II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2049 

To improve the circulation of $1 coins, to remove barrier to the circulation 

of such coins, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 31, 2012 

Mr. HARKIN (for himself, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. COBURN, and Mr. ENZI) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To improve the circulation of $1 coins, to remove barrier 

to the circulation of such 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 ‘‘Currency Optimiza5 tion, Innovation, and National Savings Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVING CIRCULATION AND REMOVING BAR7 RIERS TO CIRCULATION OF $1 COINS. 

8 (a) DUTIES OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE

9 FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM.— 

10 (1) COIN SEQUESTRATION.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 

2 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 

3 the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

4 System shall sequester all $1 coins bearing the 

5 design common to those $1 coins minted and 

6 issued from 1979–1981 and again in 1999. 

7 (B) TREATMENT OF COINS.—Coins seques8 tered pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall not 

9 be returned to ordinary circulation or otherwise 

10 released form storage controlled by the Federal 

11 Reserve System or an agent of the Federal Re12 serve System. 

13 (C) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN USES.—Not14 withstanding subparagraph (B), coins seques15 tered pursuant to subparagraph (A) may be re16 leased, at face value and in bulk quantities— 

17 (i) to dealers in collectible coins; and 

18 (ii) to countries that have adopted the 

19 United States dollar as their base unit of 

20 exchange. 

21 (D) OBSOLETE COINS.—At the end of the 

22 1-year period beginning on the date of enact23 ment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury 

24 shall declare all coins described under subpara25 graph (A) to be obsolete, and such coins— 


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1 (i) shall be treated in the same man2 ner as all other obsolete United States 

3 coins; and 

4 (ii) to the extent that such coins re5 main in general circulation, shall remain 

6 legal tender. 

7 (2) QUARTERLY REPORT ON $1 COINS.—The 

8 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 

9 shall issue quarterly reports to the Committee on Fi10 nancial Services of the House of Representatives and 

11 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af12 fairs of the Senate on— 

13 (A) the number of coins sequestered pursu14 ant to paragraph (1)(A); 

15 (B) the number of coins described in para16 graph (1)(A) that remain in general circulation; 

17 and 

18 (C) efforts that have been made to reduce 

19 the number of coins described in subparagraphs 

20 (A) and (B) to zero. 

21 (3) IMPROVEMENT OF CIRCULATION.—The 

22 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 

23 shall— 

24 (A) undertake efforts to improve the cir25 culation and remove barriers to the circulation 


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1 of the $1 coin, other than those coins described 

2 under paragraph (1)(A); 

3 (B) issue a quarterly report to the Com4 mittee on Financial Services of the House of 

5 Representatives and the Committee on Bank6 ing, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate 

7 on— 

8 (i) what efforts have been made to im9 prove the circulation of $1 coins and what 

10 efforts are being planned to improve the 

11 circulation of $1 coins; 

12 (ii) the success of such efforts, includ13 ing an analysis of such coins held in stor14 age owned or controlled by the Federal Re15 serve System and the number such coins in 

16 circulation; 

17 (iii) barriers to the circulation of such 

18 coins, including the availability of such 

19 coins in quantities unmixed with the $1 

20 coins described in paragraph (1)(A); and 

21 (iv) the extent to which the Federal 

22 Reserve System and any agents of the 

23 Federal Reserve System are unable to 

24 meet end-user requests for delivery of 

25 unmixed quantities of such coins in whatVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:56 Feb 01, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2049.IS S2049

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1 ever form such end user requires, including 

2 rolls, disposable tubes, or volume bags of 

3 such coins. 

4 (4) OUTREACH AND EDUCATION.—The Board 

5 of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall, 

6 within existing programs, continuously conduct out7 reach and education programs aimed at helping each 

8 business using or accepting cash to choose the best 

9 mix of $1 coins and banknotes to facilitate trans10 actions and reduce costs of transactions and of 

11 ‘‘cashing out’’ at the end of a transaction period. 

12 (5) USE OF $1 COINS BY FOREIGN COUN13 TRIES.—The Board of Governors of the Federal Re14 serve System shall work with the Departments of 

15 State and Treasury to ensure that countries that 

16 have adopted the dollar as a base unit of exchange 

17 and which place orders with the Federal Reserve 

18 System, or through any United States financial in19 stitution, for supplies of $1 monetary units, are fully 

20 briefed before placing each such order on the dura21 bility and longevity of $1 coins in high-circulation 

22 economies when used for transactions of a low dollar 

23 value. 

24 (b) PUBLICITY REQUIREMENT.—Section 5112(p)(2) 

25 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 


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1 after ‘‘Mint’’ the following: ‘‘and the Board of Governors 

2 of the Federal Reserve System’’. 

3 (c) REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 

4 the end of the 1-year period beginning on the date of en5 actment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Comp6 troller General of the United States and the Inspectors 

7 General of the Federal Reserve System and the Bureau 

8 of Consumer Financial Protection shall each issue a report 

9 to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of 

10 Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, 

11 and Urban Affairs of the Senate on steps being taken by 

12 the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 

13 to carry out this Act. 

14 (d) CLARIFICATION WITH RESPECT TO SEIGNIOR15 AGE.—The ninth proviso of section 5136 of title 31, 

16 United States Code, is amended by inserting after ‘‘mis17 cellaneous receipts’’ the following: ‘‘, and such amount 

18 shall be included as an estimated receipt of the Govern19 ment and a receipt of the Government under paragraphs 

20 (6) and (7), respectively, of section 1105(a) in any budget 

21 submitted under such section’’. 

22 SEC. 3. SAVING TAXPAYERS FUNDS BY TRANSITIONING TO 

23 THE USE OF $1 COINS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—It is the policy of the United 

25 States that after $1 coins achieve sufficient market peneVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:56 Feb 01, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2049.IS S2049

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1 tration such that consumers and retailers are comfortable 

2 using $1 coins and are able to obtain adequate supplies 

3 of $1 coins, $1 coins should replace $1 Federal Reserve 

4 notes as the only $1 monetary unit issued and circulated 

5 by the Federal Reserve System. 

6 (b) DEADLINE FOR PLACING $1 FEDERAL RESERVE

7 NOTES INTO CIRCULATION.—Federal Reserve banks may 

8 continue to place into circulation $1 Federal Reserve notes 

9 until the earlier of— 

10 (1) the date on which the number of $1 coins 

11 placed into circulation after the date of the enact12 ment of this Act exceeds 600,000,000 annually; and 

13 (2) the date that is 4 years after the date of the 

14 enactment of this Act. 

15 (c) TRANSITION PERIOD.—After the date referred to 

16 in subsection (b), a Federal Reserve bank may not order 

17 additional $1 Federal Reserve notes but may, for a period 

18 of one year, continue to place into circulation $1 Federal 

19 Reserve notes on hand or those deposited with it, except 

20 for notes described in subsection (d). 

21 (d) REMOVAL OF UNFIT CURRENCY.—After the date 

22 referred to in subparagraph (b), a Federal Reserve bank 

23 shall continue to remove unfit currency from circulation, 

24 and shall continue to destroy such currency. 


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1 (e) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding subsections (b) 

2 and (c), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

3 System shall produce such Federal Reserve notes of $1 

4 denomination as the Board of Governors determines from 

5 time to time are appropriate solely to meet the needs of 

6 collectors of that denomination. Such notes shall be issued 

7 by 1 or more Federal Reserve banks in accordance with 

8 section 16 of the Federal Reserve Act and sold by the 

9 Board of Governors, in whole or in part, under procedures 

10 prescribed by the Board of Governors. 

11 (f) NO EFFECT ON LEGAL TENDER.—Notwith12 standing any other subsection of this section, $1 Federal 

13 Reserve notes are legal tender in the United States for 

14 all debts, public and private, public charges, taxes, and 

15 duties, regardless of the date of printing or issue. 

Æ 


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