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HR 3956 IH

To authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe the weights and the compositions of circulating coins, and for other purposes.

October 24, 2007

Mr. SPACE (for himself, Mr. GUTIERREZ, and Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

To authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe the weights and the compositions of circulating coins, and for other purposes.

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 and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2007'.

SEC. 2. WEIGHTS AND COMPOSITIONS OF CIRCULATING COINS.

(a) Weight and Composition of Circulating Coins Determined by the Secretary- Section 5112(c) of title 31, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

`(c) Weight and Composition of Coins-

`(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary shall prescribe the weight and the composition of the dollar, half dollar, quarter dollar, dime, 5-cent, and 1-cent coins.

`(2) FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED- In prescribing the weight and the composition of the dollar, half dollar, quarter dollar, dime, 5-cent, and 1-cent coins, the Secretary shall consider--

`(A) factors relevant to the acceptability of new coinage materials, including the effect on vending machines; and

`(B) such other factors that the Secretary considers, in the Secretary's sole discretion, to be appropriate.'.

(b) Technical and Conforming Amendments-

(1) Section 5112(a) of title 31, United States Code, is amended--

(A) in paragraph (2), by striking `and weighs 11.34 grams';

(B) in paragraph (3), by striking `and weighs 5.67 grams';

(C) in paragraph (4), by striking `and weighs 2.268 grams';

(D) in paragraph (5), by striking `and weighs 5 grams'; and

(E) by striking paragraph (6) and inserting the following new paragraph:

`(6) A 1-cent coin that is 0.75 inch in diameter.'.

(2) Section 5112(b) of title 31, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

`(b) Specifications for $1 Coins and Gold Coins- The $1 coin shall be golden in color, have a distinctive edge, have tactile and visual features that make the denomination of the coin readily discernible, be minted and fabricated in the United States, and have similar metallic, anti-counterfeiting properties as United States coinage in circulation on the date of enactment of the United States $1 Coin Act of 1997. In minting gold coins, the Secretary shall use alloys that vary not more than 0.1 percent from the percent of gold required. The specifications for alloys are by weight.'.

(3) Section 5113(a) of title 31, United States Code, is amended--

(A) in the 1st sentence, by striking `and dime coins' and inserting `dime, 5-cent, and 1-cent coins.'; and

(B) by striking the second and third sentences.

SEC. 3. SUSPENSION OF REGULATORY AUTHORITY.

(a) In General- The regulations prescribed by the Director of the United States Mint, pursuant to a delegation by the Secretary of the Treasury of the Secretary's authority under section 5111(d) of title 31, United States Code, as published in final form in the Federal Register on April 16, 2007 (Vol. 72, No. 72, page 18880, et seq.), and codified as part 82 of chapter 1 of subtitle B of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, shall cease to apply as of the date of the enactment of this Act, and shall have no force or effect after such date, with respect to 1-cent coins.

(b) Suspension of Prospective Regulations- The Secretary of the Treasury shall have no authority to prescribe any regulations under section 5111(d) of title 31, United States Code, that would limit or prohibit the export, melting, or treatment of the 1-cent coin during the period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and ending on the date when the Secretary first issues a 1-cent coin with a different metallic content than the 1-cent coins issued as of such date of enactment.

(c) No Effect on Other Coins- No provision of this section shall be construed as affecting--

(1) the applicability of the regulations referred to in subsection (a) to coins other than the 1-cent coin; or

(2) the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe regulations under section 5111(d) of title 31, United States Code, with respect to coins other than the 1-cent coin.