I 

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 


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by the Department of the Treasury, 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 ‘‘Numismatic Rarities 

5 Certainty Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISPOSITION OF CERTAIN UNITED STATES COINS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 51, 

8 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

9 following new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 5123. INVENTORY AND DISPOSITION OF CERTAIN 

11 UNITED STATES COINS, MEDALS, NUMIS12 MATIC ITEMS, AND OTHER PIECES PRO13 DUCED BY THE UNITED STATES MINT. 

14 ‘‘(a) PIECES MADE BEFORE 1933.—Any coin, medal, 

15 numismatic item, or other piece struck or made in a 

16 United States Mint facility before January 1, 1933, that, 

17 as of the date of the enactment of the Numismatic Rar18 ities Certainty Act of 2007, is not in the possession of 

19 the United States Government shall not be considered to 

20 be property of the United States, unless the coin, medal, 

21 numismatic item, or other piece produced by the United 

22 States Mint is reacquired by the United States Govern23 ment for value given in a sale or exchange. 

24 ‘‘(b) INVENTORY.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—By January 1, 2008, and 

2 every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary of the Treas3 ury shall conduct and compile an inventory of all 

4 coins, medals, numismatic items, and other pieces 

5 produced by the United States Mint that are owned 

6 by the Department of the Treasury. 

7 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED.—The in8 ventory shall include a description of each item in9 cluded in the inventory and its current location and, 

10 if on loan, the name and location of the agency, or11 ganization, or person that has custody of such item. 

12 ‘‘(3) REPORT ON INVENTORY.—The Secretary 

13 of the Treasury shall submit the inventory together 

14 with a report containing any findings, recommenda15 tions, or conclusions of the Secretary with respect to 

16 the inventory to the President and the Congress be17 fore January 31, 2008, and every 5 years thereafter. 

18 ‘‘(c) PRESERVATION, DISPLAY, DISPOSITION OR DE19 STRUCTION OF COINS, MEDALS, NUMISMATIC ITEMS AND

20 OTHER PIECES PRODUCED BY THE UNITED STATES

21 MINT THAT ARE IN THE POSSESSION OF THE UNITED

22 STATES GOVERNMENT.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any coin, 

24 medal, numismatic item, or other piece produced by 

25 the United States Mint that is in, or comes into, the 


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1 possession of the United States Government, the 

2 coin, medal, numismatic item, or other piece shall be 

3 transferred to the Secretary of the Treasury, if not 

4 already in the Secretary’s possession, and the Sec5 retary shall take the appropriate action required 

6 with respect to such coin, medal, numismatic item, 

7 or other piece under paragraph (2). 

8 ‘‘(2) DISPOSITION OF COINS, MEDALS, OR NU9 MISMATIC ITEMS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATION OF AVAILABLE

11 ITEMS.—Upon taking possession, under para12 graph (1), of any coin, medal, numismatic item, 

13 or other piece produced by the United States 

14 Mint, the Secretary of the Treasury shall make 

15 a determination of the number and condition of 

16 the coins, medals, numismatic items, and pieces 

17 of the same denomination, quality, type, and 

18 year of production as the coin, medal, numis19 matic item, or piece referred to in such para20 graph, taking into account the most recent in21 ventory conducted in accordance with sub22 section (b). 

23 ‘‘(B) HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND PUB24 LIC DISPLAY.—The Secretary shall ensure that 

25 an appropriate number of any coin, medal, nuVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:08 Jun 16, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2730.IH H2730

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1 mismatic item, or other piece produced by the 

2 United States Mint of the same denomination, 

3 quality, type, and year of production that are in 

4 or come into the Secretary’s possession— 

5 ‘‘(i) are retained for historical pur6 poses; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) are made available for public 

8 viewing at such times and places as the 

9 Secretary, in the sole discretion of the Sec10 retary, determines to be appropriate. 

11 ‘‘(C) SALE OF EXCESS AT PUBLIC AUC12 TION.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary 

14 determines that the number of any coins, 

15 medals, numismatic items, or other pieces 

16 produced by the United States Mint of the 

17 same denomination, quality, type, and year 

18 of production that are in the Secretary’s 

19 possession exceeds the number that are ap20 propriate for historic preservation and pub21 lic display under subparagraph (B), the 

22 Secretary may dispose of such excess, or 

23 such portion of the excess as the Secretary 

24 determines to be appropriate, at public 

25 auction. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) PROCEEDS.—The proceeds from 

2 any auction conducted by the Secretary 

3 under clause (i) shall be deposited in a 

4 fund to be used for the preservation and 

5 display of such coins, medals, numismatic 

6 items, or other pieces produced by the 

7 United States Mint that remain in the pos8 session of the Secretary in a way that the 

9 Secretary, in consultation with the Con10 gress, determines to be appropriate. 

11 ‘‘(D) STANDARDS.—In making any deter12 mination with regard to any public auction of 

13 coins, medals, numismatic items, or other pieces 

14 under subparagraph (C)(i), the following stand15 ards shall be taken into account by the Sec16 retary: 

17 ‘‘(i) Maximum return to the Govern18 ment. 

19 ‘‘(ii) Interest of the numismatic com20 munity in the sale and in the items to be 

21 offered for sale. 

22 ‘‘(iii) Interest of the general public in 

23 the items to be offered for sale. 

24 ‘‘(E) DESTRUCTION OF UNSOLD EX25 CESS.—Any coins, medals, numismatic items, or 


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1 other pieces produced by the United States 

2 Mint that— 

3 ‘‘(i) were determined by the Secretary, 

4 under subparagraph (C)(i) to be in excess 

5 of the number of such coins, medals, nu6 mismatic items, or pieces that are appro7 priate for historic preservation and public 

8 display under subparagraph (B); and 

9 ‘‘(ii) remain unsold following an auc10 tion under such subparagraph, or were 

11 withheld from such auction by the Sec12 retary in accordance with subparagraph 

13 (C)(i), 

14 may be treated as obsolete and disposed of in 

15 the manner provided in section 5120. 

16 ‘‘(3) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—In the event 

17 of the disposal pursuant to paragraph (2)(E) of any 

18 coins, medals, numismatic items, or other pieces pro19 duced by the United States Mint, the Secretary shall 

20 immediately report such disposal to the Committee 

21 on Financial Services of the House of Representa22 tives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

23 Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

24 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sec25 tion, the following definitions shall apply: 


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1 ‘‘(A) NUMISMATIC ITEM.—The term ‘nu2 mismatic item’ includes any item that would be 

3 included within the meaning of such term under 

4 section 5134(a)(3) if the Secretary of the 

5 Treasury had the lawful authority to make the 

6 item when it was made. 

7 ‘‘(B) COIN, MEDAL, NUMISMATIC ITEM, OR

8 OTHER PIECE STRUCK OR MADE IN A UNITED

9 STATES MINT FACILITY.—The terms ‘coin, 

10 medal, numismatic item, or other piece struck 

11 or made in a United States Mint facility’ and 

12 ‘any coins, medals, numismatic items, or other 

13 pieces produced by the United States Mint’ do 

14 not include any item produced for a foreign 

15 country or any person.’’. 

16 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

17 for chapter 51, United States Code, is amended by insert18 ing after the item relating to section 5122 the following 

19 new item: 

‘‘Sec. 5123. Inventory and disposition of certain United States coins, medals, 

numismatic items, and other pieces produced by the United 

States Mint.’’. 

Æ 


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