[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2730 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2730

   To amend title 31, United States Code, to provide a clear line of 
  demarcation with regard to private ownership of any coin, medal, or 
 numismatic item made or issued by the United States Government before 
 January 1, 1933, and of any piece produced by the United States Mint 
 before such date, that is not in the possession of the United States 
Government, to establish requirements with respect to the inventory of 
certain United States coins, medals, numismatic items, and other pieces 
produced by the United States Mint that are owned by the Department of 
                 the Treasury, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 14, 2007

  Mr. Lucas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 31, United States Code, to provide a clear line of 
  demarcation with regard to private ownership of any coin, medal, or 
 numismatic item made or issued by the United States Government before 
 January 1, 1933, and of any piece produced by the United States Mint 
 before such date, that is not in the possession of the United States 
Government, to establish requirements with respect to the inventory of 
certain United States coins, medals, numismatic items, and other pieces 
produced by the United States Mint that are owned by the Department of 
                 the Treasury, 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 ``Numismatic Rarities Certainty Act of 
2007''.

SEC. 2. DISPOSITION OF CERTAIN UNITED STATES COINS.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 51, United States Code, 
is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 5123. INVENTORY AND DISPOSITION OF CERTAIN UNITED STATES COINS, 
              MEDALS, NUMISMATIC ITEMS, AND OTHER PIECES PRODUCED BY 
              THE UNITED STATES MINT.

    ``(a) Pieces Made Before 1933.--Any coin, medal, numismatic item, 
or other piece struck or made in a United States Mint facility before 
January 1, 1933, that, as of the date of the enactment of the 
Numismatic Rarities Certainty Act of 2007, is not in the possession of 
the United States Government shall not be considered to be property of 
the United States, unless the coin, medal, numismatic item, or other 
piece produced by the United States Mint is reacquired by the United 
States Government for value given in a sale or exchange.
    ``(b) Inventory.--
            ``(1) In general.--By January 1, 2008, and every 5 years 
        thereafter, the Secretary of the Treasury shall conduct and 
        compile an inventory of all coins, medals, numismatic items, 
        and other pieces produced by the United States Mint that are 
        owned by the Department of the Treasury.
            ``(2) Information to be included.--The inventory shall 
        include a description of each item included in the inventory 
        and its current location and, if on loan, the name and location 
        of the agency, organization, or person that has custody of such 
        item.
            ``(3) Report on inventory.--The Secretary of the Treasury 
        shall submit the inventory together with a report containing 
        any findings, recommendations, or conclusions of the Secretary 
        with respect to the inventory to the President and the Congress 
        before January 31, 2008, and every 5 years thereafter.
    ``(c) Preservation, Display, Disposition or Destruction of Coins, 
Medals, Numismatic Items and Other Pieces Produced by the United States 
Mint That Are in the Possession of the United States Government.--
            ``(1) In general.--In the case of any coin, medal, 
        numismatic item, or other piece produced by the United States 
        Mint that is in, or comes into, the possession of the United 
        States Government, the coin, medal, numismatic item, or other 
        piece shall be transferred to the Secretary of the Treasury, if 
        not already in the Secretary's possession, and the Secretary 
        shall take the appropriate action required with respect to such 
        coin, medal, numismatic item, or other piece under paragraph 
        (2).
            ``(2) Disposition of coins, medals, or numismatic items.--
                    ``(A) Determination of available items.--Upon 
                taking possession, under paragraph (1), of any coin, 
                medal, numismatic item, or other piece produced by the 
                United States Mint, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
                make a determination of the number and condition of the 
                coins, medals, numismatic items, and pieces of the same 
                denomination, quality, type, and year of production as 
                the coin, medal, numismatic item, or piece referred to 
                in such paragraph, taking into account the most recent 
                inventory conducted in accordance with subsection (b).
                    ``(B) Historic preservation and public display.--
                The Secretary shall ensure that an appropriate number 
                of any coin, medal, numismatic item, or other piece 
                produced by the United States Mint of the same 
                denomination, quality, type, and year of production 
                that are in or come into the Secretary's possession--
                            ``(i) are retained for historical purposes; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) are made available for public 
                        viewing at such times and places as the 
                        Secretary, in the sole discretion of the 
                        Secretary, determines to be appropriate.
                    ``(C) Sale of excess at public auction.--
                            ``(i) In general.--If the Secretary 
                        determines that the number of any coins, 
                        medals, numismatic items, or other pieces 
                        produced by the United States Mint of the same 
                        denomination, quality, type, and year of 
                        production that are in the Secretary's 
                        possession exceeds the number that are 
                        appropriate for historic preservation and 
                        public display under subparagraph (B), the 
                        Secretary may dispose of such excess, or such 
                        portion of the excess as the Secretary 
                        determines to be appropriate, at public 
                        auction.
                            ``(ii) Proceeds.--The proceeds from any 
                        auction conducted by the Secretary under clause 
                        (i) shall be deposited in a fund to be used for 
                        the preservation and display of such coins, 
                        medals, numismatic items, or other pieces 
                        produced by the United States Mint that remain 
                        in the possession of the Secretary in a way 
                        that the Secretary, in consultation with the 
                        Congress, determines to be appropriate.
                    ``(D) Standards.--In making any determination with 
                regard to any public auction of coins, medals, 
                numismatic items, or other pieces under subparagraph 
                (C)(i), the following standards shall be taken into 
                account by the Secretary:
                            ``(i) Maximum return to the Government.
                            ``(ii) Interest of the numismatic community 
                        in the sale and in the items to be offered for 
                        sale.
                            ``(iii) Interest of the general public in 
                        the items to be offered for sale.
                    ``(E) Destruction of unsold excess.--Any coins, 
                medals, numismatic items, or other pieces produced by 
                the United States Mint that--
                            ``(i) were determined by the Secretary, 
                        under subparagraph (C)(i) to be in excess of 
                        the number of such coins, medals, numismatic 
                        items, or pieces that are appropriate for 
                        historic preservation and public display under 
                        subparagraph (B); and
                            ``(ii) remain unsold following an auction 
                        under such subparagraph, or were withheld from 
                        such auction by the Secretary in accordance 
                        with subparagraph (C)(i),
                may be treated as obsolete and disposed of in the 
                manner provided in section 5120.
            ``(3) Report to the congress.--In the event of the disposal 
        pursuant to paragraph (2)(E) of any coins, medals, numismatic 
        items, or other pieces produced by the United States Mint, the 
        Secretary shall immediately report such disposal to the 
        Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives 
        and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the 
        Senate.
            ``(4) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the 
        following definitions shall apply:
                    ``(A) Numismatic item.--The term `numismatic item' 
                includes any item that would be included within the 
                meaning of such term under section 5134(a)(3) if the 
                Secretary of the Treasury had the lawful authority to 
                make the item when it was made.
                    ``(B) Coin, medal, numismatic item, or other piece 
                struck or made in a united states mint facility.--The 
                terms `coin, medal, numismatic item, or other piece 
                struck or made in a United States Mint facility' and 
                `any coins, medals, numismatic items, or other pieces 
                produced by the United States Mint' do not include any 
                item produced for a foreign country or any person.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 51, 
United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
section 5122 the following new item:

``Sec. 5123. Inventory and disposition of certain United States coins, 
                            medals, numismatic items, and other pieces 
                            produced by the United States Mint.''.
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