1.This Act may be cited as the
National Baseball Hall of Fame
Commemorative Coin Act
.
2.Congress finds the following:
(1)On June 12, 1939, the National Baseball
Hall of Fame and Museum opened in Cooperstown, New York. Ty Cobb, Walter
Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, and Honus Wagner comprised the inaugural
class of inductees. This class set the standard for all future inductees. Since
1939, just one percent of all Major League Baseball players have earned
induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
(2)The National
Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is dedicated to preserving history, honoring
excellence, and connecting generations through the rich history of our national
pastime. Baseball has mirrored our Nation’s history since the Civil War, and is
now an integral part of our Nation’s heritage.
(3)The National
Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum chronicles the history of our national pastime
and houses the world’s largest collection of baseball artifacts, including more
than 38,000 three dimensional artifacts, 3,000,000 documents, 500,000
photographs, and 12,000 hours of recorded media. This collection ensures that
baseball history and its unique connection to American history will be
preserved and recounted for future generations.
(4)Since its opening
in 1939, more than 14,000,000 baseball fans have visited the National Baseball
Hall of Fame and Museum to learn about the history of our national pastime and
the game’s connection to the American experience.
(5)The National
Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an educational institution, reaching
10,000,000 Americans annually. Utilizing video conference technology, students
and teachers participate in interactive lessons led by educators from the
National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum. These award-winning educational programs
draw upon the wonders of baseball to reach students in classrooms nationwide.
Each educational program uses baseball as a lens for teaching young Americans
important lessons on an array of topics, including mathematics, geography,
civil rights, women’s history, economics, industrial technology, arts, and
communication.
3.
(a)In
recognition and celebration of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the
Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the
Secretary) shall mint and issue the following coins:
(1)Not more than 50,000 $5 coins, which shall—
(A)weigh 8.359
grams;
(B)have diameter of
0.850 inches; and
(C)contain 90 percent
gold and 10 percent alloy.
(2)Not more than 400,000 $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.
(3)Not more than 750,000 half-dollar coins which shall—
(A)weigh 11.34
grams;
(B)have a diameter of
1.205 inches; and
(C)be minted to the
specifications for half-dollar coins contained in
section
5112(b) of title 31, United States Code.
(b)The coins minted under this Act shall be legal tender, as
provided in section
5103 of title 31, United States Code.
(c)For purposes of sections
5134
and 5136 of title 31, United States
Code, all coins minted under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic
items.
(d)It is the sense of
Congress that, to the extent possible without significantly adding to the
purchase price of the coins, the $1 coins and $5 coins minted under this Act
should be produced in a fashion similar to the 2009 International Year of
Astronomy coins issued by Monnaie de Paris, the French Mint, so that the
reverse of the coin is convex to more closely resemble a baseball and the
obverse concave, providing a more dramatic display of the obverse design chosen
pursuant to section 4(c).
4.
(a)
(1)The design of the coins minted under this Act shall be
emblematic of the game of baseball.
(2)Designations and
inscriptionsOn each coin minted under this Act there shall
be—
(A)a designation of
the value of the coin;
(B)an inscription of
the year 2015
; and
(C)inscriptions of
the words Liberty
, In God We Trust
, United
States of America
, and E Pluribus Unum
.
(b)The
design for the coins minted under this Act shall be—
(1)selected by the
Secretary after consultation with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the
Commission of Fine Arts and in accordance with subparagraph (c); and
(2)reviewed by the
Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.
(c)Obverse Design
CompetitionThe Secretary shall hold a competition and provide
compensation for its winner to design the common obverse of the coins minted
under this Act, with such design being emblematic of the game of baseball. The
competition shall be held in the following manner:
(1)The competition
shall be judged by an expert jury chaired by the Secretary and consisting of 3
members from the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee who shall be elected by
such Committee and 3 members from the Commission of Fine Arts who shall be
elected by such Commission.
(2)The Secretary shall determine compensation
for the winning design, which shall be not less than $5,000.
(3)The Secretary may not accept a design for
the competition unless a plaster model accompanies the design.
(d)The design on the common reverse of the coins minted under
this Act shall depict a baseball similar to those used by Major League
Baseball.
5.
(a)Coins minted under this Act shall be issued in uncirculated
and proof qualities.
(b)The Secretary may issue coins minted under this Act only
during the 1-year period beginning on January 1, 2015.
6.
(a)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)The Secretary shall make bulk sales of the coins issued
under this Act at a reasonable discount.
(c)
(1)The Secretary shall accept prepaid orders for the coins
minted under this Act before the issuance of such coins.
(2)Sale
prices with respect to prepaid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a
reasonable discount.
7.
(a)All sales of coins minted under this Act shall include a
surcharge as follows:
(1)A
surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 coin.
(2)A
surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 coin.
(3)A
surcharge of $5 per coin for the half-dollar coin.
(b)Subject
to section
5134(f) 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 to the National Baseball Hall of Fame to help
finance its operations.
(c)The
National Baseball Hall of Fame shall be subject to the audit requirements of
section
5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, with regard to the
amounts received under subsection (b).
(d)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 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.
8.The budgetary
effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory
Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest
statement titled Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation for this
Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the
Committee on the Budget of the House of Representatives, provided that such
statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.