[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2453 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.2453

                      One Hundred Twelfth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
            the third day of January, two thousand and twelve


                                 An Act


 
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration 
                             of Mark Twain.

    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 ``Mark Twain Commemorative Coin Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
    The Congress finds as follows:
        (1) Samuel Clemens--better known to the world as Mark Twain--
    was a unique American voice whose literary work has had a lasting 
    effect on our Nation's history and culture.
        (2) Mark Twain remains one of the best known Americans in the 
    world with over 6,500 editions of his books translated into 75 
    languages.
        (3) Mark Twain's literary and educational legacy remains strong 
    even today, with nearly every book he wrote still in print, 
    including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of 
    Huckleberry Finn--both of which have never gone out of print since 
    they were first published over a century ago.
        (4) In the past 2 decades alone, there have been more than 100 
    books published and over 250 doctoral dissertations written on Mark 
    Twain's life and work.
        (5) Even today, Americans seek to know more about the life and 
    work of Mark Twain, as people from around the world and across all 
    50 States annually flock to National Historic Landmarks like the 
    Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, CT, and the Mark Twain 
    Boyhood Home & Museum in Hannibal, MO.
        (6) Mark Twain's work is remembered today for addressing the 
    complex social issues facing America at the turn of the century, 
    including the legacy of the Civil War, race relations, and the 
    economic inequalities of the ``Gilded Age''.
        (7) Today Mark Twain's work lives on through educational 
    institutions throughout the United States, such as the Mark Twain 
    Project at the Bancroft Library of the University of California, 
    Berkeley, California, and the Center for Mark Twain Studies at 
    Elmira College, in Elmira, New York.
SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.
    (a) Denominations.--The Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in 
this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall mint and issue the 
following coins:
        (1) $5 gold coins.--Not more than 100,000 $5 coins, which 
    shall--
            (A) weigh 8.359 grams;
            (B) have a diameter of 0.850 inches; and
            (C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent alloy.
        (2) $1 silver coins.--Not more than 350,000 $1 coins, which 
    shall--
            (A) weigh 26.73 grams;
            (B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and
            (C) 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 5134 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.--
        (1) In general.--The design of the coins minted under this Act 
    shall be emblematic of the life and legacy of Mark Twain.
        (2) Designation and inscriptions.--On each coin minted under 
    this Act there shall be--
            (A) a designation of the value of the coin;
            (B) an inscription of the year ``2016''; and
            (C) inscriptions of the words ``Liberty'', ``In God We 
        Trust'', ``United States of America'', and ``E Pluribus Unum''.
    (b) 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 the Board of the Mark Twain House and 
    Museum; and
        (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.
SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS.
    (a) Quality of Coins.--Coins minted under this Act shall be issued 
in uncirculated and proof qualities.
    (b) Mint Facility.--Only 1 facility of the United States Mint may 
be used to strike any particular quality of the coins minted under this 
Act.
    (c) Period for Issuance.--The Secretary may issue coins minted 
under this Act only during the 1-year period beginning on January 1, 
2016.
SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS.
    (a) Sale Price.--The coins issued under this Act shall be sold by 
the Secretary at a price equal to the sum of--
        (1) the face value of the coins;
        (2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with respect to such 
    coins; and
        (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins (including 
    labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses, 
    marketing, and shipping).
    (b) Bulk Sales.--The Secretary shall make bulk sales of the coins 
issued under this Act at a reasonable discount.
    (c) Prepaid Orders.--
        (1) In general.--The Secretary shall accept prepaid orders for 
    the coins minted under this Act before the issuance of such coins.
        (2) Discount.--Sale prices with respect to prepaid orders under 
    paragraph (1) shall be at a reasonable discount.
SEC. 7. SURCHARGES.
    (a) In General.--All sales of coins issued under this Act shall 
include a surcharge of--
        (1) $35 per coin for the $5 coin; and
        (2) $10 per coin for the $1 coin.
    (b) Distribution.--Subject to section 5134(f)(1) of title 31, 
United States Code, all surcharges received by the Secretary from the 
sale of coins issued under this Act shall be promptly paid by the 
Secretary as follows:
        (1) One-quarter of the surcharges, to the Mark Twain House & 
    Museum in Hartford, Connecticut, to support the continued 
    restoration of the Mark Twain house and grounds, and ensure 
    continuing growth and innovation in museum programming to research, 
    promote and educate on the legacy of Mark Twain.
        (2) One-quarter of the surcharges, to the University of 
    California, Berkeley, California, for the benefit of the Mark Twain 
    Project at the Bancroft Library to support programs to study and 
    promote the legacy of Mark Twain.
        (3) One-quarter of the surcharges, to Elmira College, New York, 
    to be used for research and education purposes.
        (4) One-quarter of the surcharges, to the Mark Twain Boyhood 
    Home and Museum in Hannibal, Missouri, to preserve historical sites 
    related to Mark Twain and help support programs to study and 
    promote his legacy.
    (c) Audits.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
have the right to examine such books, records, documents, and other 
data of each of the organizations referred to in paragraphs (1), (2), 
(3), and (4) of subsection (b) as may be related to the expenditures of 
amounts paid under such subsection.
    (d) Limitation.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), no surcharge may 
be included with respect to the issuance under this Act of any coin 
during a calendar year if, as of the time of such issuance, the 
issuance of such coin would result in the number of commemorative coin 
programs issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 commemorative 
coin program issuance limitation under section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, 
United States Code (as in effect on the date of the enactment of this 
Act). The Secretary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 
this subsection.
SEC. 8. NO NET COST.
    The Secretary shall take such actions as may be necessary to ensure 
that--
        (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act will not result in 
    any net cost to the United States Government; and
        (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, are disbursed to 
    any recipient designated in section 7 until the total cost of 
    designing and issuing all of the coins authorized by this Act 
    (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead 
    expenses, marketing, and shipping) is recovered by the United 
    States Treasury, consistent with sections 5112(m) and 5134(f) of 
    title 31, United States Code.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.