IIB 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6162 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
Urban Affairs 
AN ACT 
To provide research and development authority for alter-
native coinage materials to the Secretary of the Treas-
ury, increase congressional oversight over coin produc-
tion, and ensure the continuity of certain numismatic 
items. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Coin Modernization, 
Oversight, and Continuity Act of 2010’’. 
SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT RESEARCH AND DEVEL-
OPMENT ON ALL CIRCULATING COINS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—To accomplish the goals of this 
Act and the requirements of subchapter II of chapter 51 
of title 31, United States Code, the Secretary of the Treas-
ury may— 
(1) conduct any appropriate testing of appro-
priate coinage metallic materials within or outside of 
the Department of the Treasury; and 
(2) solicit input from or otherwise work in con-
junction with entities within or outside of the Fed-
eral Government including independent research fa-
cilities or current or potential suppliers of the metal-
lic material used in volume production of circulating 
coins, 
to complete the report referred to in this Act and to de-
velop and evaluate the use of new metallic materials. 
(b) FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED.—In the conduct 
of research, development, and the solicitation of input or 
work in conjunction with entities within and outside the 
Federal Government, and in reporting to the Congress 
with recommendations, as required by this Act, the Sec-
retary of the Treasury shall consider the following: 
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(1) Factors relevant to the potential impact of 
any revisions to the composition of the material used 
in coin production on the current coinage material 
suppliers. 
(2) Factors relevant to the ease of use and abil-
ity to co-circulate of new coinage materials, includ-
ing the effect on vending machines and commercial 
coin processing equipment and making certain, to 
the greatest extent practicable, that any new coins 
work without interruption in existing coin accept-
ance equipment without modification. 
(3) Such other factors that the Secretary of the 
Treasury, in consultation with merchants who would 
be affected by any change in the composition of cir-
culating coins, vending machine and other coin ac-
ceptor manufacturers, vending machine owners and 
operators, transit officials, municipal parking offi-
cials, depository institutions, coin and currency han-
dlers, armored-car operators, car wash operators, 
and American-owned manufacturers of commercial 
coin processing equipment, considers to be appro-
priate and in the public interest, after notice and op-
portunity for comment. 
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SEC. 3. BIENNIAL REPORT TO THE CONGRESS ON THE CUR-
RENT STATUS OF COIN PRODUCTION COSTS 
AND ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVE CONTENT. 
(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Before the end of the 2- 
year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this 
Act, and at 2-year intervals following the end of such pe-
riod, the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit a report 
to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
and Urban Affairs of the Senate analyzing production 
costs for each circulating coin, cost trends for such pro-
duction, and possible new metallic materials or tech-
nologies for the production of circulating coins. 
(b) DETAILED RECOMMENDATIONS.—In preparing 
and submitting the reports required under subsection (a), 
the Secretary of the Treasury shall include detailed rec-
ommendations for any appropriate changes to the metallic 
content of circulating coins in such a form that the rec-
ommendations could be enacted into law as appropriate. 
(c) IMPROVED PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY.—In pre-
paring and submitting the reports required under sub-
section (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall include 
recommendations for changes in the methods of producing 
coins that would further reduce the costs to produce circu-
lating coins, and include notes on the legislative changes 
that are necessary to achieve such goals. 
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(d) MINIMIZING CONVERSION COSTS.—In preparing 
and submitting the reports required under subsection (a), 
the Secretary of the Treasury, to the greatest extent pos-
sible, may not include any recommendation for new speci-
fications for producing a circulating coin that would re-
quire any significant change to coin-accepting and coin- 
handling equipment to accommodate changes to all circu-
lating coins simultaneously. 
(e) FRAUD
PREVENTION.—The reports required 
under this section shall make no recommendation for a 
specification change that would facilitate or allow the use 
of a coin with a lesser value produced, minted, or issued 
by another country, or the use of any token or other easily 
or regularly produced metal device of minimal value, in 
the place of a circulating coin produced by the Secretary. 
(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—No provision of this 
Act shall be construed as requiring that additional re-
search and development be conducted for any report under 
this Act but any such report shall include information on 
any such research and development during the period cov-
ered by the report. 
SEC. 4. MEETING DEMAND FOR SILVER AND GOLD NUMIS-
MATIC ITEMS. 
Subsections (e) and (i) of section 5112 of title 31, 
United States Code are each amended by striking ‘‘quan-
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