Can Mint Employee's Buy Coins Hot off the line?

Well, regardless of what the old laws stated, I am talking about what the current US Code states. And it says quite plainly that people can still, today, bring in gold and or silver to the US Mint and have it turned into gold/silver bars and or coins/money. See the following -

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/search/display.html?terms=deposit and bullion&url=/uscode/html/uscode31/usc_sec_31_00005121----000-.html

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/search/display.html?terms=deposit and bullion&url=/uscode/html/uscode31/usc_sec_31_00005122----000-.html

edit - Those are the urls alright - let's try this

Section 5121

Section 5122

 

Hmmmm - even editing the links didn't work so I'll copy/paste I guess. But to answer your question - yes. But you have to go through the entire process, you don't just walk in and then walk out. It's explained in the code -

TITLE 31 > SUBTITLE IV > CHAPTER 51 > SUBCHAPTER II > § 5121

§ 5121. Refining, assaying, and valuation of bullion

(a) The Secretary of the Treasury shall—
(1) melt and refine bullion;
(2) as required, assay coins, metal, and bullion;
(3) cast gold and silver bullion deposits into bars; and
(4) cast alloys into bars for minting coins.
(b) A person owning gold or silver bullion may deposit the bullion with the Secretary to be cast into fine, standard fineness, or unrefined bars weighing at least 5 troy ounces. When practicable, the Secretary shall weigh the bullion in front of the depositor. The Secretary shall give the depositor a receipt for the bullion stating the description and weight of the bullion. When the Secretary has to melt the bullion or remove base metals before the value of the bullion can be determined, the weight is the weight after the melting or removal of the metals. The Secretary may refuse a deposit of gold bullion if the deposit is less than $100 in value or the bullion is so base that it is unsuitable for the operations of the Bureau of the Mint.
(c) When the gold and silver are combined in bullion that is deposited and either the gold or silver is so little that it cannot be separated economically, the Secretary may not pay the depositor for the gold or silver that cannot be separated.
(d)
(1) Under conditions prescribed by the Secretary, a person may exchange unrefined bullion for fine bars when—
(A) gold and silver are combined in the bullion in proportions that cannot be economically refined; or
(B) necessary supplies of acids cannot be procured at reasonable rates.
(2) The charge for refining in an exchange under this subsection may be not more than the charge imposed in an exchange of unrefined bullion for refined bullion.
(e) The Secretary shall prepare bars for payment of deposits. The Secretary shall stamp each bar with a designation of the weight and fineness of the bar and a symbol the Secretary considers suitable to prevent fraudulent imitation of the bar.


TITLE 31 > SUBTITLE IV > CHAPTER 51 > SUBCHAPTER II > § 5122

§ 5122. Payment to depositors

(a) The Secretary of the Treasury shall determine the fineness, weight, and value of each deposit and bar under section 5121 of this title. The value and the amount of charges under subsection (b) of this section shall be based on the fineness and weight of the bullion. The Secretary shall give the depositor a statement of the charges and the net amount of the deposit to be paid in money or bars of the same species of bullion as that deposited.
(b) The Secretary shall impose a charge equal to the average cost of material, labor, waste, and use of machinery of a United States mint or assay office for—
(1) melting and refining bullion;
(2) using copper as an alloy when bullion deposited is above standard;
(3) separating gold and silver combined in the bullion; and
(4) preparing bars.
(c) The Secretary shall pay to the depositor or to a person designated by the depositor money or bars equivalent to the bullion deposited as soon as practicable after the value of the deposit is determined. If demanded, the Secretary shall pay depositors in the order in which the bullion is deposited with the Secretary. However, when there is an unavoidable delay in determining the value of a deposit, the Secretary shall pay subsequent depositors. When practicable and convenient, the Secretary shall pay depositors in the denominations requested by the depositor. After the depositor is paid, the bullion is the property of the United States Government.
(d) To allow the Secretary to pay depositors with as little delay as possible, the Secretary shall keep in the mints and assay offices, when possible, money and bullion the Secretary decides are convenient and necessary.


And when somebody asks if this is current -

Title 31 of the US Code as currently published by the US Government reflects the laws passed by Congress as of Jan. 5, 2009, and it is this version that is published here.

 

Sure they do, read a little closer -

The Secretary shall give the depositor a statement of the charges and the net amount of the deposit to be paid in money or bars of the same species of bullion as that deposited.

 

The depositor's.

 

And I'd bet that they would have a hard time getting away with that since they mint both the gold and silver coins by the millions ! Pretty hard to say it's not convenient when they mint that many.

Anybody who ever took it court - they would win. Not the mint !

 

Maybe, maybe not. My claim was the law is on the books and it is.

 

Hardly so. Every law there is about coins says the same thing - the Secretary shall this or shall that. That doesn't mean the SecTreas actually does anything at all. He's merely responsible for it because the SecTreas is in charge of the US MInt. The US Mint and its employees does it all ! Not the Secretary of the Treasury.

As I said, the law is on the books. They have no choice but to comply.