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Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Mar 3, 2025
Roberto Clemente Commemorative Coin Act
This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue coins in recognition of the life of Roberto Clemente, baseball player and human rights activist. All sales of coins issued under this bill must include a surcharge to be paid to the Roberto Clemente Foundation.
People & committees
Rep. Espaillat, Adriano [D-NY-13] · D–NY
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Oct 6, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-03-03 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This proposal would require Treasury to produce commemorative coins honoring Roberto Clemente, with issuance limited to 2027. Buyers would pay prices covering the coins’ face values, production and issuance costs, and specified extra charges. Those extra charges would support the Roberto Clemente Foundation, subject to statutory conditions. Treasury would have to recover all design and issuance costs before distributing funds to the Foundation.
The Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the Secretary) shall mint and issue the following coin:
The designs of the coins minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the life of Roberto Clemente including his human rights activism and baseball stardom legacy.
The Secretary may issue coins under this Act only during the calendar year beginning on January 1, 2027.
The coins issued under this Act shall be sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum of— (1) the face value of the coins; (2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with respect to such coins; and (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins
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
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
Section 1 would name the legislation the Roberto Clemente Commemorative Coin Act. Section 2 presents congressional findings honoring Clemente’s baseball career and humanitarian work; these are the proposal’s stated reasons for honoring him.
This Act may be cited as the Roberto Clemente Commemorative Coin Act.
The Congress finds the following:
(28) Clemente was a legend in life and death, a baseball star, a humanitarian activist, and a symbol of Latin American pride;
Treasury would have to mint and issue three coin types, subject to maximum quantities. The $5 gold coins would be limited to 50,000, weigh 8.359 grams, measure 0.850 inches across, and contain at least 90 percent gold.
The Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the Secretary) shall mint and issue the following coin: (1) $5 gold coins Not more than 50,000 $5 coins, which shall— (A) weigh 8.359 grams; (B) have a diameter of 0.850 inches; and (C) contain not less than 90 percent gold.
(2) $1 silver coins
(3) Half-dollar clad coins
The $1 silver coins would be limited to 400,000, weigh 26.73 grams, measure 1.500 inches across, and contain at least 90 percent silver.
(2) $1 silver coins Not more than 400,000 $1 coins, which shall— (A) weigh 26.73 grams; (B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and (C) contain not less than 90 percent silver.
The half-dollar coins would be limited to 750,000, weigh 11.34 grams, and measure 1.205 inches across. Their additional specifications would follow the cited federal half-dollar statute, whose text is not supplied.
(3) Half-dollar clad coins Not more than 750,000 half-dollar coins which shall— (A) weigh 11.34 grams; (B) have a diameter of 1.205 inches; and (C) be minted to the specifications for half-dollar coins contained in section 5112(b) of title 31, United States Code.
The coins would be legal tender—money recognized under the cited federal law—and would be treated as collectible coin items for purposes of two specified federal statutes.
(b) Legal tender The coins minted under this Act shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of title 31, United States Code. (c) 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.
Coin designs would have to represent Clemente’s life, human rights activism, and baseball legacy. At least one front-side design would have to show his image. Every coin would carry his name, its denomination, the year 2027, and the four specified national inscriptions.
The designs of the coins minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the life of Roberto Clemente including his human rights activism and baseball stardom legacy. At least one obverse design shall bear the image of Roberto Clemente.
On each coin minted under this Act, there shall be— (A) an inscription of Roberto Clemente; (B) a designation of the denomination of the coin; (C) an inscription of the year 2027; and (D) inscriptions of the words Liberty, In God We Trust, United States of America, and E Pluribus Unum.
The Treasury Secretary would select the designs after consulting the Foundation, Clemente’s living family members, and the Commission of the Fine Arts. The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee would review the designs.
The designs for the coins minted under this Act shall be— (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation with the Roberto Clemente Foundation, Roberto Clemente’s living family members, and the Commission of the Fine Arts; and (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.
Treasury would issue the coins in both quality categories named in the bill, “uncirculated” and “proof.” Issuance would be allowed only from January 1 through December 31, 2027.
(a) Quality of coins Coins minted under this Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. (b) Period for issuance The Secretary may issue coins under this Act only during the calendar year beginning on January 1, 2027.
The sale-price formula would add each coin’s face value, its applicable surcharge—an extra charge—and the costs of designing and issuing it. Covered costs would include labor, materials, dies, machinery use, overhead, marketing, and shipping.
The coins issued under this Act shall be sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum of— (1) the face value of the coins; (2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with respect to such coins; and (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping).
Treasury would have to offer reasonable discounts for bulk sales and prepaid orders. It would also have to accept prepaid orders before issuing the coins. The bill does not specify discount amounts.
(b) Bulk sales The Secretary shall make bulk sales of the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable discount. (c) Prepaid orders (1) In general The Secretary shall accept prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act before the issuance of such coins. (2) Discount Sale prices with respect to prepaid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a reasonable discount.
Subject to the bill’s annual-program-limit exception, each sale would include a $35 surcharge for a $5 coin, $10 for a $1 coin, or $5 for a half-dollar coin.
(a) In general All sales of coins issued under this Act shall include a surcharge of— (1) $35 per coin for the $5 coin; (2) $10 per coin for the $1 coin; and (3) $5 per coin for the half-dollar coin.
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
All collected surcharges would be directed to the Roberto Clemente Foundation for general expenses supporting its mission, subject to the referenced federal conditions and the bill’s cost-recovery requirement. The examples of eligible costs mention education, youth sports, disaster relief, and historic preservation, but the supplied sentence ends abruptly and leaves their precise relationship unclear.
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 for application to 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—
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
The Foundation would be subject to the audit requirements in the cited federal statute for funds it receives under the surcharge-distribution provision. The bill does not reproduce those audit requirements.
(c) 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).
A surcharge would be prohibited if issuing a coin would cause the number of commemorative coin programs that year to exceed the referenced annual limit of two programs. The applicable statutory limit would be the version in effect when this proposal became law. Treasury could issue guidance implementing this exception.
(d) 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.
Treasury would have to take necessary steps to prevent a net cost to the federal government. It could not distribute funds to the designated recipient until Treasury recovered the total design and issuance costs of all authorized coins, consistent with the referenced statutes. These are proposed financial safeguards, not evidence that the program would actually cover its costs.
The Secretary shall take such actions as may be necessary to ensure that— (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act will not result in any net cost to the United States Government; and (2) 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.
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated October 6, 2026, records House introduction and referral to the House Committee on Financial Services on March 3, 2025. This snapshot does not establish whether the bill later advanced or became law.
Source snapshot updated 2026-10-06T21:25:48Z. 2025-03-03: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. 2025-03-03: Introduced in House 2025-03-03: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-03-03. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion applies only to that version, not other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
Findings to examine
The supplied text contains a named-recipient funding direction warranting earmark scrutiny. Formal congressional earmark status remains uncertain without accompanying disclosure materials.
The proposal directs all collected coin surcharges to the Roberto Clemente Foundation, a specifically named recipient, rather than establishing a competitive allocation. Payments would remain subject to the cited federal conditions and recovery of all coin design and issuance costs. This is a recipient-specific funding direction, not a fixed-dollar appropriation.
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 for application to general expenses associated with the fulfillment of the mission of the Roberto Clemente Foundation
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
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
The supplied text provides a narrow financial benefit to a named organization that is directly connected to the commemorative program. This classification does not imply improper purpose.
The Roberto Clemente Foundation would receive the program’s collected surcharges for general expenses supporting its mission. Naming that organization as the recipient creates a narrow financial benefit tied to honoring Clemente, subject to statutory conditions and Treasury’s full cost recovery.
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 for application to general expenses associated with the fulfillment of the mission of the Roberto Clemente Foundation
The designs of the coins minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the life of Roberto Clemente including his human rights activism and baseball stardom legacy.
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
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Oct 6, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI