Legislation introduced Dec. 13 seeks commemorative coins for 2027 to recognize the life and legacy of American baseball player and humanitarian Roberto Clemente.

Clemente died Dec. 31, 1972, at age 38 in a plane crash during emergency relief efforts to Managua, Nicaragua, from Puerto Rico following a devastating earthquake eight days earlier that killed 5,000 people.

H.R. 6751 was introduced by Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) and referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

Espaillat’s legislation seeks the production and sale by the United States Mint, in Proof and Uncirculated versions, of up to 50,000 $5 gold coins, 400,000 silver dollars and 750,000 copper-nickel clad half dollars.

The sale price of each gold coin will include a $35 surcharge; for each silver dollar, a $10 surcharge; and $5 for each clad half dollar.

Net surcharges after the U.S. Mint recoups all production and associated costs are to 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.”

H.R. 6751 designates that the designs for the three commemorative coins, shall be emblematic of the life of Roberto Clemente, including his human rights activism and baseball stardom legacy, with at least one obverse bearing the image of Clemente.

At the time of his death, Clemente had already spent 18 seasons in Major League Baseball as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates roster primarily as a right fielder.

In addition to his baseball prowess, Clemente was also notable for his charity work during the off-season from baseball.

The bodies of Clemente and three others who were also on the four-engine plane Clemente had chartered were never recovered. The aircraft crashed due to overloading and engine failure off the coast of Isla Verde, Puerto Rico, soon after take-off.

Clemente was posthumously recognized with a congressional gold medal through legislation signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon on May 14, 1973.

Collectors can locate U.S. Mint-struck examples of bronze duplicates of the gold medal on the secondary market.

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