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108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2744
To authorize the minting and issuance of a Presidential $1 coin series.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 22, 2004
Mr. Sununu (for himself, Mr. Reid, Mrs. Dole, and Mr. Harkin)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the minting and issuance of a Presidential $1 coin series.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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 2004''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) there are sectors of the United States economy,
including public transportation, parking meters, vending
machines, and low-dollar value transactions, 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 higher prices for consumers;
(3) the success of the 50 States Commemorative Coin Program
for circulating quarter dollars shows that a rotating design on
a United States circulating coin radically increases demand for
the coin, rapidly pulling it through the economy;
(4) the 50 States Commemorative Coin Program 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 General Accounting
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 spearheading and highlighting
important issues for the country;
(7) many people cannot name all of the former Presidents,
and fewer can name their spouses or accurately place each
President in the proper time period of American history;
(8) First Spouses have not generally been recognized on
American coinage;
(9) Sacagawea, as currently represented on the new $1 coin,
is an important symbol of American history;
(10) in order to revitalize the design of United States
coinage and return circulating coinage to its position as a
necessary means of exchange in commerce and an object of
aesthetic beauty 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 20th century, initiated
by President Theodore Roosevelt, with the assistance of noted
sculptors and medallic artists James Earle Fraser and Augustus
St. 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 and coins of
the People's Republic of China, but it has not been done on a
large scale in United States coinage in recent years;
(12) bullion coins are a valuable tool for the investor
and, in some cases, an important aspect of coin collecting;
(13) 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; and
(14) by commencing the issuance of the Presidential $1
coins in 2006, coins issued in uncirculated or proof qualities
that commemorate the Presidency of Thomas Jefferson may
appropriately be sold in sets with the coins of similar
qualities that are issued in 2006 and commemorate the Lewis and
Clark expedition, together with $1 coins that bear the image of
Sacagawea and are struck for numismatic purposes under section
5112(n)(1)(B) of title 31, United States Code (as amended by
section 3 of this Act).
SEC. 3. PRESIDENTIAL $1 COIN PROGRAM.
Section 5112 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding
at the end the following:
``(n) Design and Issuance of Circulating $1 Coins Honoring the
Presidents of the United States.--
``(1) Issuance beginning in 2006.--
``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding subsection (d),
and subject to subparagraph (B), all $1 coins issued on
and after January 1, 2006, shall have a design on the
obverse selected in accordance with paragraph (2)(B),
which is emblematic of a deceased former President of
the United States, and a design on the reverse selected
in accordance with paragraph (2)(A).
``(B) Continuity provision.--Notwithstanding
subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall continue to mint
and issue $1 coins which bear any design in effect
before the issuance of coins as required under this
subsection, including any $1 coin issued in accordance
with subsection (d)(1).
``(2) Design requirements.--The $1 coins issued in
accordance with this subsection shall meet the following design
requirements:
``(A) Coin reverse.--The design on the reverse
shall bear--
``(i) a likeness of the Statue of Liberty
extending to the rim of the coin and large
enough to provide a dramatic representation 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 deceased
former President of the United States and basic
information about that 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 of
that President.
``(C) Edge-incused inscriptions.--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.
``(D) Inscriptions of `liberty'.--Notwithstanding
the second 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 adequately conveys the concept of Liberty,
the inscription of `Liberty' shall not appear on the
coins.
``(E) Limitation in series to deceased
presidents.--No coin issued under this subsection may
bear the image of a living former or current President,
or of any deceased former President during the 2-year
period following the date of the death of that
President.
``(F) Consistent design specifications.--To the
extent possible, and except as otherwise provided in
this subsection, design specifications for coins issued
under this subsection shall be consistent with those
applicable to $1 coins issued before the date of
enactment of this subsection, as determined appropriate
by the Secretary.
``(3) Issuance of coins commemorating presidents.--
``(A) Order of issuance.--The coins issued under
this subsection shall be issued in the order of the
period of service of each deceased former President,
beginning with President George Washington.
``(B) Treatment of period of service.--
``(i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii),
only 1 coin design shall be issued for a period
of service for any President, regardless of the
number of consecutive terms of office the
President served.
``(ii) Nonconsecutive terms.--If a former
President 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 in accordance with this subsection during each
calendar year, beginning with 2006, shall be emblematic
of 4 deceased former Presidents, issued in the order
established under paragraph (3).
``(B) Number of each of 4 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
calendar year.
``(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) References.--References in this section and other
provisions of law to the `Presidential $1 Coin Program' shall
be construed to refer to this subsection.''.
SEC. 4. FIRST SPOUSE COMMEMORATIVE COIN PROGRAM.
Section 5112 of title 31, United States Code, as amended by this
Act, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(o) First Spouse Commemorative Coin Program.--
``(1) In general.--During the same period in which the $1
coins are issued under subsection (n), the Secretary of the
Treasury shall issue commemorative coins under this subsection
that are emblematic of the spouse of each deceased former
President of the United States honored under subsection (n).
``(2) Specifications.--Notwithstanding subsection (a)(9),
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 subsection shall contain--
``(i) the name and likeness of the person
who was the spouse of a United States President
during that President's period of service as
President;
``(ii) an inscription of the years during
which such person was the spouse of a President
during that President's period of service as President; and
``(iii) the number indicating the order of
the President's period of service as President.
``(B) Coin reverse.--The design on the reverse of
each coin issued under this subsection 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 denomination 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
commemorative 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 former President Chester Alan
Arthur, by a design incorporating the
name and likeness of Alice Paul, a
leading strategist in the suffrage
movement, who was instrumental in
gaining women the right to vote upon
the adoption of the 19th Amendment to
the Constitution of the United States,
and thus participated in the election
of future Presidents, and who was born
on January 11, 1885, during the term of
President Arthur; and
``(ii) the reverse of such commemorative
coin shall be of a design representative of
themes of such President, except that in the
case of the commemorative coin referred to in
clause (i)(II) the reverse of such coin shall
be representative of the suffrage movement.
``(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 portion of a term of office of such
President.
``(F) Inscriptions.--Each commemorative coin issued
under this subsection shall bear the inscription of the
year of minting or issuance of the coin and such other
inscriptions as the Secretary may determine to be
appropriate.
``(4) Sale of commemorative coins.--Each commemorative 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.--The
commemorative 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 subsection (n) with
respect to such President.
``(6) Quality of coins.--The commemorative coins issued
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