    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 124, 111th Congress, 2nd Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    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. <>

    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

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    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--

    [[Page 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:
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 156 (2010):
    Sept. 29, considered and passed House.
    Nov. 30, considered and passed Senate.