IIB 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2453 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 19, 2012 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

AN ACT 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins 

in commemoration of Mark Twain. 

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 ‘‘Mark Twain Com3 memorative Coin Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds as follows: 

6 (1) Samuel Clemens—better known to the 

7 world as Mark Twain—was a unique American voice 

8 whose literary work has had a lasting effect on our 

9 Nation’s history and culture. 

10 (2) Mark Twain remains one of the best known 

11 Americans in the world with over 6,500 editions of 

12 his books translated into 75 languages. 

13 (3) Mark Twain’s literary and educational leg14 acy remains strong even today, with nearly every 

15 book he wrote still in print, including The Adven16 tures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry 

17 Finn—both of which have never gone out of print 

18 since they were first published over a century ago. 

19 (4) In the past 2 decades alone, there have been 

20 more than 100 books published and over 250 doc21 toral dissertations written on Mark Twain’s life and 

22 work. 

23 (5) Even today, Americans seek to know more 

24 about the life and work of Mark Twain, as people 

25 from around the world and across all 50 States an26 nually flock to National Historic Landmarks like the 


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1 Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, CT, and 

2 the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum in Han3 nibal, MO. 

4 (6) Mark Twain’s work is remembered today 

5 for addressing the complex social issues facing 

6 America at the turn of the century, including the 

7 legacy of the Civil War, race relations, and the eco8 nomic inequalities of the ‘‘Gilded Age’’. 

9 (7) Today Mark Twain’s work lives on through 

10 educational institutions throughout the United 

11 States, such as the Mark Twain Project at the Ban12 croft Library of the University of California, Berke13 ley, California, and the Center for Mark Twain 

14 Studies at Elmira College, in Elmira, New York. 

15 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

16 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas17 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

18 shall mint and issue the following coins: 

19 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 100,000 

20 $5 coins, which shall— 

21 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

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

23 (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent 

24 alloy. 


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

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

9 title 31, United States Code. 

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

11 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted 

12 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 

13 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

14 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

16 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the life 

17 and legacy of Mark Twain. 

18 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

19 each coin minted under this Act there shall be— 

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

21 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2016’’; and 

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

23 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer24 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 


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

2 under this Act shall be— 

3 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

4 with the Commission of Fine Arts and the Board of 

5 the Mark Twain House and Museum; and 

6 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

7 Committee. 

8 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

10 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

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

12 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 

13 of the coins minted under this Act. 

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

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

16 period beginning on January 1, 2016. 

17 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

20 of— 

21 (1) the face value of the coins; 

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

23 respect to such coins; and 


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

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

3 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 

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

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

6 discount. 

7 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

9 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

10 before the issuance of such coins. 

11 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre12 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea13 sonable discount. 

14 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

16 Act shall include a surcharge of— 

17 (1) $35 per coin for the $5 coin; and 

18 (2) $10 per coin for the $1 coin. 

19 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f)(1) 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 as follows: 

23 (1) One-quarter of the surcharges, to the Mark 

24 Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Connecticut, 

25 to support the continued restoration of the Mark 


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1 Twain house and grounds, and ensure continuing 

2 growth and innovation in museum programming to 

3 research, promote and educate on the legacy of 

4 Mark Twain. 

5 (2) One-quarter of the surcharges, to the Uni6 versity of California, Berkeley, California, to be used 

7 for research and education purposes. 

8 (3) One-quarter of the surcharges, to Elmira 

9 College, New York, to be used for research and edu10 cation purposes. 

11 (4) One-quarter of the surcharges, to the Mark 

12 Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal, 

13 Missouri, to preserve historical sites related to Mark 

14 Twain and help support programs to study and pro15 mote his legacy. 

16 (c) AUDITS.—The Comptroller General of the United 

17 States shall have the right to examine such books, records, 

18 documents, and other data of each of the organizations 

19 referred to in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) of sub20 section (b) as may be related to the expenditures of 

21 amounts paid under such subsection. 

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 (as in 

5 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The Sec6 retary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

7 this subsection. 

Passed the House of Representatives April 18, 2012. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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