II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 985 

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

of the United States Coast Guard. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 16, 2015 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) 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 United States Coast Guard. 

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 ‘‘United States Coast 

5 Guard Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The United States Coast Guard was found9 ed on August 4, 1790, as the Revenue Cutter ServVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Apr 23, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S985.IS S985

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1 ice under the United States Department of the 

2 Treasury. 

3 (2) Congress created the Coast Guard on Janu4 ary 28, 1915, by merging the Revenue Cutter Serv5 ice and the United States Lifesaving Service, was 

6 moved to the Department of Transportation in 

7 1967, and on February 25, 2003, became part of 

8 the Department of Homeland Security. 

9 (3) Although the smallest of the uniformed 

10 services, today the United States Coast Guard con11 ducts a wide variety of missions to protect the pub12 lic, the environment, and the United States economic 

13 and security interests in any maritime region, in14 cluding international waters and America’s coasts, 

15 ports, and inland waterways. 

16 (4) Every day, the United States Coast Guard 

17 plays a broad and important role in homeland secu18 rity, law enforcement, search and rescue, marine en19 vironmental pollution response, and the maintenance 

20 of river, intra-coastal and offshore aids to navigation 

21 (ATON). 

22 (5) The United States Coast Guard is our Na23 tion’s oldest seagoing military service, staying true 

24 to their motto, Semper Paratus or ‘‘Always Ready,’’ 

25 for 225 years. 


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1 (6) The United States Coast Guard is sup2 ported by 57,600 Active Duty, Reserve, and Civilian 

3 personnel, who in 2013 responded to 17,000 search 

4 and rescue cases saving 7,400 lives, conducted over 

5 21,000 waterborne patrols of maritime infrastruc6 ture and resources, performed 32,500 maritime se7 curity response activities (including 21,000 water8 borne patrols of critical maritime infrastructure and 

9 resources, 2,000 escorts of high-capacity passenger 

10 vessels, 8,400 security boardings in and around U.S. 

11 ports), removed $3 billion worth of illegal drugs, pa12 trolled 4.5 million miles of maritime borders for im13 migration enforcement, and maintained 49,000 navi14 gation aids ensuring the smooth transit of $1.8 tril15 lion worth of goods over 25,000 miles of our Na16 tion’s waterways. 

17 (7) Section 213 of Public Law 108–293 states 

18 that ‘‘The Commandant may establish a National 

19 Coast Guard Museum, on lands which will be feder20 ally owned and administered by the Coast Guard, 

21 and are located in New London, Connecticut, at, or 

22 in close proximity to, the Coast Guard Academy’’. 

23 (8) The National Coast Guard Museum Asso24 ciation, a nonprofit association dedicated to improve 

25 public understanding of the history, service and misVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Apr 23, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S985.IS S985

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1 sions of the Coast Guard, is working with the 

2 United States Coast Guard, the City of New Lon3 don, the State of Connecticut, and a range of local, 

4 regional, and national stakeholders to develop, plan 

5 and raise capital for the National Coast Guard Mu6 seum, to be located in New London, Connecticut. 

7 (9) The United States Coast Guard is the only 

8 military service without a national museum through 

9 which to share its history and legacy with the Amer10 ican public. 

11 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

12 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas13 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

14 shall mint and issue the following coins: 

15 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 100,000 

16 $5 coins, which shall— 

17 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

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

19 (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent 

20 alloy. 

21 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 500,000 

22 $1 coins, which shall— 

23 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

25 (C) contain at least 90 percent silver. 


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

2 than 750,000 half dollar coins, which shall— 

3 (A) weigh 11.34 grams; 

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

5 (C) be minted to the specifications for half 

6 dollar coins, contained in section 5112(b) of 

7 title 31, United States Code. 

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

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

10 title 31, United States Code. 

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

12 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

13 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis14 matic items. 

15 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COIN. 

16 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

18 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 

19 traditions, history, and heritage of the United States 

20 Coast Guard, and its role in securing our Nation 

21 since 1790. 

22 (2) DESIGNATIONS AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

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

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

25 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2018’’; and 


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

2 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer3 ica’’, ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’, and ‘‘Semper 

4 Paratus’’. 

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

6 under this Act shall— 

7 (1) contain motifs that specifically honor the 

8 United States Coastguardsman of both today and 

9 yesterday, in wartime and in peace, such designs to 

10 be consistent with the traditions and heritage of the 

11 United States Coast Guard, the mission and goals of 

12 the National Coast Guard Museum, and the mis13 sions and goals of the National Coast Guard Mu14 seum Association; 

15 (2) be selected by the Secretary, after consulta16 tion with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 

17 National Coast Guard Museum Association, and the 

18 Commission of Fine Arts; and 

19 (3) be reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advi20 sory Committee. 

21 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

23 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

24 (b) MINT FACILITIES.—For each of the 3 coins mint25 ed under this Act, at least 1 facility of the United States 


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1 Mint shall be used to strike proof quality coins, while at 

2 least 1 other such facility shall be used to strike the uncir3 culated quality coins. 

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

5 issue coins minted under this Act only during the 1-year 

6 period beginning on January 1, 2018. 

7 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

10 of— 

11 (1) the face value of the coins; 

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

13 respect to such coins; and 

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

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

16 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

19 discount. 

20 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

22 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

23 before the issuance of such coins. 


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

4 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

6 this Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 

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

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

9 (3) A surcharge of $5 per coin for the half dol10 lar coin. 

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

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

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

14 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the National 

15 Coast Guard Museum Association to help finance the de16 sign, construction, operations, and maintenance of the Na17 tional Coast Guard Museum. 

18 (c) AUDITS.—The National Coast Guard Museum 

19 Association shall be subject to the audit requirements of 

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

21 regard to the amounts received under subsection (b). 

22 (d) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 

23 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

24 under this Act of any coin during a calendar year if, as 

25 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 


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1 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro2 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 

3 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 

4 section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code. The 

5 Secretary may issue guidance to carry out this subsection. 

6 SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES. 

7 The Secretary shall take such actions as may be nec8 essary to ensure that— 

9 (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act 

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

11 Government; and 

12 (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 

13 shall be disbursed to any recipient designated in sec14 tion 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing 

15 all of the coins authorized by this Act (including 

16 labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead ex17 penses, marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the 

18 United States Treasury, consistent with sections 

19 5112(m) and 5134(f) of title 31, United States 

20 Code. 

Æ 


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