Bill Seeks US Marshals $5 Gold Commemorative Coins in High Relief

A recently introduced bill seeks the issuance of commemorative gold and silver coins for the 225th anniversary of the establishment of the United States Marshals Service. Similar legislation had previously been introduced in both the House and Senate seeking a similar coin program.

The bill H.R. 5680 United Statse Marshals Service 225th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act was introduced by Rep. John Boozman of Arkansas on July 1, 2010. He had previously introduced the similar H.R. 2799 on June 10, 2009. This was followed by another similar bill S. 2106 introduced by Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas.

Each of the bills propose a $5 gold coin with a weight of 33.931 grams, diameter of 32.7 mm, and 1 troy ounce gold content. These specifications would be unusual for a gold commemorative coin. Typical $5 gold commemorative coins have a weight of 8.359 grams, diameter of 21.6 mm, and contain 0.242 troy ounces of gold.

The obverse of the $5 Gold Coin would feature the Marshals Services Star and the reverse would feature a design emblematic of the sacrifice and service of U.S. Marshals who lost their lives in the line of duty. The coins would be struck in high relief and include incuse edge lettering with the motto “Justice, Integrity, Service”.

The $1 silver coins would have a weight of 26.73 grams, diameter of 1.5 inches, and composition of 90% silver. These specifications are typical for commemorative silver dollars. The design for the silver dollar would also bear the Marshals Services Star on the obverse with no specific guidance for the reverse design. These coins would also include edge incusion with the U.S. Marshals motto.

The current bill makes several modifications to the previously introduced legislation. The maximum mintage level for the $5 gold coins would be set at 142,000, compared to 100,000 mentioned in the prior bills. The maximum mintage for the silver dollars would be 503,000 compared to 500,000 previously.

Another change from the prior proposals is that the coins would carry the date “2014-2015″ and could be minted and issued until December 31, 2015. The prior proposals specified a date of “2014″ with authorized for production through the end of 2014.