United States Coast Guard Commemorative Coin Act

The United States Coast Guard was founded on August 4, 1790, as the Revenue Cutter Service under the United States Department of the Treasury.

Congress created the Coast Guard on January 28, 1915, by merging the Revenue Cutter Service and the United States Lifesaving Service, was moved to the Department of Transportation in 1967, and on February 25, 2003, became part of the Department of Homeland Security.

Although the smallest of the uniformed services, today the United States Coast Guard conducts a wide variety of missions to protect the public, the environment, and the United States economic and security interests in any maritime region, including international waters and America’s coasts, ports, and inland waterways.

Every day, the United States Coast Guard plays a broad and important role in homeland security, law enforcement, search and rescue, marine environmental pollution response, and the maintenance of river, intra-coastal and offshore aids to navigation (ATON).

The United States Coast Guard is our Nation’s oldest seagoing military service, staying true to their motto, Semper Paratus or “Always Ready,” for 225 years.

The United States Coast Guard is supported by 57,600 Active Duty, Reserve, and Civilian personnel, who in 2013 responded to 17,000 search and rescue cases saving 7,400 lives, conducted over 21,000 waterborne patrols of maritime infrastructure and resources, performed 32,500 maritime security response activities (including 21,000 waterborne patrols of critical maritime infrastructure and resources, 2,000 escorts of high-capacity passenger vessels, 8,400 security boardings in and around U.S. ports), removed $3 billion worth of illegal drugs, patrolled 4.5 million miles of maritime borders for immigration enforcement, and maintained 49,000 navigation aids ensuring the smooth transit of $1.8 trillion worth of goods over 25,000 miles of our Nation’s waterways.

Section 213 of Public Law 108–293 states that “The Commandant may establish a National Coast Guard Museum, on lands which will be federally owned and administered by the Coast Guard, and are located in New London, Connecticut, at, or in close proximity to, the Coast Guard Academy”.

The National Coast Guard Museum Association, a nonprofit association dedicated to improve public understanding of the history, service and missions of the Coast Guard, is working with the United States Coast Guard, the City of New London, the State of Connecticut, and a range of local, regional, and national stakeholders to develop, plan and raise capital for the National Coast Guard Museum, to be located in New London, Connecticut.

The United States Coast Guard is the only military service without a national museum through which to share its history and legacy with the American public.

Denominations— The Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the “Secretary”) shall mint and issue the following coins:

Legal tender— The coins minted under this Act shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of title 31, United States Code.

Numismatic items— 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.

Selection— The design for the coins minted under this Act shall—

Quality of coins— Coins minted under this Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities.

Mint facilities— For each of the 3 coins minted under this Act, at least 1 facility of the United States Mint shall be used to strike proof quality coins, while at least 1 other such facility shall be used to strike the uncirculated quality coins.

Period for issuance— The Secretary may issue coins minted under this Act only during the 1-year period beginning on January 1, 2018.

Sale price— The coins issued under this Act shall be sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum of—

Bulk sales— The Secretary shall make bulk sales of the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable discount.

In general— All sales of coins minted under this Act shall include a surcharge as follows:

Distribution— 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 Coast Guard Museum Association to help finance the design, construction, operations, and maintenance of the National Coast Guard Museum.

Audits— The National Coast Guard Museum Association 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).

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. The Secretary may issue guidance to carry out this subsection.

minting and issuing coins under this Act will not result in any net cost to the United States Government; and

no funds, including applicable surcharges, shall be 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.