II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1769 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow certain coins to 

be acquired by individual retirement accounts and other individually 

directed pension plan accounts, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 8, 2009 

Mr. VITTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow certain coins to be acquired by individual retirement accounts and other individually directed pension plan accounts, 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 ‘‘Options for Investors 

5 through United States Certified Coins Act of 2009’’. 


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•S 1769 IS

1 SEC. 2. CERTAIN COINS NOT TREATED AS COLLECTIBLES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 408(m) of the Internal 

3 Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to exception for certain 

4 coins and bullion) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

6 end of clause (iii) and by inserting after clause (iv) 

7 the following new clause: 

8 ‘‘(v) a coin which— 

9 ‘‘(I) is certified by an inde10 pendent, third-party grading service, 

11 ‘‘(II) is, or was at any time, legal 

12 tender in the United States, and 

13 ‘‘(III) is traded on a nationally 

14 recognized electronic coin trading net15 work or listed by an independent coin 

16 wholesale reporting service, or’’, 

17 (2) in paragraph (3)(B)— 

18 (A) by inserting ‘‘in coin or bar form’’ 

19 after ‘‘bullion’’, and 

20 (B) by striking ‘‘a regulated futures con21 tract,’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘a 

22 regulated futures contract, if a trustee de23 scribed under subsection (a)(2) maintains— 

24 ‘‘(i) physical possession of such coins 

25 or bullion, or 


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•S 1769 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) the indicia of ownership for such 

2 coins or bullion, provided physical posses3 sion of such coins or bullion is held by a 

4 custodian pursuant to paragraph (4).’’, 

5 and 

6 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

7 paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(4) USE OF CERTAIN CUSTODIANS AS

9 AGENTS.—A trustee shall not hold the indicia of 

10 ownership of any coins or bullion described in sub11 paragraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (3) in lieu of 

12 holding physical possession unless— 

13 ‘‘(A) physical possession of such coins or 

14 bullion is maintained by a custodian that regu15 larly engages in the business of holding bullion, 

16 coins, and precious metals, and which— 

17 ‘‘(i) has held such goods during the 

18 preceding 12 months for the beneficial 

19 owner of such goods other than the custo20 dian, and 

21 ‘‘(ii) holds the coins or bullion as 

22 agent for the trustee, 

23 ‘‘(B) the trustee remains a fiduciary and 

24 otherwise liable to the account holder to the 


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•S 1769 IS

1 same extent such trustee would if it retained 

2 the physical possession of the coins or bullion, 

3 ‘‘(C) the indicia of ownership is not subject 

4 to any right, charge, security interest, lien, or 

5 claim of any kind in favor of the custodian in 

6 possession of the coins or bullion and is freely 

7 transferable by the trustee without payment of 

8 money or value other than for safe custody and 

9 administration, and 

10 ‘‘(D) upon request by the account holder, 

11 the trustee identifies to the account holder the 

12 name, address, and principal place of business 

13 of the custodian in possession of the coins or 

14 bullion.’’. 

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

16 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

17 December 31, 2009. 

Æ 


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