I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2067 

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 6, 2017 

Mr. STIVERS (for himself, Mrs. BEATTY, 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 produced for circulation and 

9 issue shall— 

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

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

12 Secretary may determine to be appropriate. 

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

14 dime, and quarter dollar coins produced for circula15 tion and issue shall be treated in such a manner 

16 that the appearance of the coins, both when new and 

17 after they have been in circulation, is similar to the 

18 one-cent, five-cent, dime, and quarter dollar coins, 

19 respectively, produced before the date of the enact20 ment of this subsection. 

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

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

23 other provision of law, the Secretary shall, in 

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

25 dollar coins produced for circulation and issue, 

26 only use steel produced in the United States. 


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1 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) 

2 shall not apply if the Secretary finds, and pub3 lishes in the Federal Register the basis of such 

4 finding, that— 

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

6 be inconsistent with the public interest; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) an adequate supply of an appro8 priate grade of steel is not produced in the 

9 United States in sufficient and reasonably 

10 available quantities.’’. 

11 (b) CONVERSION TO NEW COIN SPECIFICATIONS.— 

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

13 United States Code, as added by subsection (a), the Sec14 retary of the Treasury shall not set specifications that 

15 would— 

16 (1) require more than 1 change to coin-accept17 ing and coin-handling equipment to accommodate all 

18 coins produced pursuant to such subsection; 

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

20 lesser value produced by another country, or the use 

21 of any token or other easily or regularly produced 

22 metal device of minimal value, in the place of a cir23 culating coin produced by the Secretary; or 

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

25 or coin handling equipment to easily accommodate 


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1 continued co-circulation of both coins produced with 

2 the new specifications under such subsection and 

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

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

5 enactment of this Act. 

6 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

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

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

9 dime, and quarter dollar coins produced for circula10 tion and issued after the end of the 90-day period 

11 beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

12 (2) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary of the Treas13 ury may produce numismatic versions of the one14 cent, five-cent, dime, and quarter dollar coins either 

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

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

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

18 Secretary produced before the date of the enactment 

19 of this Act. 

20 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

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

22 amended— 

23 (1) in subsection (b), by striking the first, sec24 ond, third, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and tenth 

25 sentences; and 


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1 (2) by amending subsection (c) to read as fol2 lows: 

3 ‘‘(c) WEIGHT OF THE ONE-CENT COIN.—The Sec4 retary may prescribe the weight of the one-cent coin that 

5 the Secretary determines is necessary to ensure an ade6 quate supply of one-cent coins to meet the needs of the 

7 United States.’’. 

Æ 


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