On
Nov. 27, the U.S.
Mint is scheduled to release the official designs approved through
the Treasury secretary's office for the 2016 Mark Twain gold $5 half
eagle and silver dollar commemorative coins.
The
Mint's announcement will be the day before a public unveiling of the
designs at the sites of the four recipients that will equally divide
net surcharges from the sales of the coins. The beneficiaries are
the Mark
Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Conn.; University of
California, Berkeley, Calif. (for the benefit of the Mark Twain
Project at the Bancroft Library); Elmira College in New York (Center for Mark Twain Studies); and the Mark Twain
Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal, Mo.
Check
each location for activities scheduled at each respective site.
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The
enabling legislation, the Mark Twain Commemorative Coin Act, Public Law 112-201, authorizes the production
and sale, in Proof and Uncirculated versions combined, of up to
100,000 gold $5 coins and up to 350,000 silver dollars.
The
purchase price of each gold coin will include a $35 surcharge and each
silver dollar a $10 surcharge. The net surcharges after the U.S. Mint
has recouped its production and related costs will be distributed
equally to the four beneficiaries designated in the enabling act.
Melissa
Cummins, marketing and community relations manager for Mark Twain
Boyhood Home and Museum, said complete details of the approved coin
designs will not be known until Mint officials make that information
public on Nov. 27. The Hannibal, Mo., site is conducting a public
unveiling at 3 p.m. Central Time Nov. 28, Cummins said.
Final
approval of U.S. coin and medal designs are at the discretion of the
Treasury secretary or his designee. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew
generally defers the discretionary authority for design selection to
Deputy Treasury Secretary Sarah Bloom Raskin.