110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 2040 
AN ACT 
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins 
in commemoration of the semicentennial of the enact-
ment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 
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 ‘‘Civil Rights Act of 
1964 Commemorative Coin Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress hereby finds as follows: 
(1) On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks’ brave 
act of defiance, refusing to give up her seat to a 
white person on a segregated bus in Montgomery, 
Alabama, galvanized the modern civil rights move-
ment and led to the desegregation of the South. 
(2) On February 1, 1960, 4 college students, 
Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, David Richmond, 
and Ezell Blair, Jr., asked to be served at a lunch 
counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and lunch 
counter sit-ins began to occur throughout the South 
to challenge segregation in places of public accom-
modation. 
(3) On May 4, 1961, the Freedom Rides into 
the South began to test new court orders barring 
segregation in interstate transportation, and riders 
were jailed and beaten by mobs in several places, in-
cluding Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama. 
(4) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was the lead-
ing civil rights advocate of the time, spearheading 
the civil rights movement in the United States dur-
ing the 1950s and 1960s with the goal of nonviolent
social change and full civil rights for African Ameri-
cans. 
(5) On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther 
King, Jr., led over 250,000 civil rights supporters in 
the March on Washington and delivered his famous 
‘‘I Have A Dream’’ speech to raise awareness and 
support for civil rights legislation. 
(6) Mrs. Coretta Scott King, a leading partici-
pant in the American civil rights movement, was 
side-by-side with her husband, Dr. Martin Luther 
King, Jr., during many civil rights marches, orga-
nized Freedom Concerts to draw attention to the 
Movement, and worked in her own right to create an 
America in which all people have equal rights. 
(7) The mass movement sparked by Rosa Parks 
and led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., among oth-
ers, called upon the Congress and Presidents John 
F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson to pass civil 
rights legislation which culminated in the enactment 
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 
(8) The Civil Rights Act of 1964 greatly ex-
panded civil rights protections, outlawing racial dis-
crimination and segregation in public places and 
places of public accommodation, in federally funded 
programs, and employment and encouraging deseg-
regation in public schools, and has served as a model 
for subsequent anti-discrimination laws. 
(9) We are an eminently better Nation because 
of Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and all 
those men and women who have confronted, and 
continue to confront, injustice and inequality wher-
ever they see it. 
(10) Equality in education was one of the cor-
nerstones of the civil rights movement. 
(11) On September 10, 1961, Dr. Martin Lu-
ther King, Jr., wrote that African American ‘‘stu-
dents are coming to understand that education and 
learning have become tools for shaping the future 
and not devices of privilege for an exclusive few’’. 
(12) Over its long and distinguished history, 
the United Negro College Fund has provided schol-
arships and operating funds to its member colleges 
that have enabled more than 300,000 young African 
Americans to earn college degrees and become suc-
cessful members of society. 
(13) Those graduates include Dr. Martin Lu-
ther King, Jr., as well as leaders in the fields of edu-
cation, science, medicine, law, entertainment, lit-
erature, the military, and politics who have made
major contributions to the civil rights movement and 
the creation of a more equitable society. 
(14) Congress has an obligation to lead Amer-
ica’s continued struggle to fight discrimination and 
ensure equal rights for all. 
(15) 
The 
year 
2014 
will 
mark 
the 
semicentennial of the passage of the Civil Rights Act 
of 1964. 
SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 
(a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas-
ury (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 
shall mint and issue not more than 350,000 $1 coins each 
of which shall— 
(1) weigh 26.73 grams; 
(2) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 
(3) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent 
copper. 
(b) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this 
Act shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of 
title 31, United States Code. 
(c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 
5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted 
under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.
SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 
(a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—The design of the 
coins minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 
enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its con-
tribution to civil rights in America. 
(b) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On each coin 
minted under this Act there shall be— 
(1) a designation of the value of the coin; 
(2) an inscription of the year ‘‘2014’’; and 
(3) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, ‘‘In 
God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of America’’, and 
‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 
(c) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted 
under this Act shall be— 
(1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 
with the Commission of Fine Arts; and 
(2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 
Committee established under section 5135 of title 
31, United States Code. 
SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 
(a) QUALITY OF COINS.—Coins minted under this 
Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 
(b) COMMENCEMENT OF ISSUANCE.—The Secretary 
may issue coins minted under this Act beginning January 
1, 2014, except that the Secretary may initiate sales of 
such coins, without issuance, before such date.