I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2968 

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

of President James Monroe, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011 

Mr. WITTMAN 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 President James Monroe, and for 

other purposes. 

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 ‘‘James Monroe Com5 memorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress hereby finds as follows: 

8 (1) James Monroe was the only United States 

9 President besides George Washington to have acVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:28 Sep 21, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2968.IH H2968

jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2968 IH

1 tively served in the regular military during the Revo2 lutionary War. 

3 (2) James Monroe— 

4 (A) participated in the Battles of Harlem 

5 Heights and White Plains; 

6 (B) crossed the Delaware River in advance 

7 of George Washington; 

8 (C) was seriously wounded at the Battle of 

9 Trenton and cited for conspicuous gallantry; 

10 (D) wintered with the Continental Army at 

11 Valley Forge; and 

12 (E) subsequently participated in the Bat13 tles of Brandywine, Germantown and Mon14 mouth. 

15 (3) James Monroe served at the State level in 

16 the Virginia House of Delegates and served 4 times 

17 as the Governor of Virginia. 

18 (4) James Monroe served at the national level 

19 as a member of the Continental Congress, United 

20 States Senator, Minister to France (negotiating the 

21 Louisiana Purchase), Minister to Spain, Minister to 

22 England, Secretary of War, and Secretary of State 

23 (he was the only person to ever hold those 2 posts 

24 simultaneously, defending the Nation during the 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2968 IH

1 War of 1812), and finally as President of the United 

2 States from 1817–1825. 

3 (5) James Monroe’s accomplishments as Presi4 dent included the purchase of Florida, limiting the 

5 expansion of slavery, the admission of Maine and 

6 Missouri as States, and the promulgation of prin7 ciples that became known as the ‘‘Monroe Doctrine’’ 

8 on December 2, 1823, expanding the concept of 

9 hemispheric independence beyond the United 

10 States—truly making him one of the most important 

11 figures in our Nation’s history. 

12 (6) The bicentennial of the election of James 

13 Monroe as President will occur in 2016, an election 

14 which ushered in what has been known since as the 

15 ‘‘Era of Good Feelings’’. 

16 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

17 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—In commemoration of the bi18 centennial of the election of James Monroe to the first 

19 of 2 terms as President of the United States of America, 

20 the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act re21 ferred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and issue the fol22 lowing coins: 

23 (1) $50 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 20,000 

24 $50 gold coins which shall— 

25 (A) weigh 33.931 grams; 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2968 IH

1 (B) have a diameter of 32.7 millimeters; 

2 and 

3 (C) contain 1 troy ounce of fine gold. 

4 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 275,000 

5 $1 coins which shall— 

6 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

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

8 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per9 cent copper. 

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

11 than 500,000 half dollar coins, which shall— 

12 (A) weigh 11.34 grams; 

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

14 (C) be minted to the specifications for half 

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

16 title 31, United States Code. 

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

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

19 title 31, United States Code. 

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

21 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted 

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

23 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

24 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2968 IH

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

2 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of Presi3 dent James Monroe and his immeasurable contribu4 tions to the United States. 

5 (2) OBVERSE.—The obverse of the coins minted 

6 under this Act shall bear the side profile image of 

7 President James Monroe based upon Rembrandt 

8 Peale’s 1830 portrait which the James Monroe Me9 morial Foundation donated to The Commonwealth 

10 of Virginia in 1964. 

11 (3) REVERSE.—The reverse of the coins minted 

12 under this Act shall bear the image of the Monroe 

13 birthplace as drawn by the Colonial Williamsburg 

14 Foundation based on the 1830 drawing published as 

15 an etching. 

16 (4) DESIGNATIONS AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

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

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

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

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

21 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer22 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

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

24 under this Act shall— 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 2968 IH

1 (1) be selected by the Secretary, after consulta2 tion with the James Monroe Memorial Foundation 

3 and the Commission of Fine Arts; and 

4 (2) be reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advi5 sory Committee. 

6 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

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

8 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 

9 (b) MINT FACILITIES.—For each of the 3 coins mint10 ed under this Act, at least 1 facility of the United States 

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

12 least 1 other such facility shall be used to strike the uncir13 culated quality coins. 

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 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 2968 IH

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 minted under 

16 this Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 

17 (1) A surcharge of $35 per coin for the $50 

18 coin. 

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

20 (3) A surcharge of $5 per coin for the half dol21 lar coin. 

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

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

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

25 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the James MonVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:28 Sep 21, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2968.IH H2968

jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 2968 IH

1 roe Memorial Foundation for use for the following pur2 poses: 

3 (1) Development of the reconstructed birthplace 

4 of the 5th President, associated farm buildings, and 

5 a visitor and education center at the James Monroe 

6 Birthplace in Westmoreland County, Virginia. 

7 (2) Continuing support of that facilities de8 scribed in paragraph (1), including the acquisition of 

9 land originally owned by the Monroe Family. 

10 (3) Supporting education programs about 

11 President James Monroe, the Monroe Doctrine, in12 cluding an online library. 

13 (4) Collecting and preserving artifacts and his14 torical items related to President Monroe, the Mon15 roe Doctrine, and his era which was known as ‘‘The 

16 Era of Good Feelings’’. 

17 (c) AUDITS.—The James Monroe Memorial Founda18 tion shall be subject to the audit requirements of section 

19 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, with regard 

20 to the amounts received by such Foundation under sub21 section (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 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 2968 IH

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. 

Æ 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS