Page Report of the Treasury Department... Remarks of Senator Sparkman on the introduction of the bill.. WITNESSES Miss Eva Adams, Director of the Mint; accompanied by Frederick W. Tate, Assistant Director of the Mint, and Kenneth M. Failor, Assistant S. W. Freeman, American Numismatic Association; accompanied by Combined coin inventories at Federal Reserve banks and mints, table... Congressional Record, reprint of the remarks of Senator John Sparkman Joint Commission on the Coinage, list of members... Mint production schedule, fiscal year 1968, table_ National Automatic Merchandising Association, letter to Miss Eva Adams Treasury Department, letter to Senator Sparkman, from Fred B. Smith, U.S. currency and coin, statement on, as of March 31, 1967, table---- MINT MARKS TUESDAY, MAY 2, 1967 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON BANKING AND CURRENCY, SUBCOMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 10 a.m. in room 5302, New Senate Office Building, Senator William Proxmire, chairman of the subcommittee, presiding. Present: Senators Proxmire, Sparkman, Bennett, and Brooke. Senator PROXMIRE. The Subcommittee on Financial Institutions of the Committee on Banking and Currency will come to order. This morning we are holding hearings on S. 1008, a bill to repeal the prohibition against mint marks on coins of the United States. Without objection, I would like to place in the record a copy of the bill and a copy of the letter from the Department of the Treasury. Also, a statement Senator Sparkman made to the Senate when he introduced this bill. (The above-mentioned material follows:) 1 90TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1008 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 16, 1967 Mr. SPARKMAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking and Currency A BILL To repeal the prohibition against mint marks on coins of the United States. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 That the last sentence of section 3517 of the Revised Statutes (31 U.S.C. 324) is repealed. 4 II THE GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE TREASURY, Hon. JOHN SPARKMAN, Chairman, Committee on Banking and Currency, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to your request for the views of this Department on S. 1008, "To repeal the prohibition against mint marks on coins of the United States." The proposed legislation would repeal the last sentence of section 3517 of the Revised Statutes (31 U.S.C. 324), which prohibits the inscribing of mint marks on any coins during the five-year period beginning on July 23, 1965, except coins struck at the Denver Mint as authorized by law prior to such date. This prohibition, which was enacted by Congress as a part of the Coinage Act of 1965 (Public Law 89-81), was not a part of the Administration's proposals on the coinage but was added as an amendment by the Congress. The repeal of the prohibition against mint marks would restore to the Treasury Department discretionary authority which has been exercised for more than a century to place mint marks on coins when it is deemed to be in the public interest. The mint marking of coins and the annual dating, which has now been resumed on a normal basis, are essential means of controlling and identifying the output of each of our coinage plants. |