Title: Cents and Sensibility Act
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Cents and Sensibility Act
This bill requires that the one-cent, five-cent, ten-cent, and quarter-dollar coins be: (1) produced primarily of steel, and (2) treated to impart a color so that their appearance is similar to coins produced previously.
In minting these coins, Treasury shall use steel produced only in the United States unless: (1) doing so would be inconsistent with the public interest, or (2) an adequate supply of the appropriate grade of steel is not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities.
In setting specifications for these coins, Treasury may not: (1) require more than one change to coin-accepting and coin-handling equipment to accommodate new coins produced; (2) facilitate or allow the use of a coin with a lesser value produced 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 Treasury; or (3) require non-trivial changes to coin-accepting or coin-handling equipment to easily accommodate continued co-circulation of both old and new coins.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2067 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Cents and Sensibility Act''.

SEC. 2. COMPOSITION OF CIRCULATING COINS.

    (a) Steel Coins Required.--Section 5112 of title 31, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(w) Composition of Circulating Coins.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law, the one-cent, five-cent, dime, and quarter dollar coins 
        produced for circulation and issue shall--
                    ``(A) be produced primarily of steel; and
                    ``(B) meet such other specifications as the 
                Secretary may determine to be appropriate.
            ``(2) Treatment.--The one-cent, five-cent, dime, and 
        quarter dollar coins produced for circulation and issue shall 
        be treated in such a manner that the appearance of the coins, 
        both when new and after they have been in circulation, is 
        similar to the one-cent, five-cent, dime, and quarter dollar 
        coins, respectively, produced before the date of the enactment 
        of this subsection.
            ``(3) Buy american steel requirement.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of law, the Secretary shall, in minting one-
                cent, five-cent, dime, and quarter dollar coins 
                produced for circulation and issue, only use steel 
                produced in the United States.
                    ``(B) Exception.--Subparagraph (A) shall not apply 
                if the Secretary finds, and publishes in the Federal 
                Register the basis of such finding, that--
                            ``(i) applying subparagraph (A) would be 
                        inconsistent with the public interest; or
                            ``(ii) an adequate supply of an appropriate 
                        grade of steel is not produced in the United 
                        States in sufficient and reasonably available 
                        quantities.''.
    (b) Conversion to New Coin Specifications.--In setting 
specifications under section 5112(w) of title 31, United States Code, 
as added by subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall not set 
specifications that would--
            (1) require more than 1 change to coin-accepting and coin-
        handling equipment to accommodate all coins produced pursuant 
        to such subsection;
            (2) facilitate or allow the use of a coin with a lesser 
        value produced 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; or
            (3) require non-trivial changes to coin-accepting or coin 
        handling equipment to easily accommodate continued co-
        circulation of both coins produced with the new specifications 
        under such subsection and coins produced on or before the date 
        that is the end of the 90-day period beginning on the date of 
        the enactment of this Act.
    (c) Effective Date.--
            (1) In general.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
        apply to all one-cent, five-cent, dime, and quarter dollar 
        coins produced for circulation and issued after the end of the 
        90-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of this 
        Act.
            (2) Exception.--The Secretary of the Treasury may produce 
        numismatic versions of the one-cent, five-cent, dime, and 
        quarter dollar coins either in the composition specified in 
        section 5112(w) of title 31, United States Code, as added by 
        subsection (a), or in forms and materials similar to those the 
        Secretary produced before the date of the enactment of this 
        Act.

SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    Section 5112 of title 31, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by striking the first, second, 
        third, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and tenth sentences; and
            (2) by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
    ``(c) Weight of the One-Cent Coin.--The Secretary may prescribe the 
weight of the one-cent coin that the Secretary determines is necessary 
to ensure an adequate supply of one-cent coins to meet the needs of the 
United States.''.
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