IIB 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2527 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 31, 2011 

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 recognition and celebration of the National Baseball 

Hall of Fame. 

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 ‘‘National Baseball Hall 

3 of Fame Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) On June 12, 1939, the National Baseball 

7 Hall of Fame and Museum opened in Cooperstown, 

8 New York. Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy 

9 Mathewson, Babe Ruth, and Honus Wagner com10 prised the inaugural class of inductees. This class 

11 set the standard for all future inductees. Since 

12 1939, just one percent of all Major League Baseball 

13 players have earned induction into the National 

14 Baseball Hall of Fame. 

15 (2) The National Baseball Hall of Fame and 

16 Museum is dedicated to preserving history, honoring 

17 excellence, and connecting generations through the 

18 rich history of our national pastime. Baseball has 

19 mirrored our Nation’s history since the Civil War, 

20 and is now an integral part of our Nation’s heritage. 

21 (3) The National Baseball Hall of Fame and 

22 Museum chronicles the history of our national pas23 time and houses the world’s largest collection of 

24 baseball artifacts, including more than 38,000 three 

25 dimensional artifacts, 3,000,000 documents, 

26 500,000 photographs, and 12,000 hours of recorded 


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1 media. This collection ensures that baseball history 

2 and its unique connection to American history will 

3 be preserved and recounted for future generations. 

4 (4) Since its opening in 1939, more than 

5 14,000,000 baseball fans have visited the National 

6 Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum to learn about 

7 the history of our national pastime and the game’s 

8 connection to the American experience. 

9 (5) The National Baseball Hall of Fame and 

10 Museum is an educational institution, reaching 

11 10,000,000 Americans annually. Utilizing video con12 ference technology, students and teachers participate 

13 in interactive lessons led by educators from the Na14 tional Baseball Hall of Fame Museum. These award15 winning educational programs draw upon the won16 ders of baseball to reach students in classrooms na17 tionwide. Each educational program uses baseball as 

18 a lens for teaching young Americans important les19 sons on an array of topics, including mathematics, 

20 geography, civil rights, women’s history, economics, 

21 industrial technology, arts, and communication. 

22 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

23 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—In recognition and celebration 

24 of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the Secretary of 


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1 the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec2 retary’’) shall mint and issue the following coins: 

3 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 50,000 $5 

4 coins, which shall— 

5 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

6 (B) have diameter of 0.850 inches; and 

7 (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent 

8 alloy. 

9 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 400,000 

10 $1 coins, which shall— 

11 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

13 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per14 cent copper. 

15 (3) HALF-DOLLAR CLAD COINS.—Not more 

16 than 750,000 half-dollar coins which shall— 

17 (A) weigh 11.34 grams; 

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

19 (C) be minted to the specifications for half20 dollar coins contained in section 5112(b) of title 

21 31, United States Code. 

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

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

24 title 31, United States Code. 


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

2 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 

3 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis4 matic items. 

5 (d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con6 gress that, to the extent possible without significantly add7 ing to the purchase price of the coins, the $1 coins and 

8 $5 coins minted under this Act should be produced in a 

9 fashion similar to the 2009 International Year of Astron10 omy coins issued by Monnaie de Paris, the French Mint, 

11 so that the reverse of the coin is convex to more closely 

12 resemble a baseball and the obverse concave, providing a 

13 more dramatic display of the obverse design chosen pursu14 ant to section 4(c). 

15 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

16 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

18 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 

19 game of baseball. 

20 (2) DESIGNATIONS AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

21 each coin minted under this Act there shall be— 

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

23 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2015’’; and 


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

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

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

5 under this Act shall be— 

6 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

7 with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the 

8 Commission of Fine Arts and in accordance with 

9 subparagraph (c); and 

10 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

11 Committee. 

12 (c) OBVERSE DESIGN COMPETITION.—The Secretary 

13 shall hold a competition and provide compensation for its 

14 winner to design the common obverse of the coins minted 

15 under this Act, with such design being emblematic of the 

16 game of baseball. The competition shall be held in the fol17 lowing manner: 

18 (1) The competition shall be judged by an ex19 pert jury chaired by the Secretary and consisting of 

20 3 members from the Citizens Coinage Advisory Com21 mittee who shall be elected by such Committee and 

22 3 members from the Commission of Fine Arts who 

23 shall be elected by such Commission. 


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1 (2) The Secretary shall determine compensation 

2 for the winning design, which shall be not less than 

3 $5,000. 

4 (3) The Secretary may not accept a design for 

5 the competition unless a plaster model accompanies 

6 the design. 

7 (d) REVERSE DESIGN.—The design on the common 

8 reverse of the coins minted under this Act shall depict a 

9 baseball similar to those used by Major League Baseball. 

10 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

12 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

13 (b) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may 

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

15 period beginning on January 1, 2015. 

16 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

19 of— 

20 (1) the face value of the coins; 

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

22 respect to such coins; and 

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

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

25 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 


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

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

3 discount. 

4 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

6 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

7 before the issuance of such coins. 

8 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre9 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea10 sonable discount. 

11 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

13 this Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 

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

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

16 (3) A surcharge of $5 per coin for the half-dol17 lar coin. 

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

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

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

21 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the National 

22 Baseball Hall of Fame to help finance its operations. 

23 (c) AUDITS.—The National Baseball Hall of Fame 

24 shall be subject to the audit requirements of section 


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1 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, with regard 

2 to the amounts received under subsection (b). 

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

4 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

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

6 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

7 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro8 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual com9 memorative coin program issuance limitation under sec10 tion 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code (as in ef11 fect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The Sec12 retary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

13 this subsection. 

14 SEC. 8. BUDGET COMPLIANCE. 

15 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

16 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

17 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

18 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

19 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

20 by the Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the 


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1 House of Representatives, provided that such statement 

2 has been submitted prior to the vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives October 26, 

2011. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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