Title 31 › SUBTITLE IV — MONEY › CHAPTER 51 — COINS AND CURRENCY › SUBCHAPTER III — UNITED STATES MINT › § 5134
Creates a revolving Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund in the U.S. Treasury to run and pay for the U.S. Mint’s coin and medal business. The Mint must put all money it earns from selling numismatic items into the Fund. The Fund must pay ordinary and reasonable costs of producing, managing, marketing, selling, and distributing coins and related products (including salaries, equipment, and facility updates but not buying or building new buildings). The Secretary of the Treasury must transfer monthly to the Treasury’s general fund the seigniorage (profit) from numismatic items sold since the last transfer. The Secretary may move any extra money from the Fund to the Treasury and must report each year how much was transferred, how much exceeds one year’s operating costs, and why any excess is being kept. The Mint must prepare budgets and yearly financial statements that show assets, results, cash flows, and per-unit costs and revenues for each circulating coin denomination. An independent auditor or the Treasury Inspector General must audit each yearly statement under Government auditing standards and give an opinion to the Secretary by March 31 following the fiscal year. The Secretary must send an annual report by April 30 to the President, Congress, and OMB that includes the financial statement, the audit, activity summaries, internal control information, corrective actions, and the total excess funds sent to the Treasury. Surcharges collected on numismatic sales go into the Fund but cannot be paid to outside recipient organizations until the Mint’s related program costs are fully recovered and the recipient shows an audited statement proving it raised at least as much private money as the surcharge proceeds. If a payment is blocked only because the recipient fails the matching rule and remains unpaid for 2 years after either the last day the item was issued or the date the American 5-Cent Coin Design Continuity Act of 2003 became law, the unpaid amount goes to the Treasury. Recipient groups must have annual independent audits that show amounts received, amounts spent, and that spending was for allowed purposes, must keep separate records, file the audit within 90 days after their fiscal year, and make it public. Federal agencies are exempt. No surcharge money may be used to pay agents or attorneys to lobby Congress about commemorative coin laws. For commemorative coin programs authorized on or after the Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations Act of 1997, the Mint must send Congress quarterly financial reports (no later than the 30th day of the month after each quarter) with GAAP financials, marketing and travel costs, items minted/sold/rejected, costs to melt unsold or rejected items, market research, and efforts to keep sale prices as low as practical. Definitions (one line each): Fund — the Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund; Mint — the United States Mint; Numismatic item — medals, proof, uncirculated, bullion, or other coins and related products; Numismatic operations and programs — the Mint’s production, sales, management, marketing, and related activities; Secretary — the Secretary of the Treasury.
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Money and Finance, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
31 U.S.C. § 5134
Title 31, Money and Finance
Last Updated
Sep 23, 2026
Release point: 119-110