I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 589

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

of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 5, 2003

Mr. LEACH (for himself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. BACA, Mr. 

BALLANCE, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. BELL, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. 

BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. 

BRADY of Pennsylvania, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Mr. 

BURNS, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. CARSON of Oklahoma, Ms. 

CARSON of Indiana, Mr. CASE, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. COOPER, 

Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mrs. JO ANN

DAVIS of Virginia, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. 

DUNCAN, Mr. ENGLISH, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. EVANS, Mr. 

FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. FORBES, 

Mr. FORD, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. FROST, 

Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. 

HONDA, Mr. ISRAEL, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE

JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. 

KILDEE, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. 

LATOURETTE, Ms. LEE, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mrs. 

LOWEY, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. MAJETTE, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. 

MATSUI, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. 

MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. MEEHAN, Ms. 

MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mrs. NORTHUP, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. OWENS, Mr. 

PALLONE, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PETRI, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. 

PORTMAN, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. REGULA, Mr. REYES, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. 

ROGERS of Alabama, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. ROSS, Mr. RUSH, Mr. 

RYAN of Ohio, Mr. SABO, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. 

SHAYS, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. SKELTON, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. SMITH of 

Washington, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr. TERRY, 

Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. UPTON, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. 

WAMP, Ms. WATSON, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

WEXLER, Ms. WOOLSEY, and Mr. WYNN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
2

•HR 589 IH 

A BILL

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins 

in commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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 ‘‘Dr. Martin Luther 

5 King, Jr., Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress hereby finds as follows: 

8 (1) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., dedicated his 

9 life to securing the Nation’s fundamental principles 

10 of liberty and justice for all its citizens. 

11 (2) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was the lead12 ing civil rights advocate of his time, spearheading 

13 the civil rights movement in the United States dur14 ing the 1950’s and 1960’s. 

15 (3) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was the key16 note speaker at the August, 28, 1963, March on 

17 Washington, the largest rally of the civil rights 

18 movement, during which, from the steps of the Lin19 coln Memorial and before a crowd of over 200,000 

20 people, he delivered his famous ‘‘I Have A Dream’’ 

21 speech, one of the classic orations in American his22 tory. 
3

•HR 589 IH 

1 (4) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a cham2 pion of nonviolence, fervently advocated nonviolent 

3 resistance as the strategy to end segregation and ra4 cial discrimination in America, and was awarded the 

5 1964 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition for his ef6 forts. 

7 (5) All Americans should commemorate the leg8 acy of Martin Luther King, Jr., so ‘‘that one day 

9 this Nation will rise up and live out the true mean10 ing of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evi11 dent; that all men are created equal.’ ’’. 

12 (6) Efforts are underway to secure the personal 

13 papers of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for the Li14 brary of Congress so that they may be preserved and 

15 studied for generations to come. 

16 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

17 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas18 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

19 shall mint and issue the following coins: 

20 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 50,000 $5 

21 coins, which shall—

22 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

23 (B) have a diameter of 0.850 inches; and 

24 (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent 

25 alloy. 
4

•HR 589 IH 

1 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 350,000 

2 $1 coins, 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. 

7 (3) HALF DOLLAR CLAD COINS.—Not more 

8 than 5,000,000 half dollar coins which shall—

9 (A) weigh 11.34 grams;

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

11 (C) be minted to the specifications for half 

12 dollar coins contained in section 5112(b) of title 

13 31, United States Code. 

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

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

16 title 31, United States Code. 

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

18 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

19 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis20 matic items. 

21 SEC. 4. SOURCES OF BULLION. 

22 (a) GOLD.—The Secretary shall obtain gold for mint23 ing coins under this Act pursuant to the authority of the 

24 Secretary under other provisions of law. 
5

•HR 589 IH 

1 (b) SILVER.—The Secretary shall obtain silver for 

2 minting coins under this Act from any available source, 

3 including from stockpiles established under the Strategic 

4 and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act. 

5 SEC. 5. DESIGN OF COINS. 

6 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—

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

8 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the in9 spirational life and works of Dr. Martin Luther 

10 King, Jr.

11 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

12 each coin minted under this Act there shall be—

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

14 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2003’’; and 

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

16 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer17 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

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

19 under this Act shall be—

20 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

21 with the Commission of Fine Arts; and 

22 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative 

23 Coin Advisory Committee. 
6

•HR 589 IH 

1 SEC. 6. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

3 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

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

5 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 

6 of the coins minted under this Act. 

7 (c) COMMENCEMENT OF ISSUANCE.—The Secretary 

8 may issue coins minted under this Act beginning August 

9 28, 2003. 

10 (d) TERMINATION OF MINTING AUTHORITY.—No 

11 coins may be minted under this Act after December 31, 

12 2003. 

13 SEC. 7. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

16 of—

17 (1) the face value of the coins; 

18 (2) the surcharge provided in section 8(a) with 

19 respect to such coins; and 

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

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

22 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

25 discount. 

26 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.—
7

•HR 589 IH 

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

2 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

3 before the issuance of such coins. 

4 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre5 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea6 sonable discount. 

7 (d) MARKETING.—The Secretary, in cooperation with 

8 the Legacy Fund of the Library of Congress, shall develop 

9 and implement a marketing program to promote and sell 

10 the coins issued under this Act both within the United 

11 States and internationally. 

12 SEC. 8. SURCHARGES. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—All sales of coins minted under 

14 this Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 

15 (1) A surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 coin. 

16 (2) A surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 coin. 

17 (3) A surcharge of $3 per coin for the half dol18 lar coin. 

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

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

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

22 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the Dr. Martin 

23 Luther King, Jr., Legacy Fund of the Library of Congress 

24 to be used for the objects and purposes of such Fund. 
8

•HR 589 IH 

1 (c) AUDITS.—The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Leg2 acy Fund shall be subject to the audit requirements of 

3 section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, with 

4 regard to the amounts received by the Fund under sub5 section (b).

Æ