Volume 95 · 1491
Public Law 97–104
To provide for the minting of half dollars with a design emblematic of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the birth of George Washington.
Approved December 23, 1981
Statutory text
An Act
To provide for the minting of half dollars with a design emblematic of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the birth of George Washington.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Section 1. short title
This Act may be cited as the “George Washington
Commemorative Coin Act”.
Sec. 2. half-dollar coin
Title I of the Coinage Act of 1965 (31 U.S.C. 391 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:
“Sec. 109.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Quantity.
Secretary shall mint and issue half-dollar coins pursuant to this section in such quantities as are necessary to meet the needs of the public, except that such quantity shall not exceed 10,000,000 coins.
“(b) (1) The half-dollar coins minted pursuant to this section shall weigh 12.50 grams, have a diameter of 30.61 millimeters, and be minted in accordance with the standard established in section 3514 of the Revised Statutes (31 U.S.C. 321).
“(2) (A) The Secretary shall determine the design which shall
Design.
appear on each side of such half-dollar coin. Both such designs shall be emblematic of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the birth of George Washington.
“(B) On each such half-dollar coin there shall be a designation of
Inscriptions.
the value of the coin, an inscription of the year ‘1982’, and inscriptions of the words ‘Liberty’, ‘In God We Trust’, ‘United States of America’, and ‘E Pluribus Unum’.
“(3) All half-dollar coins minted pursuant to this section shall be legal tender as provided in section 102 of this title (31 U.S.C. 392).
“(c) (1) All half-dollar coins minted pursuant to this section shall be
Price determination.
sold to the public by the Secretary under such regulations as he may prescribe and at a price equal to the cost of minting and distributing such half-dollar coins (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, promotion, and overhead expenses) plus a surcharge of not more than 20 percent of such cost.
“(2) An amount equal to the amount of all surcharges which are received by the Secretary from the sale of such half-dollar coins shall be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury and shall be used for the sole purpose of reducing the national debt.
“(d) No half-dollar coins shall be minted pursuant to this section after December 31, 1983.
“(e) There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be
Appropriation authorization.
necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.”.
Sec. 3. use of silver
The last sentence of section 202 of Public Law 91–607 (31 U.S.C. 391 note) is hereby repealed.
Sec. 4. effective date
The amendment made by section 2 shall take effect on October 1, 1981.
Approved December 23, 1981.