I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1719 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to save the American taxpayers 

money by immediately altering the metallic composition of the one-cent, 

five-cent, dime, and quarter dollar coins, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 24, 2013 

Mr. STIVERS (for himself, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, and Mr. TIBERI) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to save the American 

taxpayers money by immediately altering the metallic 

composition of the one-cent, five-cent, dime, and quarter 

dollar coins, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cents and Sensibility 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COMPOSITION OF CIRCULATING COINS. 

2 (a) STEEL COINS REQUIRED.—Section 5112 of title 

3 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

4 the following new subsection: 

5 ‘‘(w) COMPOSITION OF CIRCULATING COINS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

7 provision of law, the one-cent, five-cent, dime, and 

8 quarter dollar coins shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) be produced primarily of steel; and 

10 ‘‘(B) meet such other specifications as the 

11 Secretary may determine to be appropriate. 

12 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT.—The one-cent, five-cent, 

13 dime, and quarter dollar coins shall be treated in 

14 such a manner that the appearance of the coins, 

15 both when new and after they have been in circula16 tion, is similar to the one-cent, five-cent, dime, and 

17 quarter dollar coins, respectively, produced before 

18 the date of the enactment of this subsection. 

19 ‘‘(3) BUY AMERICAN STEEL REQUIREMENT.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

21 other provision of law, the Secretary shall, in 

22 minting one-cent, five-cent, dime, and quarter 

23 dollar coins, only use steel produced in the 

24 United States. 

25 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) 

26 shall not apply if the Secretary finds, and pubVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:57 Apr 30, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1719.IH H1719

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1 lishes in the Federal Register the basis of such 

2 finding, that— 

3 ‘‘(i) applying subparagraph (A) would 

4 be inconsistent with the public interest; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) an adequate supply of an appro6 priate grade of steel is not produced in the 

7 United States in sufficient and reasonably 

8 available quantities.’’. 

9 (b) CONVERSION TO NEW COIN SPECIFICATIONS.— 

10 In setting specifications under section 5112(w) of title 31, 

11 United States Code, as added by subsection (a), the Sec12 retary of the Treasury shall not set specifications that 

13 would— 

14 (1) require more than 1 change to coin-accept15 ing and coin-handling equipment to accommodate all 

16 coins produced pursuant to such subsection; 

17 (2) facilitate or allow the use of a coin with a 

18 lesser value produced by another country, or the use 

19 of any token or other easily or regularly produced 

20 metal device of minimal value, in the place of a cir21 culating coin produced by the Secretary; or 

22 (3) require non-trivial changes to coin-accepting 

23 or coin handling equipment to easily accommodate 

24 continued co-circulation of both coins produced with 

25 the new specifications under such subsection and 


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1 coins produced on or before the date that is the end 

2 of the 90-day period beginning on the date of the 

3 enactment of this Act. 

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendment made by 

6 subsection (a) shall apply to all one-cent, five-cent, 

7 dime, and quarter dollar coins issued after the end 

8 of the 90-day period beginning on the date of the 

9 enactment of this Act. 

10 (2) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary of the Treas11 ury may produce numismatic versions of the one12 cent, five-cent, dime, and quarter dollar coins either 

13 in the composition specified in section 5112(w) of 

14 title 31, United States Code, as added by subsection 

15 (a), or in forms and materials similar to those the 

16 Secretary produced before the date of the enactment 

17 of this Act. 

18 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

19 Section 5112 of title 31, United States Code, is 

20 amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (b), by striking the first, sec22 ond, third, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and tenth 

23 sentences; and 

24 (2) by amending subsection (c) to read as fol25 lows: 


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1 ‘‘(c) WEIGHT OF THE ONE-CENT COIN.—The Sec2 retary may prescribe the weight of the one-cent coin that 

3 the Secretary determines is necessary to ensure an ade4 quate supply of one-cent coins to meet the needs of the 

5 United States.’’. 

Æ 


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