109TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 902
AN ACT
To improve circulation of the $1 coin, create a new
bullion coin, provide for the redesign of the re-
verse of the Lincoln 1-cent coin in 2009 in com-
memoration of the 200th anniversary of the birth
of President Abraham Lincoln, and for other
purposes.
109TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 902
AN ACT
To improve circulation of the $1 coin, create a new bullion
coin, provide for the redesign of the reverse of the Lin-
coln 1-cent coin in 2009 in commemoration of the 200th
anniversary of the birth of President Abraham Lincoln,
and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Presidential $1 Coin
Act of 2005’’.
TITLE I—PRESIDENTIAL $1
COINS
SEC. 101. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) There are sectors of the United States econ-
omy, including public transportation, parking me-
ters, vending machines and low-dollar value trans-
actions, in which the use of a $1 coin is both useful
and desirable for keeping costs and prices down.
(2) For a variety of reasons, the new $1 coin
introduced in 2000 has not been widely sought-after
by the public, leading to higher costs for merchants
and thus higher prices for consumers.
(3) The success of the 50 States Commemora-
tive Coin Program for circulating quarter dollars
shows that a design on a United States circulating
coin that is regularly changed in a manner similar
to the systematic change in designs in such Program
radically increases demand for the coin, rapidly pull-
ing it through the economy.
(4) The 50 States Commemorative Coin Pro-
gram also has been an educational tool, teaching
both Americans and visitors something about each
State for which a quarter has been issued.
(5) A national survey and study by the Govern-
ment Accountability Office has indicated that many
Americans who do not seek, or who reject, the new
$1 coin for use in commerce would actively seek the
coin if an attractive, educational rotating design
were to be struck on the coin.
(6) The President is the leader of our tripartite
government and the President’s spouse has often set
the social tone for the White House while spear-
heading and highlighting important issues for the
country.
(7) Sacagawea, as currently represented on the
new $1 coin, is an important symbol of American
history.
(8) Many people cannot name all of the Presi-
dents, and fewer can name the spouses, nor can
many people accurately place each President in the
proper time period of American history.
(9) First Spouses have not generally been rec-
ognized on American coinage.
(10) In order to revitalize the design of United
States coinage and return circulating coinage to its
position as not only a necessary means of exchange
in commerce but also as an object of aesthetic beau-
ty in its own right, it is appropriate to move many
of the mottos and emblems, the inscription of the
year, and the so-called ‘‘mint marks’’ that currently
appear on the 2 faces of each circulating coin to the
edge of the coin, which would allow larger and more
dramatic artwork on the coins reminiscent of the so-
called ‘‘Golden Age of Coinage’’ in the United
States, at the beginning of the Twentieth Century,
initiated by President Theodore Roosevelt, with the
assistance of noted sculptors and medallic artists
James Earle Fraser and Augustus Saint-Gaudens.
(11) Placing inscriptions on the edge of coins,
known as edge-incusing, is a hallmark of modern
coinage and is common in large-volume production
of coinage elsewhere in the world, such as the
2,700,000,000 2-Euro coins in circulation, but it has
not been done on a large scale in United States coin-
age in recent years.
(12) Although the Congress has authorized the
Secretary of the Treasury to issue gold coins with a
purity of 99.99 percent, the Secretary has not done
so.
(13) Bullion coins are a valuable tool for the in-
vestor and, in some cases, an important aspect of
coin collecting.
SEC. 102. PRESIDENTIAL $1 COIN PROGRAM.
Section 5112 of title 31, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after subsection (m) the following
new subsection:
‘‘(n) REDESIGN AND ISSUANCE OF CIRCULATING $1
COINS HONORING EACH OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE
UNITED STATES.—
‘‘(1) REDESIGN BEGINNING IN 2007.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sub-
section (d) and in accordance with the provi-
sions of this subsection, $1 coins issued during
the period beginning January 1, 2007, and end-
ing upon the termination of the program under
paragraph (6) shall have designs on the obverse
selected in accordance with paragraph (2)(B)
which are emblematic of the Presidents of the
United States and a design on the reverse se-
lected in accordance with paragraph (2)(A).
‘‘(B) CONTINUITY
PROVISION.—Notwith-
standing subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall
continue to mint and issue $1 coins which bear
the design on $1 coins being minted and issued
before the issuance of coins as required under
this subsection.
‘‘(2) DESIGN
REQUIREMENTS.—The $1 coins
issued in accordance with paragraph (1)(A) shall
meet the following design requirements:
‘‘(A) COIN REVERSE.—The design on the
reverse shall bear—
‘‘(i) a likeness of the Statue of Lib-
erty extending to the rim of the coin and
large enough to provide a dramatic rep-
resentation of Liberty while not being large
enough to create the impression of a ‘2-
headed’ coin;
‘‘(ii) the inscription ‘$1’ ; and
‘‘(iii) the inscription ‘United States of
America’.
‘‘(B) COIN OBVERSE.—The design on the
obverse shall contain the name and likeness of
a President of the United States and basic in-
formation about the President, including the
dates or years of the term of office of such
President and a number indicating the order of
the period of service in which the President
served.
‘‘(C) EDGE-INCUSED INSCRIPTIONS.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The inscription of
the year of minting or issuance of the coin
and the inscriptions ‘E Pluribus Unum’
and ‘In God We Trust’ shall be edge-
incused into the coin.
‘‘(ii) PRESERVATION OF DISTINCTIVE
EDGE.—The edge-incusing of the inscrip-
tions under clause (i) on coins issued
under this subsection shall be done in a
manner that preserves the distinctive edge
of the coin so that the denomination of the
coin is readily discernible, including by in-
dividuals who are blind or visually im-
paired.
‘‘(D) INSCRIPTIONS
OF ‘LIBERTY’.—Not-
withstanding the 2d sentence of subsection
(d)(1), because the use of a design bearing the
likeness of the Statue of Liberty on the reverse
of the coins issued under this subsection ade-
quately conveys the concept of Liberty, the in-
scription of ‘Liberty’ shall not appear on the
coins.
‘‘(E) PROHIBITION ON SITTING PRESIDENT
IN
SERIES.—No coin issued under this sub-
section may bear the image of a President who,
at the time of issuance, is currently serving as
President.
‘‘(3) ISSUANCE
OF
COINS
COMMEMORATING
PRESIDENTS.—
‘‘(A) ORDER
OF
ISSUANCE.—The coins
issued under this subsection commemorating
Presidents of the United States shall be issued
in the order of the period of service of each
President, beginning with President George
Washington.
‘‘(B) TREATMENT
OF
PERIOD
OF
SERV-
ICE.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause
(ii), only 1 coin design shall be issued for
a period of service for any President, no
matter how many consecutive terms of of-
fice the President served.
‘‘(ii) NONCONSECUTIVE TERMS.—If a
President has served during 2 or more
nonconsecutive periods of service, a coin
shall be issued under this subsection for
each such nonconsecutive period of service.
‘‘(4) ISSUANCE OF COINS COMMEMORATING 4
PRESIDENTS DURING EACH YEAR OF THE PERIOD.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The designs for the
$1 coins issued during each year of the period
referred to in paragraph (1) shall be emblem-
atic of 4 Presidents until each President has
been so honored, subject to paragraph (2)(E).
‘‘(B) NUMBER
OF
CIRCULATING
COIN
DESIGNS IN EACH YEAR.—The Secretary shall
prescribe, on the basis of such factors as the
Secretary determines to be appropriate, the
number of $1 coins that shall be issued with
each of the designs selected for each year of the
period referred to in paragraph (1).
‘‘(5) ISSUANCE
OF
NUMISMATIC
COINS.—The
Secretary may mint and issue such number of $1
coins of each design selected under this subsection
in uncirculated and proof qualities as the Secretary
determines to be appropriate.
‘‘(6) 
TERMINATION
OF
PROGRAM.—The
issuance of coins under this subsection shall termi-
nate when each President has been so honored, sub-
ject to paragraph (2)(E), and may not be resumed
except by an Act of Congress.
‘‘(7) REVERSION
TO
PRECEDING
DESIGN.—
Upon the termination of the issuance of coins under
this subsection, the design of all $1 coins shall re-
vert to the the so-called ‘Sacagawea-design’ $1
coins.’’.
SEC. 103. FIRST SPOUSE BULLION COIN PROGRAM.
Section 5112 of title 31, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after subsection (n) (as added by
the preceding section of this title) the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(o) FIRST SPOUSE BULLION COIN PROGRAM.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—During the same period in
which the $1 coins are issued under subsection (n)
which are emblematic of the Presidents of the
United States, the Secretary of the Treasury shall
issue bullion coins under this subsection that are
emblematic of the spouse of each such President.
‘‘(2) SPECIFICATIONS.—The coins issued under
this subsection shall—
‘‘(A) have the same diameter as the $1
coins described in subsection (n);
‘‘(B) weigh 0.5 ounce; and
‘‘(C) contain 99.99 percent pure gold.
‘‘(3) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—
‘‘(A) COIN OBVERSE.—The design on the
obverse of each coin issued under this sub-
section shall contain—
‘‘(i) the name and likeness of a person
who was a spouse of a President during
the President’s period of service;
‘‘(ii) an inscription of the years during
which such person was the spouse of a
President during the President’s period of
service; and
‘‘(iii) the number indicating the order
of the period of service in which such
President served.
‘‘(B) COIN REVERSE.—The design on the
reverse of each coin issued under this sub-
section shall bear—
‘‘(i) images emblematic of the life and
work of the First Spouse whose image is
borne on the obverse; and
‘‘(ii) the inscription ‘United States of
America’.
‘‘(C) DESIGNATED DENOMINATION.—Each
coin issued under this subsection shall bear, on
the reverse, an inscription of the nominal de-
nomination of the coin which shall be ‘$10’.
‘‘(D) DESIGN
IN
CASE
OF
NO
FIRST
SPOUSE.—In the case of any President who
served without a spouse—
‘‘(i) the image on the obverse of the
bullion coin corresponding to the $1 coin
relating to such President shall be an
image emblematic of the concept of
‘Liberty’—
‘‘(I) as represented on a United
States coin issued during the period
of service of such President; or
‘‘(II) as represented, in the case
of President Chester Alan Arthur, by
a design incorporating the name and
likeness of Alice Paul, a leading strat-
egist in the suffrage movement, who
was instrumental in gaining women
the right to vote upon the adoption of
the 19th amendment and thus partici-
pate in the election of future Presi-
dents, and who was born on January
11, 1885, during the term of Presi-
dent Arthur; and
‘‘(ii) the reverse of such bullion coin
shall be of a design representative of
themes of such President, except that in
the case of the bullion coin referred to in
clause (i)(II) the reverse of such coin shall
be representative of the suffrage move-
ment.
‘‘(E) DESIGN
AND
COIN
FOR
EACH
SPOUSE.—A separate coin shall be designed and
issued under this section for each person who
was the spouse of a President during any por-
tion of a term of office of such President.
‘‘(F) INSCRIPTIONS.—Each bullion coin
issued under this subsection shall bear the in-
scription of the year of minting or issuance of
the coin and such other inscriptions as the Sec-
retary may determine to be appropriate.
‘‘(4) SALE OF BULLION COINS.—Each bullion
coin issued under this subsection shall be sold for an
amount the Secretary of the Treasury determines to
be appropriate that is equal to or greater than the
sum of—
‘‘(A) the face value of the coins; and
‘‘(B) the cost of designing and issuing the
coins (including labor, materials, dies, use of
machinery, overhead expenses, marketing, and
shipping).
‘‘(5) ISSUANCE
OF
COINS
COMMEMORATING
FIRST SPOUSES.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The bullion coins
issued under this subsection with respect to any
spouse of a President shall be issued on the
same schedule as the $1 coin issued under sub-
section (n) with respect to such President.
‘‘(B) MAXIMUM
NUMBER
OF
BULLION
COINS
FOR
EACH
DESIGN.—The Secretary
shall—
‘‘(i) prescribe, on the basis of such
factors as the Secretary determines to be
appropriate, the maximum number of bul-
lion coins that shall be issued with each of
the designs selected under this subsection;
and
‘‘(ii) announce, before the issuance of
the bullion coins of each such design, the
maximum number of bullion coins of that
design that will be issued.
‘‘(C) TERMINATION
OF
PROGRAM.—No
bullion coin may be issued under this subsection
after the termination, in accordance with sub-
section (n)(6), of the $1 coin program estab-
lished under subsection (n).
‘‘(6) QUALITY
OF
COINS.—The bullion coins
shall be issued in both proof and uncirculated quali-
ties.
‘‘(7) SOURCE
OF
GOLD
BULLION.—The Sec-
retary shall acquire gold for the coins issued under
this subsection by purchase of gold mined from nat-
ural deposits in the United States, or in a territory
or possession of the United States, within 1 year
after the month in which the ore from which it is
derived was mined. The Secretary shall pay not
more than the average world price for the gold.
‘‘(8) BRONZE
MEDALS.—The Secretary may
strike and sell bronze medals that bear the likeness
of the bullion coins authorized under this subsection,
at a price, size, and weight, and with such inscrip-
tions, as the Secretary determines to be appro-
priate.’’.
SEC. 104. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.
It is the sense of the Congress that—
(1) the enactment of this Act will serve to in-
crease the use of $1 coins generally, which will in-
crease the circulation of the so-called ‘‘Sacagawea-
design’’ $1 coins that have been and will continue to
be minted and issued;