Will The US Mint a Gold and Silver coin commemorating Roberto Clemente? They should but Get Ready for another US Mint Train Wreck.

Roberto Clemente was a hero who died because of failed US - Latin American Foreign Policy. Now watch Congress Kill him again with their inaction.

A United States congressman is hoping to honor an iconic Pittsburgher with a special coin.

Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D) of New York introduced the "Roberto Clemente Commemorative Coin Act" alongside local Reps. Chris Deluzio (D) and Guy Reschenthaler (R).

If passed, the bill would require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint commemorative coins in recognition of the legendary Pittsburgh Pirate.

Key takeaways to this story:

I. Minted by US mint (worst mint in the world)
Gold will be 90% purity with total weight of 8.359 grams

II. Silver Coins

$1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 400,000 $1 coins, which shall—Weigh 26.73 grams; have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and contain not less than 90 percent silver.

HALF-DOLLAR CLAD COINS.—Not more than 750,000 half-dollar coins which shall—

(A) weigh 11.34 grams; have a diameter of 1.205 inches; and be minted to the specifications for half-dollar coins contained in section 5112(b) of title 31, United States Code.

Editors note, Read below:

Why wait until 2027, we just started 2024? …because US Government is just signaling they can get something done when we have the worst government and The US Mint is considered the World’s Worst Mint (when you talk to most people in the know)

The Silver Academy and World Gold Guild will make some calls on Monday, January 29, to push this towards private minting.

I would be a horrible journalist if I didn't add this.

Proper US foreign policy would have resulted in a situation where Roberto Clemente would be alive today. Almost anyone who has studied this situation agrees with me.

Roberto Clemente was a fierce competitor and considered the best Right fielder ever. ( defensively, arm strength, speed, batting, hit for power) He was a brave and faith-driven person governed by astounding values and convictions. 

With the humanitarian hero's urgency, Clemente was forced to take things into his own hands. Clemente took the food himself in a plane unsuitable for such an excursion. All because US neo-colonial policies of imperialism led to military dictatorships like Somoza who denied food shipments to earthquake victims.

If the US had intelligent and decent US Foreign policy instead of propping up US-trained "death squad" puppets to ravage third-world nations, then Roberto Clemente would still be alive.

US foreign policy in Central and South America has always favored the Military Dictator friendly to US Corporate interests, and anyone who studies foreign understands this. Read more on Anastasio Somoza below (remember it was US Foreign policy, the US military, and the CIA responsible for the deaths of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the Maryknoll sisters. Plus, thousands of indigenous people and farmers strived for land reform vs starvation) 

Of course, the US government labeled "land reform" as "communism," which was the cover for thousands of other deaths and human rights violations paid for by US taxpayers.

In 1971, West Point graduate Anastasio Somoza Jr., the third in a succession of US-backed Somoza dictators, canceled Nicaraguan Winter League baseball. However, the Nicaraguan national amateur team thrived. The following year, in front of euphoric home crowds in Estadio Nacional, the amateur team led by future major leaguers Dennis Martinez and Tony Chevez captured a bronze medal in the World Amateur Baseball Championships (WABC), including upsets over perennial champions Cuba and the United States. 

Those victories sparked national celebration. One of Nicaragua's proudest and most memorable moments was upended three weeks later when a massive earthquake struck Nicaragua, killing nearly 10,000 people and destroying half of Managua.

Clemente had just been in Nicaragua, managing the Puerto Rican team at the WABC games and making more friends there, many of whom were poor and needed help. 

Back home in San Juan, he decided to help the recovery, using the media to organize a massive food, clothing, and medical assistance campaign. 

Funded by Roberto Clemente himself, two cargo planes and a freighter began delivering the Puerto Rican aid. But soon, word got out that Somoza was siphoning off the international aid flowing into Managua (including $30 million from the United States) and stockpiling it for his corrupt government. President (close the gold window) Nixon dispatched a battalion of US paratroopers to Managua, which only further helped Somoza loot the country. Nixon claimed he didn't want the earthquake to provide opportunities for communists.

Clemente learned that when a private American medical team arrived in Managua, it had to fight local Somoza officials from confiscating the supplies it brought. When Clemente discovered that Somoza was diverting other aid, he was enraged and vowed "to personally deliver the relief he had gathered."

Well-known and respected in Nicaragua, Clemente believed his presence would ensure the aid would get to the people who needed it.

On December 31, 1972, the 38-year-old ballplayer boarded a broken-down and overloaded plane. Some warned him against making the trip, but he said, "[B]abies are dying. They need these supplies." Claiming that "the people in charge know what they're doing," Clemente may nevertheless have suspected something was wrong with the plane but said: "I have to go. I have to make sure everything's okay in Nicaragua." 32 Several minutes after takeoff, the aircraft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing Clemente and four others. 

118th CONGRESS - H. R. 6751

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint commemorative coins in recognition of the life and legacy of Roberto Clemente.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Mr. Espaillat (for himself, Mrs. González-Colón, Mr. Deluzio, and Mr. Reschenthaler) introduced the following bill, which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services.

A BILL

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint commemorative coins in recognition of the life and legacy of Roberto Clemente.

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 “Roberto Clemente Commemorative Coin Act.”

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds the following:

(1) Roberto Clemente Walker was born on August 18, 1934, to Don Melchor Clemente and Luisa Walker in Barrio San Antón, Carolina, Puerto Rico, as the youngest of 7 children.

(2) Clemente excelled in athletics as a youngster and, at the age of 17, was playing for the Santurce Cangrejeros “Crabbers” of the Puerto Rican Baseball League.

(3) In 1954, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected Clemente in the first round of the Major League Baseball Rule 5 draft.

(4) Pirates center fielder Earl Smith wore jersey number 21 until he parted ways with the team in April 1955, and Clemente wore number 13 until then.

(5) In 1955, Clemente made his Major League debut as he went on to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates, starting as a right fielder.

(6) When the team traveled to Richmond, Virginia, for games or Florida for spring training, Clemente encountered Jim Crow laws for the first time when the Black players had to stay at a separate, inferior hotel and were refused the option to dine with their White counterparts.

(7) Clemente was known for being a proud Afro-Latino and protested the discrimination that Latin and Black ball players encountered.

(8) Clemente was known for defending the rights of Black and Brown people, both on the field and in the streets.

(9) After the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968, Clemente and his teammates refused to play until after the funerals and even wrote a public statement showing their respect for Dr. King.

(10) Clemente became a union leader in the nascent Major League Baseball Players Association and defended players’ rights to demand better working conditions and benefits.

(11) In every city where the Pirates played, Clemente visited sick children in hospitals.

(12) Clemente established training clinics, providing baseball lessons and fun for boys and girls in Pittsburgh, his home island of Puerto Rico, and throughout Latin America.

(13) In 1958, Clemente enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve after the 1958 season and spent six months on active duty at Parris Island, South Carolina, and Camp LeJeune, North Carolina.

(14) Clemente served until 1964 and was inducted into the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.

(15) By the end of his career, Clemente had joined the exclusive 3,000-hit club, was selected to 15 All-Star teams, and won 12 Gold Gloves, 2 World Series, and a National League MVP award.

(16) In Clemente’s 18 seasons with Pittsburgh, he won 4 batting titles, hit 240 home runs, and posted a lifetime .317 batting average.

(17) In late 1972, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake ravaged Managua, Nicaragua, and killed 5,000 people.

(18) In his philanthropic spirit, Clemente sent shipments of humanitarian aid to the country.

(19) After learning that three previous shipments had been diverted by corrupt Somoza Government officials, Clemente decided to accompany one of the aid shipments.

(20) The four-engine DC–7 plane Clemente chartered for a flight on New Year’s Eve crashed in the Atlantic Ocean immediately after takeoff from the coast of Isla Verde, Puerto Rico.

(21) On December 31, 1972, Clemente died in a plane crash at the age of 38 years young.

(22) Since 1973, Major League Baseball has given out the Roberto Clemente Award to one player who “best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement, and the individual’s contribution to his team”.

(23) 2002 Major League Baseball declared the first annual Roberto Clemente Day.

(24) In 2021, Major League Baseball announced September 15 would be the permanent date of Roberto Clemente Day to coincide with the beginning of Hispanic Heritage month.

(25) Clemente was the first Latino player to accomplish many feats in Major League Baseball.

(26) Clemente was the first Puerto Rican and first person of Latino heritage to win a World Series as a starter, be named league MVP, be named World Series MVP, and be elected to the Hall of Fame.

(27) Clemente was posthumously elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, being the first National League baseball player to receive the mandatory 5-year waiting period waiver.

(28) Clemente was a legend in life and death, a baseball star, a humanitarian activist, and a symbol of Latin American pride;

SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

(a) Denominations.—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.—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.

(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.

(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 numismatic items.

SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS.

(a) Design Requirements.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—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.

(2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—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.”

(b) Selection.—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.

SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS.

(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.

SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS.

(a) Sale Price.—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).

(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.

SEC. 7. SURCHARGES.

(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.

(b) Distribution.—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—

(c) Audits.—The Roberto Clemente Foundation shall be subject to the audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, about the amounts received under subsection (b).

(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.

SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES.

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.