H.R. 6126 — United States Foreign Service Commemorative Coin Act

This section states 12 congressional findings on the history of U.S. diplomacy and the Foreign Service, from its origins in 1775 through the Rogers Act of 1924 (unifying Diplomatic and Consular Services), Foreign Service Acts of 1946 and 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3901 et seq.), involvement of multiple agencies (e.g., Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, Defense), sacrifices of over 320 personnel honored at State Department headquarters, 250 years of Marine Corps embassy protection since 1775, and the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training's oral history program of more than 2,600 interviews.

This section directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue, in celebration of diplomacy and the Foreign Service of the United States, up to 50,000 $5 gold coins (weighing 8.359 grams, 0.850 inches diameter, 90% gold), 400,000 $1 silver coins (26.73 grams, 1.500 inches, 90% silver), and 750,000 half-dollar clad coins (11.34 grams, 1.205 inches, to standard half-dollar specifications). The coins are legal tender, as provided in 31 U.S.C. 5103, and considered numismatic items for purposes of 31 U.S.C. 5134 and 5136 (i.e., authorizing their sale at a premium above face value).

This section establishes design requirements for coins minted under the Act, requiring designs emblematic of the importance of diplomacy to U.S. national interests, the creation of the Foreign Service, and its contributions to modern U.S. diplomacy, as well as specified inscriptions on each coin—including its face value, the year “2029,” “Liberty,” “In God We Trust,” “United States of America,” and “E Pluribus Unum.” The section further directs the Secretary to select the designs after consultation with the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training and the Commission of Fine Arts, with review by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.

This section authorizes the issuance of coins minted under this Act in uncirculated and proof qualities and limits such issuance to the one-year period beginning on January 1, 2029.

This section establishes the sale price of coins issued under the Act as the sum of (1) their face value, (2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a), and (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). It further directs the Secretary to make bulk sales of the coins at a reasonable discount and to accept prepaid orders for the coins before issuance, also at a reasonable discount.

This section establishes surcharges on sales of coins issued under this Act of $35 per $5 coin, $10 per $1 coin, and $5 per half-dollar coin. It directs all surcharge proceeds, subject to 31 U.S.C. §5134(f), to the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training to support U.S. diplomatic history through oral histories, books, social media, and other means; subjects the association to specified audit requirements; and prohibits surcharges on any such coin if its issuance would cause the number of commemorative coin programs in that calendar year to exceed the annual limit of two under 31 U.S.C. §5112(m)(1).

This section requires the Secretary of the Treasury to ensure that minting and issuing coins under this Act results in no net cost to the U.S. government and that no funds, including surcharges, are disbursed to the recipient designated in section 7 until the Treasury recovers all costs of designing and issuing the coins (i.e., labor, materials, dies, machinery use, overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping).