMBER OF EACH OF 4 CIRCULATING

23 COIN DESIGNS IN EACH YEAR.—The Secretary 

24 shall prescribe, on the basis of such factors as the 

25 Secretary determines to be appropriate, the num-
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1 ber of $1 coins that shall be issued with each of 

2 the designs selected for each year of the period re3 ferred to in paragraph (1). 

4 ‘‘(5) ISSUANCE OF NUMISMATIC COINS.—The Sec5 retary may mint and issue such number of $1 coins 

6 of each design selected under this subsection in uncir7 culated and proof qualities as the Secretary deter8 mines to be appropriate. 

9 ‘‘(6) TERMINATION OF PROGRAM.—The issuance 

10 of coins under this subsection shall terminate when 

11 each President who has finished such President’s pe12 riod of service has been so honored and may not be 

13 resumed except by an Act of Congress. 

14 ‘‘(7) REVERSION TO PRECEDING DESIGN.—Upon 

15 the termination of the issuance of coins under this 

16 subsection, the design of the $1 coin shall revert to the 

17 design on $1 coins being issued immediately before 

18 the issuance of coins under this subsection.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. FIRST SPOUSE BULLION COIN PROGRAM. 

20 Section 5112 of title 31, United States Code, is amend21 ed by inserting after subsection (n) (as added by section 

22 3 of this Act) the following new subsection: 

23 ‘‘(o) FIRST SPOUSE BULLION COIN PROGRAM.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—During the same period in 

25 which the $1 coins are issued under subsection (n) 
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1 which are emblematic of the Presidents of the United 

2 States, the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue bullion 

3 coins under this subsection that are emblematic of the 

4 spouse of each such President. 

5 ‘‘(2) SPECIFICATIONS.—The coins issued under 

6 this subsection shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) have the same diameter as the $1 coins 

8 described in subsection (n); 

9 ‘‘(B) weigh 0.5 ounce; and 

10 ‘‘(C) contain 99.99 percent pure gold. 

11 ‘‘(3) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) COIN OBVERSE.—The design on the ob13 verse of each coin issued under this subsection 

14 shall contain— 

15 ‘‘(i) the name and likeness of a person 

16 who was a spouse of a President during the 

17 President’s period of service; 

18 ‘‘(ii) an inscription of the years during 

19 which such person was the spouse of a 

20 President during the President’s period of 

21 service; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) the number indicating the order 

23 of the period of service in which such Presi24 dent served. 
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1 ‘‘(B) COIN REVERSE.—The design on the re2 verse of each coin issued under this subsection 

3 shall bear— 

4 ‘‘(i) images emblematic of the life and 

5 work of the First Spouse whose image is 

6 borne on the obverse; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) the inscription ‘United States of 

8 America’. 

9 ‘‘(C) DESIGNATED DENOMINATION.—Each 

10 coin issued under this subsection shall bear, on 

11 the reverse, an inscription of the nominal de12 nomination of the coin which shall be ‘$10’. 

13 ‘‘(D) DESIGN IN CASE OF NO FIRST

14 SPOUSE.—In the case of any President who 

15 served without a spouse— 

16 ‘‘(i) the image on the obverse of the 

17 bullion coin corresponding to the $1 coin re18 lating to such President shall be an image 

19 emblematic of the concept of ‘Liberty’— 

20 ‘‘(I) as represented on a United 

21 States coin issued during the period of 

22 service of such President; or 

23 ‘‘(II) as represented, in the case of 

24 President Chester Alan Arthur, by a 

25 design incorporating the name and 
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1 likeness of Alice Paul, a leading strate2 gist in the suffrage movement, who was 

3 instrumental in gaining women the 

4 right to vote upon the adoption of the 

5 19th amendment and thus participate 

6 in the election of future Presidents, 

7 and who was born on January 11, 

8 1885, during the term of President Ar9 thur; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) the reverse of such bullion coin 

11 shall be of a design representative of themes 

12 of such President, except that in the case of 

13 the bullion coin referred to in clause (i)(II) 

14 the reverse of such coin shall be representa15 tive of the suffrage movement. 

16 ‘‘(E) DESIGN AND COIN FOR EACH

17 SPOUSE.—A separate coin shall be designed and 

18 issued under this section for each person who 

19 was the spouse of a President during any por20 tion of a term of office of such President. 

21 ‘‘(F) INSCRIPTIONS.—Each bullion coin 

22 issued under this subsection shall bear the in23 scription of the year of minting or issuance of 

24 the coin and such other inscriptions as the Sec25 retary may determine to be appropriate. 
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1 ‘‘(4) SALE OF BULLION COINS.—Each bullion 

2 coin issued under this subsection shall be sold for an 

3 amount the Secretary of the Treasury determines to 

4 be appropriate that is equal to or greater than the 

5 sum of— 

6 ‘‘(A) the face value of the coins; and 

7 ‘‘(B) the cost of designing and issuing the 

8 coins (including labor, materials, dies, use of 

9 machinery, overhead expenses, marketing, and 

10 shipping). 

11 ‘‘(5) ISSUANCE OF COINS COMMEMORATING FIRST

12 SPOUSES.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The bullion coins 

14 issued under this subsection with respect to any 

15 spouse of a President shall be issued on the same 

16 schedule as the $1 coin issued under subsection 

17 (n) with respect to such President. 

18 ‘‘(B) MAXIMUM NUMBER OF BULLION COINS

19 FOR EACH DESIGN.—The Secretary shall— 

20 ‘‘(i) prescribe, on the basis of such fac21 tors as the Secretary determines to be ap22 propriate, the maximum number of bullion 

23 coins that shall be issued with each of the 

24 designs selected under this subsection; and 
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1 ‘‘(ii) announce, before the issuance of 

2 the bullion coins of each such design, the 

3 maximum number of bullions coins of that 

4 design that will be issued. 

5 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION OF PROGRAM.—No bul6 lion coin may be issued under this subsection 

7 after the design on the $1 coin reverts, in accord8 ance with subsection (n)(7), to the design on $1 

9 coins being issued immediately before the 

10 issuance of coins under subsection (n). 

11 ‘‘(6) QUALITY OF COINS.—The bullion coins shall 

12 be issued in both proof and uncirculated qualities. 

13 ‘‘(7) SOURCE OF GOLD BULLION.—The Secretary 

14 shall acquire gold for the coins issued under this sub15 section by purchase of gold mined from natural de16 posits in the United States, or in a territory or pos17 session of the United States, within 1 year after the 

18 month in which the ore from which it is derived was 

19 mined. The Secretary shall pay not more than the av20 erage world price for the gold. 

21 ‘‘(8) BRONZE MEDALS.—The Secretary may 

22 strike and sell bronze medals that bear the likeness of 

23 the bullion coins authorized under this subsection, at 

24 a price, size, and weight, and with such inscriptions, 

25 as the Secretary determines to be appropriate.’’. 
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1 SEC. 5. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of the Congress that— 

3 (1) the American tradition of not issuing a coin 

4 with the image of a living person has served the coun5 try well and deserves to be continued as a general 

6 practice; 

7 (2) the full circulation potential and cost-savings 

8 benefit projections for the presidential $1 coin pro9 gram are not likely to be achieved unless the coins are 

10 delivered in ways useful to ordinary commerce; 

11 (3) in order for the Presidential $1 Coin Pro12 gram to achieve maximum success— 

13 (A) the coin should be as attractive as pos14 sible; and 

15 (B) the Director of the United States Mint 

16 should take all reasonable steps to ensure that the 

17 coins described in section 5112(n) of title 31, 

18 United States Code, remain tarnish-free for as 

19 long as possible without incurring undue ex20 pense; 

21 (4) if the Secretary of the Treasury determines 

22 to include on any $1 coin minted under section 

23 5112(n) of title 31, United States Code (as added by 

24 section 3 of this Act) a mark denoting the United 

25 States Mint facility at which the coin was struck, 

26 such mark should be edge-incused; 
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1 (5) at such time as the Board of Governors of the 

2 Federal Reserve System determines to be appropriate, 

3 after consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury 

4 and the submission of notice to the Congress, the 

5 Board should separate and sequester, and not put 

6 back into circulation, any $1 coin that comes into the 

7 possession of the Board or any Federal reserve bank 

8 and does not bear— 

9 (A) a design specified under section 5112(n) 

10 of title 31, United States Code; or 

11 (B) the design referred to in paragraph (7) 

12 of such section; 

13 (6) in connection with the introduction of the $1 

14 coins under the presidential $1 coin program— 

15 (A) the coins should not be introduced with 

16 an overly expensive taxpayer-funded public rela17 tions campaign; and 

18 (B) the Director of the United States Mint, 

19 a bureau in the Department of the Treasury, 

20 should work with consumer groups, media out21 lets, and schools to ensure an adequate amount 

22 of news coverage about the start of the coin pro23 gram so consumers will know of the availability 

24 of the coins; 
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1 (7) the Board of Governors of the Federal Re2 serve System and the Secretary of the Treasury 

3 should take steps to ensure that an adequate supply 

4 of $1 coins are available for commerce and collectors 

5 at such places and in such quantities as are appro6 priate by— 

7 (A) meeting, at least monthly on a regular 

8 basis, with a coin users group that includes rep9 resentatives of merchants who would benefit from 

10 the increased usage of $1 coins, vending machine 

11 and other coin acceptor manufacturers, vending 

12 machine owners and operators, transit officials, 

13 municipal parking officials, depository institu14 tions, coin and currency handlers, armored-car 

15 operators, and coin collectors and dealers to ac16 curately gauge demand for coins and to antici17 pate and eliminate obstacles to the easy and effi18 cient distribution and circulation of coins issued 

19 under the Presidential $1 Coin Program as well 

20 as all other circulating coins; 

21 (B) submitting a semiannual report to the 

22 Congress containing an assessment of the re23 maining obstacles to the efficient and timely cir24 culation of coins, and particularly coins issued 

25 under the Presidential $1 Coin Program, to-
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1 gether with such recommendations for legislative 

2 action the Board and the Secretary may deter3 mine to be appropriate; 

4 (C) ensuring that as many vending ma5 chines and other automated coin-accepting de6 vices in the United States as possible accept 

7 coins issued under the Presidential $1 Coin Pro8 gram and carry notices of such acceptability; 

9 and 

10 (D) ensuring that— 

11 (i) all institutions that want unmixed 

12 supplies of each newly-issued design of $1 

13 coins under the Presidential $1 Coin Pro14 gram are able to obtain such unmixed sup15 plies; and 

16 (ii) circulating coins will be available 

17 for ordinary commerce in packaging of sizes 

18 and types appropriate for and useful to or19 dinary commerce, including rolled coins; 

20 and 

21 (8) the Director of the United States Mint should 

22 take all steps necessary to expand the marketplace for 

23 bullion coins, and reduce barriers to the sale of bul24 lion coins, by ensuring that— 
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1 (A) the greatest number possible of rep2 utable, reliable, and responsible dealers are 

3 qualified to offer for sale all bullion coins struck 

4 and issued by the United States Mint; and 

5 (B) all such dealers and their customers 

6 have equal and timely access to all new issues of 

7 such bullion coins. 
Calendar No. 331 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3916 

[Report No. 108–568] 

A BILL 

To improve circulation of the $1 coin, create a new 

bullion coin, and for other purposes. 

JUNE 24, 2004 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,