JohnQPublic
30th December 2010, 07:51 PM
H.R.6162
One Hundred Eleventh Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the fifth day of January, two thousand and ten
An Act
To provide research and development authority for alternative coinage materials to the Secretary of the Treasury, increase congressional oversight over coin production, and ensure the continuity of certain numismatic items.
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 ‘Coin Modernization, Oversight, and Continuity Act of 2010’.
SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ON ALL CIRCULATING COINS.
(a) In General- To accomplish the goals of this Act and the requirements of subchapter II of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code, the Secretary of the Treasury may--
(1) conduct any appropriate testing of appropriate coinage metallic materials within or outside of the Department of the Treasury; and
(2) solicit input from or otherwise work in conjunction with entities within or outside of the Federal Government including independent research facilities or current or potential suppliers of the metallic material used in volume production of circulating coins,
to complete the report referred to in this Act and to develop and evaluate the use of new metallic materials.
(b) Factors to Be Considered- In the conduct of research, development, and the solicitation of input or work in conjunction with entities within and outside the Federal Government, and in reporting to the Congress with recommendations, as required by this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall consider the following:
(1) Factors relevant to the potential impact of any revisions to the composition of the material used in coin production on the current coinage material suppliers.
(2) Factors relevant to the ease of use and ability to co-circulate of new coinage materials, including the effect on vending machines and commercial coin processing equipment and making certain, to the greatest extent practicable, that any new coins work without interruption in existing coin acceptance equipment without modification.
(3) Such other factors that the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with merchants who would be affected by any change in the composition of circulating coins, vending machine and other coin acceptor manufacturers, vending machine owners and operators, transit officials, municipal parking officials, depository institutions, coin and currency handlers, armored-car operators, car wash operators, and American-owned manufacturers of commercial coin processing equipment, considers to be appropriate and in the public interest, after notice and opportunity for comment.
SEC. 3. BIENNIAL REPORT TO THE CONGRESS ON THE CURRENT STATUS OF COIN PRODUCTION COSTS AND ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVE CONTENT.
(a) Report Required- Before the end of the 2-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, and at 2-year intervals following the end of such period, the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate analyzing production costs for each circulating coin, cost trends for such production, and possible new metallic materials or technologies for the production of circulating coins.
(b) Detailed Recommendations- In preparing and submitting the reports required under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall include detailed recommendations for any appropriate changes to the metallic content of circulating coins in such a form that the recommendations could be enacted into law as appropriate.
(c) Improved Production Efficiency- In preparing and submitting the reports required under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall include recommendations for changes in the methods of producing coins that would further reduce the costs to produce circulating coins, and include notes on the legislative changes that are necessary to achieve such goals.
(d) Minimizing Conversion Costs- In preparing and submitting the reports required under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury, to the greatest extent possible, may not include any recommendation for new specifications for producing a circulating coin that would require any significant change to coin-accepting and coin-handling equipment to accommodate changes to all circulating coins simultaneously.
(e) Fraud Prevention- The reports required under this section shall make no recommendation for a specification change that would facilitate or allow the use of a coin with a lesser value produced, minted, or issued by another country, or the use of any token or other easily or regularly produced metal device of minimal value, in the place of a circulating coin produced by the Secretary.
(f) Rule of Construction- No provision of this Act shall be construed as requiring that additional research and development be conducted for any report under this Act but any such report shall include information on any such research and development during the period covered by the report.
SEC. 4. MEETING DEMAND FOR SILVER AND GOLD NUMISMATIC ITEMS.
Subsections (e) and (i) of section 5112 of title 31, United States Code are each amended by striking ‘quantities’ and inserting ‘qualities and quantities that the Secretary determines are’.SEC. 5. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.
Section 5112(u)(1) of title 31, United States Code is amended--
(1) by striking ‘exact duplicates’ and inserting ‘likenesses’;
(2) by striking subparagraph (C);
(3) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) and (E) as subparagraphs (C) and (D), respectively; and
(4) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘of 3.0 inches’ and inserting ‘determined by the Secretary that is no less than 2.5 inches and no greater than 3.0 inches’.
SEC. 6. BUDGETARY EFFECT.
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest statement titled ‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’ for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CURRENT LAW (as amended):
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall mint and issue, in quantities qualities and quantities that the Secretary determines are sufficient to meet public demand, coins which—
(1) are 40.6 millimeters in diameter and weigh 31.103 grams;
(2) contain .999 fine silver;
(3) have a design—
(A) symbolic of Liberty on the obverse side; and
(B) of an eagle on the reverse side;
(4) have inscriptions of the year of minting or issuance, and the words “Liberty”, “In God We Trust”, “United States of America”, “1 Oz. Fine Silver”, “E Pluribus Unum”, and “One Dollar”; and
(5) have reeded edges.
(f) Silver Coins.— (1) Sale price.— The Secretary shall sell the coins minted under subsection (e) to the public at a price equal to the market value of the bullion at the time of sale, plus the cost of minting, marketing, and distributing such coins (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and promotional and overhead expenses).
(2) Bulk sales.— The Secretary shall make bulk sales of the coins minted under subsection (e) at a reasonable discount.
(3) Numismatic items.— For purposes of section 5132 (a)(1) of this title, all coins minted under subsection (e) shall be considered to be numismatic items.
(g) For purposes of section 5132 (a)(1) of this title, all coins minted under subsection (e) of this section shall be considered to be numismatic items.
(h) The coins issued under this title shall be legal tender as provided in section 5103 of this title.
(i) (1) Notwithstanding section 5111 (a)(1) of this title, the Secretary shall mint and issue the gold coins described in paragraphs (7), (8), (9), and (10) of subsection (a) of this section, in quantities qualities and quantities that the Secretary determines are sufficient to meet public demand, and such gold coins shall—
(A) have a design determined by the Secretary, except that the fifty dollar gold coin shall have—
(i) on the obverse side, a design symbolic of Liberty; and
(ii) on the reverse side, a design representing a family of eagles, with the male carrying an olive branch and flying above a nest containing a female eagle and hatchlings;
(B) have inscriptions of the denomination, the weight of the fine gold content, the year of minting or issuance, and the words “Liberty”, “In God We Trust”, “United States of America”, and “E Pluribus Unum”; and
(C) have reeded edges.
(2)
(A) The Secretary shall sell the coins minted under this subsection to the public at a price equal to the market value of the bullion at the time of sale, plus the cost of minting, marketing, and distributing such coins (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and promotional and overhead expenses).
(B) The Secretary shall make bulk sales of the coins minted under this subsection at a reasonable discount.
(3) For purposes of section 5132 (a)(1) of this title, all coins minted under this subsection shall be considered to be numismatic items.
(4)
(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law and subject to subparagraph (B), the Secretary of the Treasury may change the diameter, weight, or design of any coin minted under this subsection or the fineness of the gold in the alloy of any such coin if the Secretary determines that the specific diameter, weight, design, or fineness of gold which differs from that otherwise required by law is appropriate for such coin.
(B) The Secretary may not mint any coin with respect to which a determination has been made by the Secretary under subparagraph (A) before the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date a notice of such determination is published in the Federal Register.
(C) The Secretary may continue to mint and issue coins in accordance with the specifications contained in paragraphs (7), (8), (9), and (10) of subsection (a) and paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection at the same time the Secretary in minting and issuing other bullion and proof gold coins under this subsection in accordance with such program procedures and coin specifications, designs, varieties, quantities, denominations, and inscriptions as the Secretary, in the Secretary’s discretion, may prescribe from time to time
One Hundred Eleventh Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the fifth day of January, two thousand and ten
An Act
To provide research and development authority for alternative coinage materials to the Secretary of the Treasury, increase congressional oversight over coin production, and ensure the continuity of certain numismatic items.
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 ‘Coin Modernization, Oversight, and Continuity Act of 2010’.
SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ON ALL CIRCULATING COINS.
(a) In General- To accomplish the goals of this Act and the requirements of subchapter II of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code, the Secretary of the Treasury may--
(1) conduct any appropriate testing of appropriate coinage metallic materials within or outside of the Department of the Treasury; and
(2) solicit input from or otherwise work in conjunction with entities within or outside of the Federal Government including independent research facilities or current or potential suppliers of the metallic material used in volume production of circulating coins,
to complete the report referred to in this Act and to develop and evaluate the use of new metallic materials.
(b) Factors to Be Considered- In the conduct of research, development, and the solicitation of input or work in conjunction with entities within and outside the Federal Government, and in reporting to the Congress with recommendations, as required by this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall consider the following:
(1) Factors relevant to the potential impact of any revisions to the composition of the material used in coin production on the current coinage material suppliers.
(2) Factors relevant to the ease of use and ability to co-circulate of new coinage materials, including the effect on vending machines and commercial coin processing equipment and making certain, to the greatest extent practicable, that any new coins work without interruption in existing coin acceptance equipment without modification.
(3) Such other factors that the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with merchants who would be affected by any change in the composition of circulating coins, vending machine and other coin acceptor manufacturers, vending machine owners and operators, transit officials, municipal parking officials, depository institutions, coin and currency handlers, armored-car operators, car wash operators, and American-owned manufacturers of commercial coin processing equipment, considers to be appropriate and in the public interest, after notice and opportunity for comment.
SEC. 3. BIENNIAL REPORT TO THE CONGRESS ON THE CURRENT STATUS OF COIN PRODUCTION COSTS AND ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVE CONTENT.
(a) Report Required- Before the end of the 2-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, and at 2-year intervals following the end of such period, the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate analyzing production costs for each circulating coin, cost trends for such production, and possible new metallic materials or technologies for the production of circulating coins.
(b) Detailed Recommendations- In preparing and submitting the reports required under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall include detailed recommendations for any appropriate changes to the metallic content of circulating coins in such a form that the recommendations could be enacted into law as appropriate.
(c) Improved Production Efficiency- In preparing and submitting the reports required under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall include recommendations for changes in the methods of producing coins that would further reduce the costs to produce circulating coins, and include notes on the legislative changes that are necessary to achieve such goals.
(d) Minimizing Conversion Costs- In preparing and submitting the reports required under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury, to the greatest extent possible, may not include any recommendation for new specifications for producing a circulating coin that would require any significant change to coin-accepting and coin-handling equipment to accommodate changes to all circulating coins simultaneously.
(e) Fraud Prevention- The reports required under this section shall make no recommendation for a specification change that would facilitate or allow the use of a coin with a lesser value produced, minted, or issued by another country, or the use of any token or other easily or regularly produced metal device of minimal value, in the place of a circulating coin produced by the Secretary.
(f) Rule of Construction- No provision of this Act shall be construed as requiring that additional research and development be conducted for any report under this Act but any such report shall include information on any such research and development during the period covered by the report.
SEC. 4. MEETING DEMAND FOR SILVER AND GOLD NUMISMATIC ITEMS.
Subsections (e) and (i) of section 5112 of title 31, United States Code are each amended by striking ‘quantities’ and inserting ‘qualities and quantities that the Secretary determines are’.SEC. 5. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.
Section 5112(u)(1) of title 31, United States Code is amended--
(1) by striking ‘exact duplicates’ and inserting ‘likenesses’;
(2) by striking subparagraph (C);
(3) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) and (E) as subparagraphs (C) and (D), respectively; and
(4) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘of 3.0 inches’ and inserting ‘determined by the Secretary that is no less than 2.5 inches and no greater than 3.0 inches’.
SEC. 6. BUDGETARY EFFECT.
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest statement titled ‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’ for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CURRENT LAW (as amended):
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall mint and issue, in quantities qualities and quantities that the Secretary determines are sufficient to meet public demand, coins which—
(1) are 40.6 millimeters in diameter and weigh 31.103 grams;
(2) contain .999 fine silver;
(3) have a design—
(A) symbolic of Liberty on the obverse side; and
(B) of an eagle on the reverse side;
(4) have inscriptions of the year of minting or issuance, and the words “Liberty”, “In God We Trust”, “United States of America”, “1 Oz. Fine Silver”, “E Pluribus Unum”, and “One Dollar”; and
(5) have reeded edges.
(f) Silver Coins.— (1) Sale price.— The Secretary shall sell the coins minted under subsection (e) to the public at a price equal to the market value of the bullion at the time of sale, plus the cost of minting, marketing, and distributing such coins (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and promotional and overhead expenses).
(2) Bulk sales.— The Secretary shall make bulk sales of the coins minted under subsection (e) at a reasonable discount.
(3) Numismatic items.— For purposes of section 5132 (a)(1) of this title, all coins minted under subsection (e) shall be considered to be numismatic items.
(g) For purposes of section 5132 (a)(1) of this title, all coins minted under subsection (e) of this section shall be considered to be numismatic items.
(h) The coins issued under this title shall be legal tender as provided in section 5103 of this title.
(i) (1) Notwithstanding section 5111 (a)(1) of this title, the Secretary shall mint and issue the gold coins described in paragraphs (7), (8), (9), and (10) of subsection (a) of this section, in quantities qualities and quantities that the Secretary determines are sufficient to meet public demand, and such gold coins shall—
(A) have a design determined by the Secretary, except that the fifty dollar gold coin shall have—
(i) on the obverse side, a design symbolic of Liberty; and
(ii) on the reverse side, a design representing a family of eagles, with the male carrying an olive branch and flying above a nest containing a female eagle and hatchlings;
(B) have inscriptions of the denomination, the weight of the fine gold content, the year of minting or issuance, and the words “Liberty”, “In God We Trust”, “United States of America”, and “E Pluribus Unum”; and
(C) have reeded edges.
(2)
(A) The Secretary shall sell the coins minted under this subsection to the public at a price equal to the market value of the bullion at the time of sale, plus the cost of minting, marketing, and distributing such coins (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and promotional and overhead expenses).
(B) The Secretary shall make bulk sales of the coins minted under this subsection at a reasonable discount.
(3) For purposes of section 5132 (a)(1) of this title, all coins minted under this subsection shall be considered to be numismatic items.
(4)
(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law and subject to subparagraph (B), the Secretary of the Treasury may change the diameter, weight, or design of any coin minted under this subsection or the fineness of the gold in the alloy of any such coin if the Secretary determines that the specific diameter, weight, design, or fineness of gold which differs from that otherwise required by law is appropriate for such coin.
(B) The Secretary may not mint any coin with respect to which a determination has been made by the Secretary under subparagraph (A) before the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date a notice of such determination is published in the Federal Register.
(C) The Secretary may continue to mint and issue coins in accordance with the specifications contained in paragraphs (7), (8), (9), and (10) of subsection (a) and paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection at the same time the Secretary in minting and issuing other bullion and proof gold coins under this subsection in accordance with such program procedures and coin specifications, designs, varieties, quantities, denominations, and inscriptions as the Secretary, in the Secretary’s discretion, may prescribe from time to time