II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1235 

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

of ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United 

States, giving women in the United States the right to vote. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 30, 2019 

Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mrs. CAPITO, Ms. COLLINS, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. 

DUCKWORTH, Ms. ERNST, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. FISCHER, Ms. HARRIS, 

Ms. HASSAN, Ms. HIRONO, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. 

MCSALLY, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. ROSEN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, 

Ms. SINEMA, Ms. SMITH, Ms. STABENOW, and Ms. WARREN) 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 ratification of the 19th Amendment 

to the Constitution of the United States, giving women 

in the United States the right to vote. 

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 ‘‘Women’s Suffrage 

5 Centennial Commemorative Coin Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott 

4 organized the first Women’s Rights Convention in 

5 Seneca Falls, New York. Sixty-eight women and 32 

6 men signed the Declaration of Sentiments at the 

7 Convention in July 1848. 

8 (2) The Declaration of Sentiments was modeled 

9 after the Declaration of Independence and declared 

10 that ‘‘all men and women are created equal’’, linking 

11 women’s rights directly to the founding ideals of the 

12 United States. 

13 (3) Suffrage activists, including Elizabeth Cady 

14 Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman, So15 journer Truth, Ida B. Wells, Jovita Idar, Inez 

16 Millholland, Mary Church Terrell, Anne Dallas Dud17 ley, Carrie Chapman Cat, Alice Paul, Lucy Burns, 

18 and many others, conducted over 900 local, State, 

19 and Federal campaigns over a 72-year time span to 

20 win women the right to vote. 

21 (4) On November 6, 1917, New York granted 

22 women the right to vote, which was an act that cre23 ated momentum for the national movement that cul24 minated in the ratification of the 19th Amendment 

25 to the Constitution of the United States 3 years 

26 later. 


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1 (5) The 19th Amendment to the Constitution of 

2 the United States (‘‘The Susan B. Anthony Amend3 ment’’) guarantees all United States women the 

4 right to vote and was passed by the 66th Congress 

5 of the United States on June 4, 1919. 

6 (6) On August 9, 1920, right before the ratifi7 cation period was set to expire, Governor Albert H. 

8 Roberts called a special session of the Tennessee 

9 General Assembly to consider the amendment. Pro10 suffrage and anti-suffrage activists from around the 

11 country descended on Nashville, Tennessee, intent 

12 on influencing the legislature. 

13 (7) After the amendment was defeated in a 48– 

14 48 tie vote, Tennessee State Representative Harry 

15 T. Burn from McMinn County cast the deciding fa16 vorable vote after receiving a note from his mother, 

17 Phoebe Ensminger Burn, imploring him to vote yes 

18 for ratification. 

19 (8) On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 

20 36th and final State needed to pass the 19th 

21 Amendment, ensuring its ratification pursuant to 

22 Article V of the Constitution of the United States. 

23 (9) The 19th Amendment was ratified on Au24 gust 26, 1920, when Secretary of State Bainbridge 


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1 Colby issued a proclamation announcing it has be2 come part of the Constitution of the United States. 

3 (10) The ratification of the 19th Amendment 

4 marked the single largest extension of voting rights 

5 in United States history, enfranchising 27,000,000 

6 American women in the United States. 

7 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is— 

8 (1) to honor and commemorate the work of 

9 women suffrage activists in the late 19th and early 

10 20th centuries; 

11 (2) to increase public awareness and apprecia12 tion for the history of the women’s suffrage move13 ment; and 

14 (3) to encourage all women in the United 

15 States to exercise their hard-won franchise and to 

16 become involved in civic life if they so choose. 

17 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

18 (a) $1 SILVER COINS.—The Secretary of the Treas19 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

20 shall mint and issue not more than 400,000 $1 coins, 

21 which shall— 

22 (1) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

24 (3) contain at least 90 percent silver. 


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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 sections 

5 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

6 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis7 matic items. 

8 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COIN. 

9 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

11 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 

12 women who played a vital role in rallying support for 

13 the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the 

14 United States. 

15 (2) DESIGNATIONS AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

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

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

18 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2020’’; and 

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

20 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer21 ica’’, ‘‘E Pluribus Unum.’’ 

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

23 under this Act shall— 

24 (1) contain motifs that honor Susan B. An25 thony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Carrie Chapman 


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1 Catt, Harriet Tubman, Mary Church Terrell, Alice 

2 Paul, Lide Meriwether, Ida B. Wells, and other suf3 frage activists of the late 19th century and early 

4 20th centuries; 

5 (2) be selected by the Secretary, after consulta6 tion with the Smithsonian Institution’s American 

7 Women’s History Initiative, and the Commission of 

8 Fine Arts; and 

9 (3) be reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advi10 sory Committee. 

11 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

13 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

14 (b) MINT FACILITIES.—Only 1 facility of the United 

15 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 

16 of the coins minted under this Act. 

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

18 issue coins under this Act only during the period begin19 ning on January 1, 2020, and ending on December 31, 

20 2020. 

21 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

24 of— 

25 (1) the face value of the coins; 


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

2 respect to such coins; and 

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

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

5 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

8 discount. 

9 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

11 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

12 before the issuance of such coins. 

13 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre14 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea15 sonable discount. 

16 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

18 Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 

19 (1) A surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 coin 

20 described under section 3(a)(1). 

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

22 title 31, United States Code, and section 8(2), all sur23 charges received by the Secretary from the sale of coins 

24 issued under this Act shall be promptly paid by the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 May 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1235.IS S1235

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1 retary to the Smithsonian Institution’s American Women’s 

2 History Initiative for the purpose of— 

3 (1) collecting, studying, and establishing pro4 grams relating to women’s contributions to various 

5 fields and throughout different periods of history 

6 that have influenced the direction of the United 

7 States; and 

8 (2) creating exhibitions and programs that rec9 ognize diverse perspectives on women’s history and 

10 contributions. 

11 (c) AUDITS.—The Smithsonian Institution’s Amer12 ican Women’s History Initiative shall be subject to the 

13 audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, 

14 United States Code, with regard to the amounts received 

15 under subsection (b). 

16 SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES. 

17 The Secretary shall take such actions as may be nec18 essary to ensure that— 

19 (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act 

20 will not result in any net cost to the United States 

21 Government; and 

22 (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 

23 shall be disbursed to any recipient designated in sec24 tion 7(b) until the total cost of designing and issuing 

25 all of the coins authorized by this Act (including 


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1 labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead ex2 penses, marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the 

3 United States Treasury, consistent with sections 

4 5112(m) and 5134(f) of title 31, United States 

5 Code. 

Æ 


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