I
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2778
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 1, 2011
Mr. Smith of Washington introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
A BILL
To prevent the overproduction of $1 presidential coins by the United States Mint in order to efficiently meet collector demand while reducing the surplus of already produced $1 coins in Federal Reserve System vaults, and for other purposes.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the
The Dollars and Sense Act of 2011
.
Findings
The Congress finds the following:
The backlog of more than 1.2 billion coins in Federal Reserve System vaults is highly concerning.
Overinflated demand for coin collecting purposes and lack of transactional demand by the general public has led to backlog of these coins.
Continued production of these coins will maintain seigniorage and help pay down our national deficit.
Removal of unmixed supplies requirement during introductory period
Section 5112(p)(3)(D) of title 31, United
States Code, is amended by striking ensuring that—
and all that
follows through (ii) circulating
coins
and inserting ensuring that circulating coins
.
Reduction in the number of Presidents honored in a year from 4 to 2
Section 5112(n)(4) of title 31, United States Code, is amended—
in the heading, by
striking 4
and inserting 2
;
in subparagraph
(A), by striking 4 Presidents
and inserting 2
Presidents
; and
in the heading of
subparagraph (B), by striking 4
and inserting
2
.
Postponement of Native American $1 coin issuance
Section 5112(r) of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code, is amended—
in paragraph (1)(A)—
by striking
beginning January 1, 2008
and inserting beginning on the
termination of the issuance of coins under subsection (n)
; and
by striking
in addition to the coins to be issued pursuant to subsection
(n),
; and
by striking paragraph (5).
Limitation on minting of Presidential $1 coins
Section 5112(n)(4)(B) of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code, is amended—
by inserting
before the period the following: , except that the aggregate number of
all coins for circulation issued under this subsection for any such year shall
not exceed the number of $1 coins sold only as numismatic items during the
previous calendar year
; and
by adding at the
end the following: If the Secretary determines that the demand for a
particular design during a year will exceed the amount of coins able to be
produced under the limitation in the previous sentence, the Secretary may waive
such limitation with respect to such design.
.
Reform to the Direct Ship Program
The Circulating $1 Coin Direct Ship Program of the United States Mint shall only be available to persons who are purchasing $1 coins for coin collection purposes.
Technical Corrections
Section 5112(p)(3) of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code, is amended—
in subparagraph
(D), by adding and
at the end;
in subparagraph
(E), by striking ; and
and inserting a period; and
by striking subparagraph (F).
Sense of Congress
It is the sense of Congress—
that the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System should do everything in its power to address the backlog of $1 coins in its vaults by making them as accessible as possible to the public for purposes of circulation; and
the United States Mint should continue the production of Sacagawea coins for circulation purposes upon completion of the Presidential $1 Coin Program.