I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6331 
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration 
of the centennial of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition and 
the Panama Canal. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 2, 2012 
Mr. HONDA 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 the centennial of the Panama-Pa-
cific International Exposition and the Panama Canal. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Panama-Pacific Inter-
national Exposition and Panama Canal Commemorative 
Coins Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The 1915 Panama-Pacific International Ex-
position was a world’s fair held in San Francisco, 
California. The Exposition ran from February 20 
until December 4, 1915. 
(2) The Exposition commemorated the comple-
tion of the Panama Canal and the 400th anniver-
sary of the discovery of the Pacific Ocean by the 
Spanish explorer Vasco Nun˜ez de Balboa. 
(3) The event was a significant factor in the 
economic recovery of San Francisco, which had been 
nearly destroyed by an earthquake and subsequent 
fire in 1906. 
(4) President William Howard Taft announced 
the choice of San Francisco as the location of the 
Exposition in 1911, and construction began shortly 
thereafter. 
(5) There were hundreds of buildings on the 
grounds; most were built to last only the duration of 
the Exposition. Every State then in the Union was 
represented with a building. Many nations were rep-
resented at the Exposition as well: 22 foreign gov-
ernments had buildings. The fair occupied 76 city 
blocks. 
(6) The only building to survive the Exposition, 
and its most visible remnant, is the Palace of Fine 
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Arts, which was designed by noted architect Bernard 
R. Maybeck. 
(7) Congress authorized the United States Mint 
to issue five different coins dated 1915 in connection 
with the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. 
The coins represent a high water mark for American 
commemorative coins. Produced at the San Fran-
cisco Mint, these were the first United States com-
memorative coins to bear the motto ‘‘In God We 
Trust’’, and included the silver Panama-Pacific half 
dollar and four gold coins in denominations of one 
dollar, 21⁄2 dollars, a 50-dollar round coin, and a 
unique 50-dollar octagonal coin. 
(8) The octagonal $50 gold piece was the larg-
est coin authorized by Congress, and the first mint-
ed since 1852 in a shape other than round. 
(9) The Panama Canal, which cuts across the 
Isthmus of Panama, was built between 1890 and 
1914. It was the world’s greatest engineering feat of 
its time and required a labor force of almost 40,000. 
(10) While the initial French efforts to build 
the canal were disastrous, President Theodore Roo-
sevelt, recognizing the value of a canal, led the 
United States in buying the equipment and conces-
sion of the unsuccessful French effort to build the 
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canal for $40 million, and championed the effort 
that overcame malaria and immense logistical prob-
lems. The Canal opened on August 15, 1914—401 
years after Balboa first crossed Panama. 
(11) Stretching 51 miles, the Panama Canal 
connected the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, 
saving sailors a dangerous 8,000-mile journey 
around Cape Horn and through the Straits of Ma-
gellan, and cutting in half the time previously re-
quired to sail between the oceans. 
(12) The United States should mark the cen-
tennial of this important event in San Francisco and 
the monumental achievement of the opening of the 
Panama Canal. 
(13) The proceeds from the surcharge on the 
sale of such commemorative coins will assist in sup-
porting the educational programs of the San Fran-
cisco Museum and Historical Society and the preser-
vation of Theodore Roosevelt’s home in Oyster Bay, 
New York. 
SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 
(a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas-
ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 
shall mint and issue the following coins: 
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