SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE


This Act may be cited as the "Famous Dogs Half Dollar Coin Act"


SEC 2. DESIGN AND ISSUANCE OF HALF DOLLAR COINS FEATURING FAMOUS DOGS OF U.S. HISTORY


(a) Notwithstanding the Authority of the Secretary of the Treasury under the 8th undesignated paragraph of section 16 of the Federal Reserve Act, beginning in 2015, coins in the denomination of fifty cents, shall be issued, and have such designs, and shall be in such form and tenor as the Secretary may select in accordance with this section.


(b) These "Famous Dogs" Half Dollar Coins shall be sized between the size of the five cent coin and quarter dollar coin, copper in color, nonagon in shape, and a bit thicker than all other U.S. coins, yet thin enough to still work in vending machines. These new half dollars will incorperate these new features to make the new halves distinguishible from all other U.S. coins, and to be lighter than a quarter dollar, to solve the problem many people have with half dollars being "too heavy".


(c) The "Famous Dogs Half Dollar Coin Act" shall be a 9 year program that shall feature four new obverses of the half dollar coin, honoring four different famous dogs per year, to honor dogs for serving man kind for tens of thousands of years, and shall honor and feature such fallen dogs as, fire, police, rescue, military and sled dogs who served or lost their lives, serving man kind, with Balto being the first to be honored. Each honored dog's name and breed, and the words "In God We Trust" shall be stamped into the obverse of these half dollar coins, and shall border around the bottom of the "heads" side of these new coins. If the famous dog being honored is not a purebred "Mixed Breed" shall be stamped on the border of the coin.

SEC 3. WILD DOG ANSESTORS TO BE FEATURED AND HONORED ON REVERSE OF THE "FAMOUS DOGS" HALF DOLLAR COINS.


(a)The Gray Wolf shall be featured on the reverse of these new half dollars for the first three years of the "Famou Dogs" half dollar coin program, to respect and honor the wild relatives that these dogs came from. And for wolves being the first dogs to serve man kind. "Gray Wolf" and "Half Dollar" shall be stamped on the bottom of the new coins and border the edge of the "tails" side of these new half dollar coins.


(b) The Coyote shall be featured on the reverse of these new half dollar coins for the second three years of the "Famous Dogs" half dollar coin program.. This will help honor another wild dog relative that provided fur for clothing, bones for tools and jewelry and such to the Native Americans and were a part of Native American agriculture. "Coyote" and "Half Dollar" shall be stamped into the reverse of these new half dollar coins, and shall border the bottom edge of the "tails" side of these new half dollar coins.


(c) And the North American Red Fox shall be featured on the reverse of these new half dollar coins for the last three years of the "Famous Dogs" half dollar coin program. This will help us honor and respect foxes as a dog relative that, like the Coyote, contributed to the Native Americans, providing fur for clothing, bones for tools, jewelry and such and were a part of Native American agriculture. "North American Red Fox" and "Half Dollar" shall be stamped on the reverse of these new half dollar coins and shall border the bottom edge of such coins.


SEC 4. EXCLUSION OF FALSE FAMOUS DOGS


(a) These new half dollar coins shall NOT include or feature dogs, that were famous for being in movies/shows/films, or for being a famous celebrity or presidential pet, etc.with the exception of Rin Tin Tin, who actually served as a real life hero war and police dog before becoming a celebrity dog. The "Famous Dogs Half Dollar Coin Act" shall only honor dogs that were true life serving, life saving, real life heroes, with the exception of the wild dog ancestors of the dogs being featured on the reverse of such coins.


SEC 5. PUBLIC AWARENESS PROGRAM


(a) Within a certain time, the general public, vending, self checkout and other coin-op industries shall be made aware of the new Famous Dogs Half Dollar Coins' release date. Vendors and other industries shall be given time to retool their machines to accept the new "Famous Dogs" half dollar coins, should they choose to do so. Public educational information materials shall also be provided to educate businesses, cashiers and consumers about the new half dollar coins.


SEC 6. CONVERTING TO A PERMANENT DESIGN


After the "Famous Dogs" half dollar coin program ends, the "post-Famous Dogs" half dollar coin shall keep the same size, shape and compositions as the "Famous Dogs" half dollar coins, and shall feature a famous human figure of U.S. history, mandated by Congress.


SEC 7. DESIGN RELEASE SCHEDULE:


Year: Dog (Obverse) "Service" Dog Ancestor (Reverse)
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2015 1 Balto Sled Dog Gray Wolf

2 Togo Sled Dog

3 Fritz Sled Dog

4 Fox Sled Dog


2016 5 Sye Sled Dog Gray Wolf

6 Old Moctoc Sled Dog

7 Tillie Sled Dog

8 Billy Sled Dog


2017 9 Alaska Slim Sled Dog Gray Wolf

10 Rin Tin Tin Military/Police Dog

11 Mattie Police Dog

12 Dolph Police Dog


2018 13 Rosie Police Dog Coyote

14 Wallace Fire Dog

15 Pat Fire Dog

16 Chips War Dog


2019 17 Lex War Dog Coyote

18 Sargent Stubby War Dog

19 Smoky War Dog

20 Sallie War Dog


2020 21 Nemo A534 War Dog Coyote

22 Bamse War Dog

23 Gander War Dog

24 Gunner War Dog


2021 25 Horrie the Wog Dog War Dog North American Red Fox

26 Judy War Dog

27 Just Nuisance War Dog

28 Lava War Dog


2022 29 Moustach War Dog North American Red Fox

30 Trigger (Orginally named after the "N-word" censored out) War Dog

31 Rifleman Khan War Dog

32 Rip War Dog


2023 33 Saba War Dog North American Red Fox

34 Sinbad War Dog

35 Tich War Dog

36 Rags War Dog