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107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1279

To reestablish the annual assay commission.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 28, 2001

Mr. ROTHMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Financial Services

A BILL

To reestablish the annual assay commission.

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 ‘‘Annual Assay Commis5 sion Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds as follows:

8 (1) It is in the national interest for the citizens

9 of the Nation, and those who purchase products of

10 the United States Mint, to know that gold, silver,

11 and platinum coinage produced by the several
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1 United States mints are of the proper size, weight,

2 and purity provided for by law.

3 (2) From 1792 until 1977, an annual assay

4 commission, as first required by the Act entitled

5 ‘‘An Act establishing a Mint, and regulating the

6 Coins of the United States’’ and approved April 2,

7 1792, performed such functions, until such time as

8 there were no precious metal coins regularly being

9 produced by the United States mints.

10 (3) Since 1977, the United States Mint has

11 begun regular production of bullion coinage com12 prised of .999 fine silver, .9995 fine platinum, and

13 gold of either .900 or .999 fine.

14 (4) Since 1982, the United States Mint has

15 produced millions of gold and silver commemorative

16 coins that have sold to collectors and others on the

17 primary market for more than $1,000,000,000.

18 (5) It is desirable to involve numismatists, and

19 others, in the process of marketing and merchan20 dising of coins, of which an annual assay is an im21 portant component part.

22 (6) There is a marketing need for an annual

23 ceremony to attest that the coins produced by the

24 several United States mints are manufactured in

25 conformity with their statutory requirements, to
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1 publicize the same, and to involve the general and

2 numismatic public in the annual assay and its re3 port.

4 SEC. 3. ANNUAL ASSAY REQUIRED.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—To secure conformity in the com6 position and weight of the minor coinage of the United

7 States, subsidiary denominations, dollar coins, and coins

8 struck in silver, gold, platinum and other precious metals,

9 an annual assay shall be held in the manner provided in

10 subsection (b)(4) to test and examine, in the presence of

11 the Director of the Mint, the fineness and weight of the

12 coins reserved by the several mints for this purpose.

13 (b) ASSAY COMMISSION.—

14 (1) MEMBERSHIP AND APPOINTMENT.—

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The annual assay re16 quired under subsection (a) shall be conducted

17 by an assay commission consisting of such

18 number of members as the President may de19 termine to be appropriate, not to exceed 25,

20 who shall be appointed by the President.

21 (B) REPRESENTATION OF NUMISMATISTS.—At least 1 22 ⁄2 of the members of the

23 assay commission shall be appointed from

24 among individuals who are, by reason of edu-
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1 cation, training, or experience, amateur or pro2 fessional numismatists.

3 (2) TERMS.—Members of the assay commission

4 shall—

5 (A) be appointed each year by the Presi6 dent to serve for that year only; and

7 (B) not be eligible for re-appointment until

8 a period of not less than 5 years has passed

9 since their most recent appointment expired.

10 (3) SERVICE WITHOUT COMPENSATION.—Mem11 bers of the assay commission shall serve without

12 pay, except that such members shall be entitled to

13 receive, in accordance with section 5703 of title 5,

14 United States Code, travel or transportation ex15 penses, or a per diem allowance in lieu of expenses,

16 while away from such member’s home or place of

17 business in connection with such member’s service

18 on the assay commission.

19 (4) MEETINGS OF ASSAY COMMISSION.—

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The assay commission

21 shall meet on the second Wednesday in Feb22 ruary of each year, to carry out the duties of

23 the commission under this section.

24 (B) LOCATION.—The meeting of the assay

25 commission shall be convened at any United
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1 States mint, or at the United States Mint in

2 Washington, D.C., as determined by the Direc3 tor of the Mint.

4 (C) CONTINUATION FOLLOWING ADJOURN5 MENT.—The meeting of the assay commission

6 may continue following adjournment if nec7 essary.

8 (D) OTHER MEETINGS.—If a majority of

9 the members of the assay commission fail to at10 tend any meeting scheduled pursuant to sub11 paragraph (A), the Director of the Mint shall

12 call a meeting of the commissioners at such

13 other time as the Director determines to be

14 convenient.

15 (5) EXPENSES OF ASSAY COMMISSION.—The

16 expenses of the assay commission which the Sec17 retary determines are reasonable and appropriate

18 shall be paid by the Secretary from the United

19 States Mint Public Enterprise Fund under section

20 5136 of title 31, United States Code.

21 (c) SELECTION AND TRANSFER OF COINS.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with regula23 tions prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury,

24 each superintendent of a United States mint shall

25 select and transfer, without examination and dis-
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1 crimination, specimens of coins in the manner de2 scribed in paragraphs (2) and (3) for assay at trial

3 to the Office of the Director of the Mint in Wash4 ington, D.C.

5 (2) CERTAIN CIRCULATING COINS.—For each

6 issue of circulating coins, other than 1-cent and 5-

7 cent coins, by any United States mint, specimen

8 coins for special assay and testing shall be taken at

9 random as follows:

10 (A) In the case of dollar coins, half dollar

11 coins, and quarter dollar coins, not less than 2

12 coins for each 200,000 pieces or fraction there13 of issued.

14 (B) In the case of dime coins, not less than

15 2 coins for each 400,000 pieces or fraction

16 thereof issued.

17 (3) OTHER COINS.—For each issue of coins not

18 described in subparagraph (A) by any United States

19 mint, including bullion coins and special numismatic

20 coins, specimen coins for the examination and test21 ing shall be taken at random in such quantities as

22 the Secretary of the Treasury shall direct, but not

23 less than 10 coins of each quality of coin struck at

24 each facility of the United States Mint producing

25 such coins.
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1 (4) MANNER OF SELECTION AND TRANSFER.—

2 The selection of specimen coins under this sub3 section shall be made by a superintendent of a

4 United States mint under this section, or by a rep5 resentative designated by such superintendent, in

6 the presence of the assayer or person who performs

7 such assay function, or by a representative des8 ignated by the assayer or other person, without test9 ing and the coins so selected selection shall be pro10 tected from attrition and enclosed in envelopes which

11 shall be sealed and labeled to show the place of coin12 age, the date, number, and amount of delivery, and

13 the number and denomination of the pieces enclosed.

14 (d) PROCEDURE FOLLOWING EXAMINATION AND

15 TESTING.—

16 (1) STANDARDIZED FINENESS AND WEIGHT.—

17 If it appears to the assay commission, after exam18 ination and testing, that the coins presented to the

19 assay commission coins do not differ from the stand20 ard fineness and weight by a greater quantity than

21 is permitted by such regulations as the Secretary of

22 the Treasury may from time to time prescribe, the

23 trial by the assay commission shall be considered

24 and reported as satisfactory.
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1 (2) DEVIATION.—If, after the examination and

2 testing referred to in paragraph (1), it appears to

3 the assay commission that any coin differs from the

4 standard fineness and weight by a greater quantity

5 than is permitted by the regulations referred to in

6 such paragraph, this fact shall be certified to the Di7 rector of the Mint and the Secretary of the Treas8 ury, and the Secretary shall take such action as is

9 appropriate to rectify the cause.

10 (e) LABORATORY TESTS OF ADDITIONAL SPECIMEN

11 COINS.—In addition to the specimen coins selected under

12 other provisions of this subsection, specimen coins, as ei13 ther proof or uncirculated pieces, may be forwarded

14 promptly to the Director of the Mint for laboratory testing

15 as to their conformity in composition and weight with the

16 requirements of law.

17 (f) ANNUAL REPORT.—

18 (1) REPORT REQUIRED.—The Director of the

19 Mint shall prepare and publish an annual report

20 containing the report of the assay commission for

21 such year and the results of laboratory tests con22 ducted pursuant to subsection (e).

23 (2) SUBMISSION TO THE CONGRESS.—Each re24 port prepared pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be

25 submitted to the Congress.
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1 SEC. 4. PRODUCTION OF ASSAY COMMISSION MEDALS.

2 The Director of the Mint may continue the practice

3 of producing assay commission medals for the members

4 of the assay commission, if bronze copies of such medals

5 are made available for sale to the general public.

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