Harriet Tubman Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act

117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 697 AN ACT To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint commemo- rative coins in recognition of the Bicentennial of Harriet Tubman’s birth. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 2 † S 697 ES SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Harriet Tubman Bi- 2 centennial Commemorative Coin Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress finds the following: 5 (1) Harriet Tubman was a formerly enslaved 6 abolitionist who guided about 70 people from slavery 7 to freedom in 10 years. 8 (2) Born in March 1822, Tubman was a nota- 9 ble abolitionist who not only freed herself, but also 10 freed others from slavery. 11 (3) Harriet Ross Tubman, born Araminta 12 ‘‘Minty’’ Ross, was born enslaved on the plantation 13 of Anthony Thompson in Dorchester County, Mary- 14 land. 15 (4) With the help of the Underground Railroad 16 network, in the fall of 1849, Tubman escaped from 17 Poplar Neck in Caroline County, Maryland, heading 18 north to freedom in Pennsylvania. 19 (5) With the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act 20 as part of the Compromise of 1850, the operations 21 to help enslaved persons escape became dangerous 22 and she risked her life to rescue them from slavery. 23 (6) Despite passage of the Compromise of 1850 24 and the Fugitive Slave Act, Tubman continued her 25 work, escorting her refugees to Canada instead. 26 3 † S 697 ES (7) It was during the 1850s that Tubman made 1 13 trips back to Maryland, guiding approximately 70 2 enslaved persons to the North, including family 3 members, and providing instruction to about 70 4 more who found their way to freedom on their own. 5 (8) Regardless of the arduous process of help- 6 ing fugitive enslaved persons escape through the Un- 7 derground Railroad, not a single person was recap- 8 tured under Tubman’s supervision. 9 (9) During 1859, Tubman aided abolitionist 10 John Brown by recruiting supporters for his raid on 11 Harper’s Ferry, a planned insurrection against 12 slaveholders in Virginia and Maryland. 13 (10) In the beginning of the Civil War, Tubman 14 served as a spy, cook, and nurse in South Carolina 15 and Florida. 16 (11) Tubman also recruited newly freed Afri- 17 can-American men to join regiments of African- 18 American soldiers called United States Colored 19 Troops. 20 (12) In recognition of her abilities, Tubman 21 served as an army scout and spy for Major General 22 David Hunter and Colonel James Montgomery. Har- 23 riet Tubman was inducted into the Military Intel- 24 ligence Corps Hall of Fame. 25 4 † S 697 ES (13) Tubman distinguished herself as the first 1 woman to lead an armed expedition in the Civil War, 2 the Combahee River Raid, resulting in more than 3 700 enslaved persons in South Carolina being freed. 4 (14) After the Civil War, Tubman frequently 5 sheltered and fed newly freed enslaved persons at 6 her home on South Street in Auburn, New York, 7 which she purchased from Secretary of State Wil- 8 liam Henry Seward, even though she had little 9 money herself. She found a means to an end by 10 working as a domestic, selling produce from her gar- 11 den, taking in donations of food, loans from friends, 12 and raising pigs on her farm. 13 (15) Tubman became active in the women’s 14 movement as early as 1860. She attended meetings 15 and gave speeches in her home State of New York, 16 as well as in Boston and Washington, DC. 17 (16) Tubman was an avid advocate for African- 18 American women and their civil rights. In 1896, she 19 was invited as a speaker at the first meeting of the 20 National Association of Colored Women in Wash- 21 ington, DC. 22 (17) Although living in financial insecurity, 23 Tubman transferred a 25-acre parcel of land to the 24 African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in 1903, 25 5 † S 697 ES which eventually became The Harriet Tubman 1 Home for the Aged and Indigent Negroes. At the 2 time, few social services existed for elderly and ill 3 people of color. 4 (18) Escaping slavery, risking everything to 5 save her family and friends, aiding enslaved persons 6 in escape from slavery, leading a military raid, 7 championing the cause of women’s suffrage, advo- 8 cating for civil rights and access to health care, Har- 9 riet Tubman is an individual that has performed 10 achievements that have had profound impacts on 11 history and culture in the United States. 12 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 13 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—In commemoration of Harriet 14 Tubman, the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter referred 15 to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and issue 16 the following coins: 17 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 50,000 $5 18 coins, which shall— 19 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 20 (B) be struck on a planchet having a di- 21 ameter of 0.850 inches; and 22 (C) contain at least 90 percent gold. 23 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 400,000 24 $1 coins, which shall— 25 6 † S 697 ES (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 1 (B) be struck on a planchet having a di- 2 ameter of 1.500 inches; and 3 (C) contain at least 90 percent silver. 4 (3) HALF-DOLLAR CLAD COINS.—Not more 5 than 750,000 half-dollar coins which shall— 6 (A) weigh 11.34 grams; 7 (B) have a diameter of 1.205 inches; and 8 (C) be minted to the specifications for half- 9 dollar coins contained in section 5112(b) of title 10 31, United States Code. 11 (b) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this 12 Act shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of 13 title 31, United States Code. 14 (c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 15 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 16 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis- 17 matic items. 18 SEC. 4. DESIGNS OF COINS. 19 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The designs of the coins 21 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 22 legacy of Harriet Tubman as an abolitionist. At 23 least one obverse design shall bear the image of 24 Harriet Tubman. 25 7 † S 697 ES (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 1 each coin minted under this Act, there shall be— 2 (A) an inscription of Harriet Tubman; 3 (B) a designation of the value of the coin; 4 (C) an inscription of the year ‘‘2024’’; and 5 (D) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, 6 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer- 7 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 8 (b) SELECTION.—The designs for the coins minted 9 under this Act shall be— 10 (1) selected by the Secretary, after consultation 11 with the National Underground Railroad Freedom 12 Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, The Harriet Tubman 13 Home, Inc. in Auburn, New York, and the Commis- 14 sion of the Fine Arts; and 15 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory 16 Committee. 17 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 18 (a) QUALITY OF COINS.—Coins minted under this 19 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 20 (b) MINT FACILITY.—Only 1 facility of the United 21 States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality 22 of the coins minted under this Act. 23 (c) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may 24 issue coins under this Act only during the period begin- 25 8 † S 697 ES ning on January 1, 2024, and ending on December 31, 1 2024. 2 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 3 (a) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under this Act 4 shall be sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum 5 of— 6 (1) the face value of the coins; 7 (2) the surcharge provided under section 7(a) 8 with respect to the coins; and 9 (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins 10 (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, 11 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 12 (b) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk 13 sales of the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable 14 discount. 15 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept 17 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 18 before the issuance of the coins. 19 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre- 20 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea- 21 sonable discount. 22 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—All sales of coins issued under this 24 Act shall include— 25 9 † S 697 ES (1) a surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 1 coins; 2 (2) a surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 3 coins; and 4 (3) a surcharge of $5 per coin for the half-dol- 5 lar coin. 6 (b) DISTRIBUTION.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 8 graph (2), subject to section 5134(f) of title 31, 9 United States Code, all surcharges received by the 10 Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this 11 Act shall be promptly paid by the Secretary equally 12 to the National Underground Railroad Freedom 13 Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, and The Harriet Tub- 14 man Home, Inc. in Auburn, New York, for the pur- 15 pose of accomplishing and advancing their missions. 16 (2) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding section 17 5134(f)(1) of title 31, United States Code, if an en- 18 tity described in paragraph (1) of this subsection 19 raises funds from private sources in an amount that 20 is less than the total amount of the proceeds of the 21 surcharge derived from the sale of the coins issued 22 under this Act, the Secretary shall promptly pay to 23 the other entity the proceeds of such surcharge. 24 10 † S 697 ES (c) AUDITS.—The National Underground Railroad 1 Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, and The Harriet 2 Tubman Home, Inc. in Auburn, New York, shall be sub- 3 ject to the audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of title 4 31, United States Code, with regard to the amounts re- 5 ceived under subsection (b). 6 (d) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 7 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 8 under this Act of any coin during a calendar year if, as 9 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 10 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro- 11 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 12 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 13 section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code. The 14 Secretary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 15 this subsection. 16 SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES. 17 The Secretary shall take such actions as may be nec- 18 essary to ensure that— 19 (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act 20 will not result in any net cost to the United States 21 Government; and 22 (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 23 are disbursed to any recipient designated in section 24 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing all of 25 11 † S 697 ES the coins authorized by this Act (including labor, 1 materials, dies, use of machinery, winning design 2 compensation, overhead expenses, marketing, and 3 shipping) is recovered by the United States Treas- 4 ury, consistent with sections 5112(m) and 5134(f) of 5 title 31, United States Code. 6 Passed the Senate February 17, 2022. Attest: Secretary. 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 697 AN ACT To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint commemorative coins in recognition of the Bicen- tennial of Harriet Tubman’s birth.