Roberto Clemente Commemorative Coin Act

Roberto Clemente Walker was born on August 18, 1934, to Don Melchor Clemente and Luisa Walker in Barrio San Antón, Carolina, Puerto Rico, as the youngest of 7 children.

Clemente excelled in athletics as a youngster and, at the age of 17, was playing for the Santurce Cangrejeros “Crabbers” of the Puerto Rican Baseball League.

In 1954, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected Clemente in the first round of the Major League Baseball Rule 5 draft.

Pirates center fielder Earl Smith wore jersey number 21 until he parted ways with the team in April 1955, and Clemente wore number 13 until then.

In 1955, Clemente made his Major League debut as he went on to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates, starting as a right fielder.

When the team traveled to Richmond, Virginia, for games or Florida for spring training, Clemente encountered Jim Crow laws for the first time when the Black players had to stay at a separate, inferior hotel and were refused the option to dine with their White counterparts.

Clemente was known for being a proud Afro-Latino and protested the discrimination that Latin and Black ball players encountered.

Clemente was known for defending the rights of Black and Brown people, both on the field and in the streets.

After the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968, Clemente and his teammates refused to play until after the funerals and even wrote a public statement showing their respect for Dr. King.

Clemente became a union leader in the incipient Major League Baseball Players Association and defended players’ rights to demand better working conditions and benefits.

In every city where the Pirates played, Clemente visited sick children in hospitals.

Clemente established training clinics, providing baseball lessons and fun for boys and girls in Pittsburgh, his home island of Puerto Rico, and throughout Latin America.

In 1958, Clemente enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve after the 1958 season and spent 6 months on active duty at Parris Island, South Carolina, and Camp LeJeune, North Carolina.

Clemente served until 1964 and was inducted into the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.

By the end of his career, Clemente had joined the exclusive 3,000-hit club, was selected to 15 All-Star teams, and won 12 Gold Gloves, 2 World Series, and a National League MVP award.

In Clemente’s 18 seasons with Pittsburgh he won 4 batting titles, hit 240 home runs, and posted a lifetime .317 batting average.

In late 1972, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake ravaged Managua, Nicaragua, and killed 5,000 people.

In his philanthropic spirit, Clemente sent shipments of humanitarian aid to the country.

After learning that 3 previous shipments had been diverted by corrupt Somoza Government officials, Clemente decided to accompany one of the aid shipments.

The four-engine DC–7 plane Clemente chartered for a flight on New Year’s Eve crashed in the Atlantic Ocean immediately after takeoff from the coast of Isla Verde, Puerto Rico.

On December 31, 1972, Clemente died in the plane crash at the age of 38 years young.

Since 1973, Major League Baseball gives out the Roberto Clemente Award to one player in the league who “best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team”.

In 2002, Major League Baseball declared the first annual Roberto Clemente Day.

In 2021, Major League Baseball announced September 15 would be the permanent date of Roberto Clemente Day to coincide with the beginning of Hispanic Heritage month.

Clemente was the first Latino player to accomplish many feats in Major League Baseball.

Clemente was the first Puerto Rican, and first person of Latino heritage, to win a World Series as a starter, be named league MVP, be named World Series MVP, and be elected to the Hall of Fame.

Clemente was posthumously elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, being the first National League baseball player to receive the mandatory 5-year waiting period waiver.

Clemente was a legend in life and death, a baseball star, a humanitarian activist, and a symbol of Latin American pride.

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 designs for the coins minted under this Act shall be—

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

Period for issuance— The Secretary may issue coins under this Act only during the 1-year period beginning on January 1, 2027.

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 issued under this Act shall include—

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 paid to the Roberto Clemente Foundation to be used for general expenses associated with the fulfillment of the mission of the Roberto Clemente Foundation, including for costs associated with educational, youth sports, and disaster relief historic preservation.

Audits— The Roberto Clemente Foundation, 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 (as in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). 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.