PUBLIC LAW 109–145—DEC. 22, 2005
119 STAT. 2665
(7) Sacagawea, as currently represented on the new $1 coin, is an important symbol of American history. (8) Many people cannot name all of the Presidents, and fewer can name the spouses, nor can many people accurately place each President in the proper time period of American history. (9) First Spouses have not generally been recognized on American coinage. (10) In order to revitalize the design of United States coinage and return circulating coinage to its position as not only a necessary means of exchange in commerce, but also as an object of aesthetic beauty in its own right, it is appropriate to move many of the mottos and emblems, the inscription of the year, and the so-called ‘‘mint marks’’ that currently appear on the 2 faces of each circulating coin to the edge of the coin, which would allow larger and more dramatic artwork on the coins reminiscent of the so-called ‘‘Golden Age of Coinage’’ in the United States, at the beginning of the Twentieth Century, initiated by President Theodore Roosevelt, with the assistance of noted sculptors and medallic artists James Earle Fraser and Augustus Saint-Gaudens. (11) Placing inscriptions on the edge of coins, known as edge-incusing, is a hallmark of modern coinage and is common in large-volume production of coinage elsewhere in the world, such as the 2,700,000,000 2-Euro coins in circulation, but it has not been done on a large scale in United States coinage in recent years. (12) Although the Congress has authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to issue gold coins with a purity of 99.99 percent, the Secretary has not done so. (13) Bullion coins are a valuable tool for the investor and, in some cases, an important aspect of coin collecting.
Sacagawea.
Theodore Roosevelt. Earle Fraser. Augustus Saint-Gaudens.
SEC. 102. PRESIDENTIAL $1 COIN PROGRAM.
Section 5112 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(n) REDESIGN AND ISSUANCE OF CIRCULATING $1 COINS HONORING EACH OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.— ‘‘(1) REDESIGN BEGINNING IN 2007.— ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection (d) and in accordance with the provisions of this subsection, $1 coins issued during the period beginning January 1, 2007, and ending upon the termination of the program under paragraph (8), shall— ‘‘(i) have designs on the obverse selected in accordance with paragraph (2)(B) which are emblematic of the Presidents of the United States; and ‘‘(ii) have a design on the reverse selected in accordance with paragraph (2)(A). ‘‘(B) CONTINUITY PROVISIONS.— ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall continue to mint and issue $1 coins which bear any design in effect before the issuance of coins as required under this subsection (including the so-called ‘Sacagawea-design’ $1 coins).
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