[111th Congress Public Law 302]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]



[[Page 3271]]

        COIN MODERNIZATION, OVERSIGHT, AND CONTINUITY ACT OF 2010

[[Page 124 STAT. 3272]]

Public Law 111-302
111th Congress

                                 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. <<NOTE: Dec. 14, 2010 -  [H.R. 6162]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Coin 
Modernization, Oversight, and Continuity Act of 2010.>> 
SECTION 1. <<NOTE: 31 USC 5101 note.>>  SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Coin Modernization, Oversight, and 
Continuity Act of 2010''.
SEC. 2. <<NOTE: 31 USC 5112 note.>> 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

[[Page 124 STAT. 3273]]

        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. <<NOTE: 31 USC 5112 note.>> 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--

[[Page 124 STAT. 3274]]

            (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.

    Approved December 14, 2010.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 6162:
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 156 (2010):
            Sept. 29, considered and passed House.
            Nov. 30, considered and passed Senate.

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