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H.R. 5512: Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008

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H.R. 5512: Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008

110th Congress · introduced 2008-02-28 · Finance and Financial Sector · Latest: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2008-02-28 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Rep. Space, Zachary T. [D-OH-18] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
  4. Where it stands now: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008

Plain summary

Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008 - Requires the one-cent coin (except for Lincoln Bicentennial Numismatic Pennies) to be produced primarily of steel and treated to impart a copper color to its appearance similar to one-cent coins produced of a copper-zinc alloy. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, in the alternative, during the 90 days following enactment of this Act, to add any other element to any alloy of zinc and copper of which one-cent coins could have been composed before enactment of this Act, if during such 90-day period another element is determined to help produce one-cent coins of the same diameter, general composition, and general weight, but at a lower unit cost. Requires a prompt report to Congress if such a determination is made. Directs the Secretary, two years after enactment of this Act, to produce only five-cent coins primarily made of steel with a coating of nickel, unless by that time the unit cost of production of existing five-cent coins is lower than their face value. Requires the Secretary, however, to recommend a different metallic content of circulating five-cent coins if any biennial report to Congress, required by this Act, indicates that such a different metallic content is both functional and interchangeable with existing coins, and more economical to produce in both the short and long term. Authorizes the Secretary, in order to accomplish the goals of this Act, to research, develop, evaluate or begin to use new metallic material for circulating coin production. Requires the Secretary to report biennially to specified congressional committees on the production costs for each circulating coin, cost trends, and possible new metallic materials or technologies for the production of circulating coins, with detailed recommendations for any appropriate changes to the metallic content of circulating coins.

Congressional Research Service summary (Passed House amended), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Passed House amended)

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The strongest published arguments

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Space, Zachary T. [D-OH-18] · 2 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (1)
Appropriation
Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong110-hr5512 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong110 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong110