1.This Act may be cited as the
Panama-Pacific International Exposition and Panama Canal Commemorative
Coins Act
.
2.The Congress finds the following:
(1)The 1915 Panama-Pacific International
Exposition was a world’s fair held in San Francisco, California. The Exposition
ran from February 20 until December 4, 1915.
(2)The Exposition
commemorated the completion of the Panama Canal and the 400th Anniversary of
the discovery of the Pacific Ocean by the Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de
Balboa.
(3)The event was a
significant factor in the economic recovery of San Francisco, which had been
nearly destroyed by an earthquake and subsequent fire in 1906.
(4)President William
Howard Taft announced the choice of San Francisco as location of the Exposition
in 1911, and construction began shortly thereafter.
(5)There were
hundreds of buildings on the grounds; most were built to last only the duration
of the Exposition. Every State then in the Union was represented with a
building. Many nations were represented at the Exposition as well: 22 foreign
governments had buildings. The fair occupied 76 city blocks.
(6)The only building
to survive the Exposition, and its most visible remnant, is the Palace of Fine
Arts, which was designed by noted architect Bernard R. Maybeck.
(7)Congress
authorized the United States Mint to issue five different coins dated 1915 in
connection with the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The coins
represent a high water mark for American commemorative coins. Produced at the
San Francisco Mint, these were the first United States commemorative coins to
bear the motto In God We Trust
, and included the silver
Panama-Pacific half dollar and four gold coins in denominations of one dollar,
2½ dollars, a 50-dollar round coin, and a unique 50-dollar octagonal
coin.
(8)The octagonal $50 gold piece was the
largest coin authorized by Congress, and the first minted since 1852 in a shape
other than round.
(9)The Panama Canal,
which cuts across the Isthmus of Panama, was built between 1890 and 1914. It
was the world’s greatest engineering feat of its time and required a labor
force of almost 40,000.
(10)While the initial
French efforts to build the canal were disastrous, President Theodore
Roosevelt, recognizing the value of a canal, led the United States in buying
the equipment and concession of the unsuccessful French effort to build the
canal for $40 million, and championed the effort that overcame malaria and
immense logistical problems. The Canal opened on August 15, 1914—401 years
after Balboa first crossed Panama.
(11)Stretching 51
miles, the Panama Canal connected the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean,
saving sailors a dangerous 8,000-mile journey around Cape Horn and through the
Straits of Magellan, and cutting in half the time previously required to sail
between the oceans.
(12)The United States
should mark the centennial of this important event in San Francisco and the
monumental achievement of the opening of the Panama Canal.
(13)The proceeds from
the surcharge on the sale of such commemorative coins will assist in supporting
the educational programs of the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society and
the preservation of Theodore Roosevelt’s home in Oyster Bay, New York.
3.
(a)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)be octagonal in
shape;
(B)weigh 8.359
grams;
(C)have a distance
between two opposing vertices of 0.850 inches; and
(D)contain 90 percent
gold and 10 percent alloy.
(2)Not more than 50,000 $5 coins, which shall—
(A)be round in
shape;
(B)weigh 8.359
grams;
(C)have a diameter of
0.850 inches; and
(D)contain 90 percent
gold and 10 percent alloy.
(3)Not more than 500,000 $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.
(4)Not more than 500,000
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
section
5134 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted under
this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.
4.
(a)
(1)The design of the
coins minted under this Act shall be a close likeness of the two gold and one
half dollar coins issued by the San Francisco Mint at the opening of the
Pan-Pacific Exposition and the medal awarded to every United States citizen who
worked for a continuous 2-year period on the construction of the Panama
Canal.
(2)Specific design
requirements
(A)The $5 octagonal gold
coins minted under this Act and the $5 round gold coins minted under this Act
shall be a close likeness of the octagonal Panama-Pacific Exposition $50 gold
coin and the round Panama-Pacific Exposition $50 gold coin, respectively. Such
coins—
(i)shall have an obverse depicting the head of
the goddess Minerva, with a Corinthian-style helmet, enclosed in a ring of
beads;
(ii)with a reverse—
(I)depicting an owl perched on a pine bough
complete with four pine cones and multiple sprigs of pine needles surrounded by
the same ring of beads depicted on the obverse; and
(II)depicting,
outside this ring, the inscriptions PANAMA-PACIFIC EXPOSITION
and SAN FRANCISCO
in a single line of text circling the entire
rim, with the words separated by dots; and
(iii)with respect to the octagonal coin, such
coin shall also have an obverse and reverse that depicts, in the eight angles
of the vertices, eight stylized dolphins that form an outer circle.
(B)The $1 silver coins
minted under this Act shall be designed—
(i)to be a close likeness, in the form of a
coin, of the Roosevelt Medal—
(I)awarded to every
United States citizen who worked for a continuous 2-year period on the
construction of the Panama Canal;
(II)issued as a
result of an Executive Order dated June 23, 1907, by President Theodore
Roosevelt;
(III)designed by
artist F.D. Millet; and
(IV)struck by the
United States Mint in Philadelphia;
(ii)with an obverse depicting the image of
President Theodore Roosevelt; and
(iii)with a
reverse—
(I)depicting the
Culebra Cut, a 9-mile, 272-foot-deep excavation through the Cordillera
Mountains;
(II)displaying the
Canal Zone motto THE LAND DIVIDED, THE WORLD UNITED
inscribed on
the horizon; and
(III)displaying the legend PRESENTED BY
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
around the border, except that the
Secretary may, after consultation with the Commission of Fine Arts and review
by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, choose to omit such legend.
(C)The half dollar clad
coins minted under this Act shall be designed—
(i)to be a close likeness of the 1915 Panama
Pacific Exposition half dollar coin;
(ii)with an obverse
depicting Columbia scattering flowers from a cornucopia held by a small child
towards a sunset on the Golden Gate (prior to the construction of the now
famous bridge), which was designed by the Mint’s then-Chief Engraver, Charles
Barber; and
(iii)with a reverse
depicting an eagle resting on the union shield with an oak branch to its left,
for stability and strength, and an olive branch to its right, for peace,
credited to Barber’s assistant George T. Morgan, designer of the Morgan
dollar.
(3)Designation 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—
(i)depicted in Roman
numerals (MMXV
), in the case of the $5 and half dollar coins;
and
(ii)2015
,
in the case of the $1 coins; 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 Commission of Fine Arts; and
(2)reviewed by the
Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.
5.
(a)Coins minted under this Act shall be issued in uncirculated
and proof qualities.
(b)Only 1 facility of the United States Mint may be used to
strike any particular quality of the coins minted under this Act.
(c)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 issued under this Act shall include a
surcharge of—
(1)$35 per coin for
the $5 coin;
(2)$10 per coin for
the $1 coin; and
(3)$5 per coin for the half dollar
coin.
(b)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)Three-quarters of the surcharges to the San
Francisco Museum and Historical Society for the design and construction of
appropriate exhibitions in the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society,
including the necessary adaptive reuse of the Old Mint, commemorating the
Panama-Pacific International Exposition, as well as the development of
appropriate exhibitions at the Palace of Fine Arts on the grounds of the former
Panama-Pacific International Exposition.
(2)One-fourth of the surcharges to the
National Park Foundation to be used for programs, construction, or preservation
work at President Theodore Roosevelt’s home in Oyster Bay, New York.
(c)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 subsection (b) as may be related to the expenditures of amounts paid
under such subsection.
(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 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.