I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2453 

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

of Mark Twain. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 7, 2011 

Mr. LUETKEMEYER (for himself, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. LEE of 

California, Mr. AKIN, Mr. CARNAHAN, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. 

COURTNEY, Ms. DELAURO, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. GRAVES of Missouri, 

Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. HIMES, Mr. LONG, and Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mark Twain Com5 memorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) Samuel Clemens—better known to the 

2 world as Mark Twain—was a unique American voice 

3 whose literary work has had a lasting effect on our 

4 Nation’s history and culture. 

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

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

7 his books translated into 75 languages. 

8 (3) Mark Twain’s literary and educational leg9 acy remains strong even today, with nearly every 

10 book he wrote still in print, including The Adven11 tures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry 

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

13 since they were first published over a century ago. 

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

15 more than 100 books published and over 250 doc16 toral dissertations written on Mark Twain’s life and 

17 work. 

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

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

20 from around the world and across all 50 States an21 nually flock to National Historic Landmarks like the 

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

23 the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum in Han24 nibal, MO. 


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

2 for addressing the complex social issues facing 

3 America at the turn of the century, including the 

4 legacy of the Civil War, race relations, and the eco5 nomic inequalities of the ‘‘Gilded Age’’. 

6 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

7 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas8 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

9 shall mint and issue the following coins: 

10 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 100,000 

11 $5 coins, which shall— 

12 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

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

14 (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent 

15 alloy. 

16 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 350,000 

17 $1 coins, which shall— 

18 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

20 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per21 cent copper. 

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 section 

2 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted 

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

4 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

5 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

7 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the life 

8 and legacy of Mark Twain. 

9 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

10 each coin minted under this Act there shall be— 

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

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

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

14 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer15 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

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

17 under this Act shall be— 

18 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

19 with the Commission of Fine Arts and the Board of 

20 the Mark Twain House and Museum; and 

21 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 

22 Committee. 

23 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

25 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 


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

2 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 

3 of the coins minted under this Act. 

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, 2016. 

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 issued under this 

6 Act shall include a surcharge of— 

7 (1) $35 per coin for the $5 coin; and 

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

9 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f)(1) of 

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

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

12 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary as follows: 

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

14 Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Connecticut, 

15 to support the continued restoration of the Mark 

16 Twain house and grounds, and ensure continuing 

17 growth and innovation in museum programming to 

18 research, promote and educate on the legacy of 

19 Mark Twain. 

20 (2) One-quarter of the surcharges, to the Mark 

21 Twain Project at the Bancroft Library of the Uni22 versity of California, Berkeley, California, to support 

23 programs to study and promote Mark Twain’s leg24 acy. 


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1 (3) One-quarter of the surcharges, to the Cen2 ter for Mark Twain Studies at Elmira College, New 

3 York, to support programs to study and promote 

4 Mark Twain’s legacy. 

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

6 Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal, 

7 Missouri, to preserve historical sites related to Mark 

8 Twain and help support programs to study and pro9 mote his legacy. 

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

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

12 documents, and other data of each of the organizations 

13 referred to in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) of sub14 section (b) as may be related to the expenditures of 

15 amounts paid under such subsection. 

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

17 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

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

19 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

20 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro21 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 

22 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 

23 section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code (as in 

24 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The SecVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:11 Jul 08, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2453.IH H2453

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1 retary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

2 this subsection. 

Æ 


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