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Message:: [QUOTE="Rhubarb, post: 292617, member: 10778"]Melting cents may soon be legal   Bill on fast track; would also transfer alloy responsibility  By Cindy Brake COIN WORLD Staff    Melting cents could be legal if recently introduced legislation, which appears to be on the fast track in the House of Representatives, is approved by Congress. The bill’s sponsor claims that permitting the melting of cents will save Americans millions of dollars and revive a business in his district. Information published in the Federal Register, however, tells a different story. Rep. Zack Space, D-Ohio, introduced H.R. 3956 Oct. 24. The bill seeks to partially overturn a ban imposed earlier this year by the secretary of the Treasury that prohibits the melting of cent and 5-cent coins. The newly introduced legislation seeks to lift the ban on melting cents and includes stipulations that cede part of Congress’ constitutional authority over coinage. The Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2007 is two-fold: 1. The suspension of regulatory authority would reverse an April 16 ruling by the secretary of the Treasury published in the Federal Register (Vol. 72, No. 72, page 18880, et seq.). The secretary’s ruling, which has the effect of law, finalized an interim ruling made Dec. 20, 2006, that prohibits the exportation, melting or treatment of 5-cent and cent coins. 2. The newly introduced bill would authorize the secretary of the Treasury to change alloy specifications of coins issued by the U.S. Mint, without approval from Congress. It would also remove all weight specifications for individual coins from current law, thereby allowing the Treasury chief to issue regulations establishing them. H.R. 3956 was slated for mark-up Oct. 31 by the House Financial Services Committee for prompt committee approval and movement to the floor for a vote later in the week. "It is my hope that Chairman [Barney] Frank will see fit to fast-track this bill," said Space in an Oct. 23 press release. Space says his bill would restore a business in his district, Jackson Metals, which provides a "great service … to American taxpayers." The business reportedly purchases surplus coins at face value from various areas of the country, pulls out pre-1983 cents (they are made of an alloy containing 95 percent copper) and those of numismatic value before redistributing the coins of lesser value to areas of the country with a shortage. Jackson Metals also reportedly melts pre-1983 cents and prior to the ban sold the copper for the value of the metal. Space states in a press release: "Jackson Metals has the potential to hire over 30 people in an area of my district that is in desperate need of good-paying jobs. Saving taxpayers millions, creating jobs and spurring the local economy are all worthy goals that this legislation will accomplish. Passage cannot come soon enough." According to the Federal Register, the ban prohibiting the exportation, melting and treatment of cent and 5-cent coins was put in place "to protect the coinage of the United States." "The primary reason for limiting the melting, exportation and treatment of 5-cent and one-cent coins is to avoid a shortage of these coins in circulation," states the Federal Register, Vol. 71, No. 244, on Dec. 20, 2006, Rules and Regulations. "Accordingly, the extraction of even relatively small amounts of these coins from circulation could have a significant impact on the United States Mint’s ability to produce sufficient volumes of these coins to meet the needs of commerce." An additional reason for the ban is the cost of replenishing these coins. According to Becky Bailey, director of Public Affairs for the U.S. Mint, the cost to produce a cent currently is 1.67 cents and the cost to produce a 5-cent coin is 9.5 cents. Information published in the Federal Register estimates that the cost to the U.S. Treasury to replenish 5-cent and cent coins taken out of circulation and diverted as scrap metal for recycling could be in excess of $1 million per day. "At current metal prices, the profit potential from recycling 5-cent and one-cent coins to reclaim copper, nickel and zinc is sufficiently lucrative to effect these dangers in a very short time period," according to the Federal Register. The price of copper has escalated over the past three years. The spot price of copper closing Oct. 25 was $3.58 a pound. Most Lincoln cents up to 1982 include 95 percent copper, except the war year of 1943, and weigh 0.11 ounce, thus 145 copper cents weigh a pound. So, 95 percent copper cents with a face value of $1.45 have a copper value of $3.40. Specifications The language in the provision in H.R. 3956 that would grant the Treasury secretary greater authority over coinage specifications appeared earlier in the year in another bill, H.R. 3330, introduced by Rep. Frank, D-Mass., and Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., as chief sponsors. Both are chairmen of the two committees in the House of Representatives with U.S. Mint oversight responsibility. Frank chairs the House Financial Services Committee. Gutierrez is chairman of the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology. Sec. 8, Article 1, of the U.S. Constitution grants Congress exclusive authority "To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures." The Frank/Gutierrez proposal is identical to H.R. 3330 titled the Coinage Materials Modernization Act of 2007. The language seeks to authorize the secretary of the Treasury to change alloy specifications of coins issued by the U.S. Mint, without approval from Congress. It would also remove all weight specifications for individual coins from current law, thereby allowing the Treasury chief to issue regulations establishing them. This legislation seeks to amend provisions of 31 U.S.C. 5112(a) (Denominations, specifications and design of coins) and 5113 (Tolerances and testing of coins) that specify the weights and compositions of the half dollar, quarter dollar, dime, 5-cent coin and 1-cent coin. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Co., introduced a similar bill, S. 1986, in the Senate on Aug. 3. CW   <img src="http://online.amospublishing.com/Daily/skins/CWD/Images/back.gif" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /><img src="http://online.amospublishing.com/Daily/skins/CWD/Images/continue.gif" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]

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