[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 28, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E469-E471]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION SEEKING TO RESTORE THE UNITED STATES ASSAY 
                               COMMISSION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. STEVEN R. ROTHMAN

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 28, 2001

  Mr. ROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to announce my introduction of 
a House Resolution designed to re-authorize the creation of the United 
States Assay Commission, an American institution that was initiated in 
1792.
  The Assay Commission was authorized by the original Mint Act of April 
2, 1792 and continued to meet each year (with the exception of 1815) 
until about 20 years ago, when it was finally abolished in 1980. During 
that time, it was the oldest continually operating committee in the 
federal government and brought in outside people to maintain oversight 
over the operations of the U.S. Mint.
  Originally authorized as part of the nation's first Mint Act of April 
2, 1792, the purpose of the Assay Commission was to examine the 
nation's coins on an annual basis and certify to the President, 
Congress, and the American people that gold and silver coins had the 
necessary purity, the proper weight, and necessarily, value.
  Among the earliest members, statutorily, were Thomas Jefferson, James 
Madison, James Monroe, Alexander Hamilton, and even the Chief Justice 
of the Supreme Court. Starting about 140 years ago, some members of the 
general public were invited to participate, and at the time that the 
Coinage Act of 1873 was passed, it was codified that the President had 
the right to appoint members of the Assay Commission from the general 
public at large. That practice continued for more than a century, 
though after 1970 there were no longer silver coins to review.
  By the time that the Assay Commission was abolished in the Carter 
Administration as part of the President's re-organization project, it 
no longer served any valid function because the U.S. Mint was no longer 
producing gold or silver coinage--whether of a circulating or of a 
commemorative nature.
  Starting in 1982, the Mint began anew producing contemporary 
commemorative coinage from .900 fine silver. By 1984, gold 
commemorative coins for the Olympic games were added, and since then 
the U.S. Mint has produced hundreds of millions of dollars worth of 
retail sales of gold, and silver commemorative coinage. Since 1986, the 
Mint began producing gold, silver and platinum bullion coins which are 
now widely traded all over the world.
  Mr. Speaker, I recall that in the mid-1980's, lacking outside 
oversight, a problem was discovered in one of the Mint's bullion 
products. It appears, from the official Mint records, that some 
fractional gold eagle coins (those weighing less than an ounce) did not 
have the proper fineness or weight in gold. Because of this, there was 
a serious marketing problem in the Far East, as confidence in this 
uniquely American product diminished.
  Today, the United States Mint is a business that, were it in 
privately controlled hands, would constitute a Fortune-500 corporation.
  It has come to my attention that an informal, ad hoc group of former 
Presidential appointees, all former Assay Commissioners, have suggested 
that it is time for the Mint to have the oversight of the Annual Assay 
commission. In fact, this distinguished group reiterated their concern 
this past summer at a reunion meeting held in the Assay Room of the 
Philadelphia Mint in conjunction with the American Numismatic 
Association's anniversary convention.
  Service on the commission is essentially an honorary task, as the 
members of the committee have historically paid for all of their own 
expenses, including their transportation costs and overnight stay at 
Philadelphia's Mint when necessary.
  There are obviously minor costs associated with it, but each of these 
is quite capable of being covered by the Mint's rotating Enterprise 
fund.
  Mr. Speaker, an article advocating the restoration of the annual 
Assay Commission written by Fair Lawn, New Jersey Mayor, David L. Ganz, 
appeared in Numismatic News, a weekly coin hobby periodical. I would 
ask that this article be reprinted, in full, in the Congressional 
Record.
  In the course of two centuries of existence, more than a thousand 
individuals served on the annual Assay Commission. During the era when 
the Mint was active in promoting commemorative coinage, they 
constituted a group who not only participated in their government first 
hand, but also thereafter served as good-will ambassadors for the 
products of the United States Mint.
  The Mint has dozens of products that it offers to collectors, and 
since the 50 state quarter program began, the ranks of those collecting 
coins has grown from three to five million Americans to more than 125 
million people collecting state quarters. Some of those state quarters 
are made of coin silver, and having citizens retain some oversight over 
these coins not only keeps consumer confidence in the Mint's operations 
high, but affords the rare opportunity for citizens to regularly, and 
actively, participate in their government.
  I urge my colleagues to help me re-authorize the Assay Commission by 
cosponsoring the legislation that I have introduced today.

                [From the Numismatic News, Oct. 5, 1999]

             Time to Consider Reviving the Assay Commission

                           (By David L. Ganz)

       Let me set the stage. A quarter century ago this past 
     February, Richard Nixon was in the final throes of his star-
     crossed Presidency, though no one yet suspected that 
     Watergate was about to become his ultimate

[[Page E470]]

     downfall and lead to probable impeachment. American coinage 
     of 1974 was devoid of silver, and private gold ownership had 
     been illegal since 1933, except for rare and unusual gold 
     coin of that era or earlier, unless the Office of Domestic 
     Gold & Silver Operations gave a rarely sought, seldom-granted 
     license to acquire the particular specimen. As Washington 
     hunkered down for a difficult winter storm, the White House 
     press office was readying a press release that would surprise 
     many for the number of Democrats and other non-supporters of 
     President Nixon that were to be listed--not the so-called 
     Enemy's List, but actually a designation to public service.
       The weeks before had been trying for the applicants, many 
     of whom had written letters, sent resumes, asked political 
     contacts for a personal boost, responded to background checks 
     that were initiated by government staff, followed up by 
     security agencies interested in potential skeletons that 
     could prove embarrassing to the White House if found in a 
     presidential appointee. First inklings of what was to 
     transpire probably came to most individuals in the form of a 
     telephone call on Friday, Feb. 8 from Washington, asking if 
     the prospect could be available for official travel the 
     following week on Tuesday. Arrangements were strictly on your 
     own, as were virtually all of the associated expenses in 
     traveling to Philadelphia. What this preparation was for was 
     the Trial of the Pyx, the annual Assay Commission, a 
     tradition stretching back to 1792, and at that time, the 
     oldest continually operating commission in the Untied States 
     government.
       First of the commissions, which were mandated by the 
     original Coinage Act of April 2, 1792 were deemed so 
     essential to the confidence of the public in the national 
     money that section 18 of the legislation directed that the 
     original inspectors were to include the chief Justice of the 
     United States, the Secretary and Comptroller of the Currency, 
     the Secretary of the Department of State, and the Attorney 
     General of the United States. This was neither a casual 
     request nor one that was considered so unimportant an aide 
     could attend. The statute is explicit: this who's who ``are 
     hereby required to attend for that purpose'', meaning that in 
     July of 1795, chief justice John Jay, Secretary of State 
     Edmund Randolph, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, 
     Attorney General William Bradford may have gathered.
       In the Jefferson Administration, consider this remarkable 
     group: Chief Justice John Marshall; Secretary of State (and 
     future president) James Madison; Secretary of the Treasury 
     Albert Gallatin, Attorney General Caesar Rodney might all 
     have been there. By 1801, the statute had been amended to add 
     the United States District Judge for Pennsylvania as an 
     officer at the Annual Assay, and by the time that the Act of 
     January 18, 1837 was approved, the cabinet officials and the 
     Chief Justice were omitted in favor of the U.S. District 
     Court Judge from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (the 
     state having been divided in half for judicial purposes), 
     other governmental officials, and ``such other persons as the 
     President shall, from time to time, designate for that 
     purpose, who shall meet as commissioners, for the performance 
     of this duty, on the second Monday in February, annually. . . 
     . .'' Flash forward to 1974. The call comes from Washington. 
     A trek begins to Philadelphia, where it has begun to snow. 
     Dozens of people from all across the country come to serve on 
     the Assay Commission, all traveling at their own expense.
       Starting in the midst of the Truman Administration, a 
     serious numismatist or two had begun to be appointed. Some 
     who assisted the government in some numismatic or related 
     matter were similarly given the honor. Among the early 
     appointees: Max Schwartz (1945), the New York attorney who 
     later became ANA's legal counsel; Ted Hammer (1947), John Jay 
     Pittman (1947), Adm. Oscar Dodson (1948), and Hans M.F. 
     Schulman (1952). Some came by air (from California); others 
     drove. I came by train, on Amtrak's Metroliner, leaving from 
     New York's Penn Station and arriving an hour and a half later 
     at Philadelphia's station by the same name. Those who came in 
     February, 1974, gathered on Tuesday evening, Feb. 12, at the 
     Holiday Inn off Independence Mall, and unlike years when 
     there were only one or two hobbyists, this was a banner year. 
     (I almost did not attend; having started law school just 
     three or four weeks before, I had to petition the Dean of the 
     School to permit the attendance lapse and honor the 
     presidential appointment).
       My classmates, as we have referred to ourselves over the 
     succeeding quarter century, included some then and future 
     hobby luminaries: Don Bailey (former officer of Arizona 
     Numismatic Association), John Barrett (member of several 
     local clubs), Dr. Harold Bushey, Sam Butland (Washington 
     Numismatic Society V.P.), Charles Colver (CSNA Secretary), 
     David Cooper (CSNS v.p.), George Crocker (S.C.N.A. 
     president), Joe Frantz (OIN Secretary), Maurice Gould (ANA 
     governor), Ken Hallenbeck (past president, Indiana State 
     Numismatic Assn.). Also: Dr. Robert Harris, Jerry Hildebrand 
     (organizer World Coin Club of Missouri), Richard Heer, 
     Barbara Hyde (TAMS Board member, sculptor), Philip Keller 
     (past president of the American Society for the Study of 
     French Numismatics), Reva Kline (member of several upstate 
     New York coin clubs), Stewart Koppel (past president, Aurora, 
     Ill. Coin Club), Charles M. Leusner (Delaware Co. Coin Club). 
     Rounding out the Commission: Capt. Gary Lewis (past president 
     of Colorado-Wyoming Numismatic Association), Fred Mantei 
     (past president Flushing Coin Club), Lt. Col. Melvin Mueller 
     (member of many local and regional clubs), James L. Miller 
     (COINage Magazine publisher), John Muroff (Philadelphia Coin 
     Club member), and Harris Rusitzsky (Rochester Numismatic 
     Association member). I was also a member (law student and 
     former assistant editor, Numismatic news).
       This rather remarkable group of men and women, the White 
     House and Mint joint announcement announced, were appointed 
     by the President ``from across the nation . . . the 25 
     Commissioners, working in such varied fields as medicine, 
     dentistry, law, engineering, forestry research and the 
     military, share a common interest in coins and the science of 
     numismatics.'' Early in its history, and indeed, into the 
     first half of the 20th century, the appointees were either 
     political themselves, or politically connected. Ellen (Mrs. 
     Irving) Berlin, Commissioner 1941, was one example; Mrs. 
     Norweb (1955) was another. So was Sen. H. Willis Robertson 
     (1962), chairman of the
       But that does not say that the description of the work done 
     by the Assay Commission remains irrelevant. To the contrary, 
     unlike 1974 which examined the non-precious metal coinage of 
     1973, today there are silver, gold and platinum bullion 
     coins, and numerous commemorative coins, and related items 
     that circulate the world-over. There is accountability within 
     the Mint, but at present, the Mint's primary accountability 
     is to Congress, and to the coinage subcommittee in the House, 
     and the larger Senate Banking Committee on the other side of 
     Capitol Hill. If there is a problem, it remains largely 
     unknown to the public at large, except in case of acute 
     embarrassment.
       In April, 1987 for example, the U.S. mint was accused of 
     having grossly underweight fractional gold coins--a move that 
     nearly scuttled the entire effort of the program to market 
     into the Far East. The Assay Commission having been abolished 
     in 1980, there was no voice of authoritative reassurance, for 
     the Mint denied that there was even a problem--when it was 
     clear that the fractionals had not been properly assayed and 
     were lightweight in their gold content.
       Abolition of the Assay Commission came in two stages. In 
     1977, President Jimmy Carter declined to name any public 
     members to the Commission, ending a practice of more than 117 
     years duration. Then, F.T. Davis, director of the General 
     Government Division of the President's Reorganization 
     Project, got into the act. ``We are conducting an 
     organizational study of the Annual Assay Commission,'' he 
     wrote me on Sept. 6, 1977. ``The study will focus on possible 
     alternative methods of carrying out the functions of the 
     Commission.'' I prepared a memorandum for Davis at his 
     request, answering several specific questions, careful to 
     take no position on its continued validity. Earlier in the 
     year, in a major law review article proposing a ``Revision of 
     the Minting & Coinage Laws of the United States'' which was 
     published in the Cleveland Law Review, I had essentially 
     concluded that it was a political choice to decide whether or 
     not to continue the two-century old commission. Davis asked 
     if the mission of the Assay Commission was essential. I 
     replied ``More aptly, the question is whether or not assaying 
     of coins is essential. The answer is an unqualified yes to 
     that.'' Indeed, that Mint regularly conducts assays of its 
     coin product as a means of assuring quality. (The 1987 foul-
     up was an administrative problem; the gold coins were assayed 
     and came up short, but a decision was made to circulate them, 
     anyway). Davis also asked what the function of the Commission 
     should be in the succeeding two years if it was continued. I 
     suggested that the law be ``rewritten to provide for 
     compositional analysis of all subsidiary coinage plus the 
     dollar coin''.
       The die was already cast, however, and the Carter 
     Administration (having already declined to name public 
     members) simply let the Assay Commission whither away until, 
     in 1980, it expired with the passage of Public Law 96-209 
     (March 14, 1980). The irony is that only a short time later, 
     the Mint was once again producing precious metal coinage. As 
     the new millennium is on the verge of commencement, a 
     movement initiated by former commissioners (most of whom are 
     members of the Old Time Assay Commissioner's Society, OTACS 
     for short), has talked about proposing revitalization of this 
     old commission. There are reasons why it could succeed, and 
     some why it should. There are a number of

[[Page E471]]

     reasons why the Assay Commission ought to be reconstituted, 
     and any proposal to do so will require a legislative 
     initiative in Congress. Toward that goal, I was asked by an 
     ad hoc advocacy group to try my hand at it. If you've got an 
     interest in the Assay Commission, perhaps you'd care to send 
     a note to your Congressman or Senator (U.S. Capitol, 
     Washington, D.C. zip for the House 20515. Senate 20510) with 
     a copy of this article, and the draft legislation. You can 
     encourage them to do the rest.

     

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