Anyone researching coins will undoubtedly encounter references to specific legislation relating to the United States Mint. This page provides a list of legislation and congressional reports related to the United States Mint, along with links to their text. For Internet security reasons, unless otherwise indicated, the links provided below are limited to United States government sites. This is a work in progress. Please drop an email message to info@stephensoncollections.com if there are any statutes that should be added to this list or broken links in the statutes provided.
The United States Mint provides an excellent timeline of its history here. This page attempts to provide links to the events in that timeline.
An Act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the Government of the United States, 1 STAT. 130 (July 16, 1790). The Residence Act of 1790 authorized the formation of the District of Columbia as the permanent seat of the United States government and moved all offices attached to the “seat” of the United States government to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This act is important to this timeline as the Coinage Act of 1792 established the United States Mint at the seat of the United States government.
Hamilton, Alexander. “Report on the Establishment of a Mint.” January 28, 1791. Founders Online. National Archives.
An Act to amend an act intituled “An act establishing a Mint, and regulating the coins of the United States,” so far as respects the coinage of copper, 1 STAT. 299 (January 14, 1793). This act lowered the weight of the cent and half-cent from 11 penny weights (17.107 grams) and 5 ½ penny weights (8.553 grams) to 208 grains (13.478 grams) and 104 grains (6.739 grams) of copper, respectively. In December 1795, President George Washington ordered a further reduction of weight to 168 grains (10.886 grams) and 84 grains (5.443 grams), respectively.
An Act regulating the currency of foreign coins in the United States, 2 STAT. 374 (April 10, 1806). This act authorized the gold and silver coins of Great Britain, Portugal, France, and Spain as legal tender within the United States and set the weight and purity requirements for such coins.
An Act for the punishment of counterfeiting the current coin of the United States; and for other purposes, 2 STAT. 404 (April 21, 1806). This act established a penalty of three to five years’ hard labor for counterfeiting coins.
An Act regulating the value of certain foreign silver coins within the United States, 4 STAT. 681 (June 25, 1834). This act authorized the silver coins of Mexico, Peru, Chile, and Central America as legal tender within the United States and set the weight and purity requirements for such coins.
An Act concerning the gold coins of the United States, and for other purposes, 4 STAT. 699 (June 28, 1834). This act reduced the weight of the $10 gold eagle, the $5 gold eagle, and the $2 ½ gold eagle, thereby fixing the value of gold to silver at 16:1.
An Act to authorize the Coinage of Gold Dollars and Double Eagles, 9 STAT. 397 (March 3, 1849). This act, passed in response to the California Gold Rush, authorized the United States Mint to produce the Gold Dollar and $20 Double Eagle.
An Act to reduce and modify the Rates of Postage in the United States, and for other Purposes, 9 STAT. 587 § 11 (March 3, 1851). The Postal Act of 1851 reduced the rate of first-class postage to three cents, and, to accommodate the change, also authorized the three-cent coin, weighing 12 ⅜ grains (0.802 grams) and composed of 75% silver and 25% copper.
An Act to establish a Branch of the Mint of the United States in California, 10 STAT. 11 (July 3, 1852). This act authorized the establishment of a branch of the United States Mint in California.
An Act Amendatory of Existing Laws relative to the Half Dollar, Quarter Dollar, Dime, and Half Dime, 10 STAT. 160 (February 21, 1853). The Coinage Act of 1853 reduced the weight of fractional silver coins so that the face value of the coins was greater than their melt value in order to prevent them from being melted down. The act also authorized the creation of the $3 gold piece. Two arrowheads were added to the obverse and, for the quarter and half dollar, rays surrounding the eagle were added to the reverse so that the coins could be distinguished from earlier coins.
An Act relating to Foreign Coins and to the Coinage of Cents at the Mint of the United States, 11 STAT. 163 (February 21, 1857). The Coinage Act of 1857 repealed all acts authorizing foreign gold and silver coins as legal tender and provided for the purchase of Spanish and Mexican silver coins by the Treasury Department at a specified rate. The act also changed the weight and composition of cents to 48 grains (3.11 grams), 88% copper and 12% nickel, thereby creating the “small cent,” and discontinued the half-cent.
An Act in Amendment of an Act entitled “An Act relating to Foreign Coins and the Coinage of Cents at the Mint of the United States,” approved February twenty-one, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, 13 STAT. 54 (April 22, 1864). The Coinage Act of 1864 changed the composition of the cent to ninety-five percent copper and five percent tin/zinc. The act also authorized the minting of a two-cent piece weighing 96 grains (6.22 grams) with the same composition as the cent.
An Act to authorize the Coinage of Three-Cent Pieces, and for other Purposes, 13 STAT 517 (March 3, 1865). The Coinage Act of 1865 authorized the minting of the three-cent nickel, weighing thirty grains (1.944 grams) and composed of a copper-nickel alloy with up to 25% nickel. The Coinage Act of 1865 also permitted the director of the United States Mint to place the inscription “In God We Trust” on any coin.
An Act revising and amending the Laws relative to the Mints, Assay-offices, and Coinage of the United States, 17 STAT. 424 (February 12, 1873). The Coinage Act of 1873, also referred to as the Mint Act of 1873, the Fourth Coinage Act, and the Crime of 1873 (for its demonetization of silver) (a)officially established the United States Mint as a bureau of the Treasury Department (§ 1); (b) established the trade dollar as the only silver dollar coin (§ 15); (c) set the standard weight of the $1 gold piece to 25.8 grains (1.672 grams), and all other gold coins to be in proportion of that weight, effectively leaving the weight of gold coinage unchanged (d) set the weight of the trade dollar, half-dollar, quarter-dollar, and dime to 420 grains (27.22 grams), 12.5 grams, 6.25 grams, and 1.25 grams, respectively (§ 15); (e) authorized the five-cent nickel and three-cent nickel, composed of 75% copper and 25% nickel, weighing 77.16 grains (5 grams) and 30 grains (1.944 grams) respectively (§ 16); (f) required the motto “E Pluribus Unum” on the reverse of all coins (§ 18) ; (g) ended an individual’s right to convert silver bullion into silver coins, except for the trade dollar (§ 21), (h) limited the legal tender of silver coins to five dollars per payment (§ 15), and (i) discontinued the minting of the two-cent piece, the three-cent nickel, the three-cent silver, and the half-dime (§ 15, § 17).
Joint resolution for the issue of silver coin, 19 STAT. 215 (July 22, 1876) This act prescribed that the Trade Dollar was not legal tender and that the Secretary of the Treasury could limit its coinage to the amount necessary for its export.
An act to authorize the coinage of the standard silver dollar, and to restore its legal-tender character, 20 STAT. 25 (February 28, 1878). The Bland-Allison Act, enacted over the veto of President Rutherford B. Hayes, prescribed the minting of the silver dollar, weighing 412 ½ grains (26.730 grams), reestablished it as full legal tender, and directed the United States Mint to purchase and coin between $2 million and $4 million dollars each month.
An act directing the purchase of silver bullion and the issue of Treasury notes thereon, and for other purposes, 26 STAT. 289 (July 14, 1890). The Sherman Silver Purchase Act directed the Secretary of the Treasury to (a) purchase 4.5 million ounces of silver each month, or so much as available at a price of one dollar per 371.75 grains (25.057 grams); (b) to issue silver bullion treasury notes redeemable on demand for silver coins; and (c) to mint two million ounces of silver into silver dollars each month for twelve months and thereafter, sufficient silver dollars to provide for the redemption of the silver bullion treasury notes.
An act to discontinue the coinage of the three-dollar and one-dollar gold pieces and three-cent nickel piece, 26 STAT. 485 (September 26, 1890). This act discontinued the minting of the $1 gold piece, the $3 gold piece, and the three-cent nickel.
An act to aid in carrying out the act of Congress approved April twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and ninety, entitled “An act to provide for celebrating the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, by holding an international exposition of arts, industries, manufactures, and products of the soil, mine, and sea, in the city of Chicago, in the State of Illinois,” and appropriating money therefor, 27 STAT. 389 (August 5, 1892). This act authorized the first official commemorative coin, the Columbian half dollar, which was issued to defray the cost of preparing for the World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago, Illinois, in 1892, the quadricentennial (400) anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in America.
An Act To define and fix the standard of value, to maintain the parity of all forms of money issued or coin, 31 STAT. 45, ch. 41 (March 14, 1900). The Gold Standard Act of 1900 (a) pegged the value of gold at $1 for 25.8 grains (1.672 grams) of 90% pure gold or $20.67 per troy ounce of pure gold, (b) required that all currency be maintained at parity with this gold standard; (c) authorized the issuance of gold certificates; (d) required the redemption of silver bullion certificates to be in gold. This act officially ended bimetallism in the United States and placed it on the gold standard until 1934.
An Act Providing for the restoration of the motto “In God we trust” on certain denominations of the gold and silver coins of the United States, 35 STAT. 164 § 1 (May 18, 1908). This act required the motto “In God We Trust,” previously inscribed on certain denominations of gold and silver coins but removed in recent gold coins, to be returned to such coins.
An Act Establishing a Commission of Fine Arts, 36 STAT. 371 (May 17, 1910). This act established the Commission of Fine Arts to advise on the placement and design of statues, fountains, and monuments in public squares within the District of Columbia. The act also charged this agency with advising the President and Congress when required. Executive Order 3524, issued by President Warren Harding, expanded the commission’s scope to include coins, medals, and insignia.
An Act To conserve the gold supply of the United States; to permit the settlement in silver of trade balances adverse to the United States; to provide silver for subsidiary coinage and for commercial use; to assist foreign governments at war with the enemies of the United States; and for the above purposes to stabilize the price and encourage the production of silver, 40 STAT. 535 (April 23, 1918). The Pittman Act of 1918 authorized the melting of up to $350 million in silver dollars for sale to Great Britain at $1 per ounce, to back its paper currency in India, result in $270 million in silver dollars being melted. The act required the cancellation of an equivalent amount of silver bullion certificates and that an equal amount of silver be purchased from domestic mines and minted into new dollar coins.
An Act To authorize a change in the design of the quarter dollar to commemorate the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of George Washington, 46 Stat. 1523 (March 4, 1931). This act prescribed that, in commemoration of the bicentennial of George Washington’s birthday, commencing in 1932, the portrait of George Washington shall appear on the obverse and appropriate devices on the reverse.
AN ACT To protect the currency system of the United States, to provide for the better use of the monetary gold stock of the United States, and for other purposes, 48 STAT. 337 (January 30, 1934). On April 3, 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared by executive order numbered 6102 that all gold, including gold coins, was to be turned into the Federal Reserve Bank, subject to certain exemptions, including rare or unusual collectible coins not to exceed $100 in value. The Gold Reserve Act of 1934 codified this seizure by vesting title to all bullion and coin in the United States government (§ 2), withdrawing gold coins from circulation (§ 5), and granting the Secretary of the Treasury authority over all gold trading (§ 3).
AN ACT To authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase silver, issue silver certificates, and for other purposes, 48 STAT. 1178 (June 19, 1934). This act provided for the increase in the nation’s silver reserve equal to one fourth of its gold and silver reserves (§ 2), and granted broad authority to the executive branch over silver to achied this goal, including (a) placing a cap on the price of existing fine silver at 50 cents/ounce (§ 3), (b) granting the Secretary of the Treasury authority over the regulation of silver transactions (§ 6), (c) imposing punitive taxes of fifty percent on any profit made on transfers of silver bullion (§ 10), and (d) authorized the President to require the delivery of privately held silver to the United State Mint in exchange for silver dollars or any other coin or currency less coinage deductions (i.e., no immediate right to demand silver dollars).
An Act to provide that all United States currency shall bear the inscription “In God We Trust”, 69 STAT. 290, ch. 303 (July 11, 1955). This act required the motto “In God We Trust” to appear on all United States currency and coins.
An Act to provide for the coinage of 50-cent pieces bearing the likeness of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 77 STAT. 843 (December 30, 1963). This act prescribed that the half-dollar shall bear, on one side, the likeness of President John F. Kennedy, and, on the other side, an appropriate design as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury.
An Act to amend the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, and for other purposes, 84 STAT. 1760 (December 31, 1970). This act changed the composition of the Kennedy half-dollar to a copper-nickel clad, authorized the production of a copper-nickel clad and a limited production of a silver-copper clad Eisenhower Dollar (§ 201).
An act to provide a new coinage design and date emblematic of the Bicentennial of the American Revolution for dollars, half dollars, and quarter dollars, to authorize the issuance of special silver coins commemorating the Bicentennial of the American Revolution, and for other purposes, 87 STAT. 455 (October 18, 1973). This act prescribed the bicentennial reverses on the quarter-dollar, half-dollar, and dollar with the reverse featuring a design emblematic of the Bicentennial of the American Revolution, and the obverse, the inscription “1776-1976” in lieu of the date on those coins (§§ 1-2). This act also prescribed a limited production of silver-copper-clad proof bicentennial coins.
Hobby Protection Act, 87 STAT. 686 (November 29, 1973). The Hobby Protection Act made it a criminal offense to manufacture or import imitation numismatic items that were not plainly and permanently marked as copies.
An act to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to change the alloy and weight of the 1-cent piece and to amend the Bank Holding Act Amendments of 1970 to authorize grants to Eisenhower College, Seneca Falls, New York, 88 STAT. 1261 (October 11, 1974). This act authorized the United States Mint to set the composition percentage of copper and zinc in the one-cent piece as well as its weight.
An act to provide for increased participation by the United States in the International Development Association and to permit United States citizens to purchase, hold, sell, or otherwise deal with gold in the United States or abroad, 88 STAT. 445 (December 31, 1974). This act repealed any law, rule, regulation, or order that prohibited any person from person from buying, holding, or selling gold without the United States or abroad.
Susan B. Anthony Dollar Coin Act, 92 STAT. 1072 (October 10, 1979). This act prescribed the weight and diameter of the dollar coin at 8.1 grams and 1.043 inches, and its design, with the obverse depicting a likeness of Susan B. Anthony, and the reverse an image emblematic of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
George Washington Commemorative Coin Act, 95 STAT. 1491 (December 23, 1981). This act authorized the minting of the George Washington Commemorative Coin, leaving the design of the obverse and reverse to the Secretary of the Treasury, but required that the designs be emblematic of the semiquincentennial (250th) anniversary of George Washington’s birth. The specifications that the coin be 12.5 grams and 30.61 mm in diameter were those of a silver half-dollar.
Gold Bullion Coin Act of 1985, 99 STAT. 1177 (December 17, 1985). This act authorized the minting of 22-karat gold eagle coins in denominations of $50, $25, $10, and $5, containing 1, ½, ¼, and ⅛ troy ounces of fine gold, respectively. The obverse was to contain a design symbolic of Liberty, and the reverse a tad more specific, “a design representing a family of eagles, with the male carrying an olive branch and flying above a nest containing a female eagle and hatchlings.”
An act to authorize appropriations for the United States Mint for fiscal years 1988 and 1989, and for other purposes, 102 Stat. 48 (March 31, 1988). This act officially designated the San Francisco Assay Office and the West Point Bullion Repository as mints.
Silver Coin Proof Sets Act, 104 STAT. 2874 (November 15, 1990). This act prescribed that the Secretary of the Treasury mint and sell silver proof collector sets annually.
Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, 1997, 110 STAT. 3009 pp 349-353 (September 30, 1996). These sections of the Omnibus Bill limited commemorative coin designs to two designs per year, and each design was limited to 750,000 clad half-dollars, 500,000 silver dollars, and 100,000 gold $5 or $10 coins.
50 States Commemorative Coin Program Act; United States $1 Coin Act of 1997, 111 STAT. 2534 (December 1, 1997). This act established and prescribed the 50 States Quarter Program, where five designs on the reverse of the quarter-dollar, to be submitted by the governors of each state and emblematic of that state, would be released each year, commencing in 1999 for a period of 10 years (§ 3). The act also prescribed changes in the dollar coin, which was to be golden in color, have a distinctive edge, and have tactile and visual features to distinguish it from the quarter-dollar. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with Congress, was granted the authority to select the designs for the new dollar coin.
Native American $1 Coin Act, 121 STAT. 777 (September 20, 2007). This act prescribed design requirements for the dollar coin, including (a) retaining Sacagawea design on the obverse, (b) different designs of the reverse each calendar year, depicting “images celebrating the important contributions made by Indian tribes and individual Native Americans to the development of the United States and the history of the United States.,” and (c) the year of issuance and mint mark, as wall as the inscriptions “In God We Trust” and “E Pluribus Unum” edge-incused onto the coin. The act also required that twenty percent of dollar coins minted each year be of this design.
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, 121 STAT. 1844 (December 26, 2007), §§ 622-623. This act authorized the District of Columbia and the United States Territories’ designs depicted on the reverse of the quarter dollar in 2009. The act also prescribed that the obverse or reverse of the Presidential Dollar contain the motto “In God We Trust,” moving it from the edge.
America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, 122 STAT. 5038, Title 1 (December 23, 2008). This act prescribed that, commencing in 2010, the reverse of the quarter dollar would depict a design emblematic of the national sites within the United States and its territories. The act authorized five-ounce silver bullion coins of the same designs. The act also prescribed that at the end of the program, the obverse of the quarter dollar would revert back to the design preceding the 50 States Quarter Program, and the reverse was to contain an image of George Washington crossing the Delaware River prior to the Battle of Trenton.
Fixing America, 129 Stat. 1312 (December 4, 2015). Title LXXIII – Bullion and Collectible Coin Production Efficiency and Cost Savings. Fine Silver Proof Sets. Section § 73001 of this act prescribed that the silver proof coins be not less than 90% silver. Since 2019, the silver coins in the Silver Proof Sets have been composed of pure silver.
American Innovation $1 Coin Act, 132 STAT. 1515 (July 20, 2018). IThe act prescribed that, commencing in 2019 and for fourteen years thereafter, the Secretary of the Treasury was to mint an issue the American Innovation Dollar, the design of which included (a), on the obverse, a likeness of the Statue of Liberty, the denomination, and the motto “In God We Trust,” (b) on the initial reverse, a representation of President George Washington’s signature on the first United States patent, the inscription “United States of American” and “American Innovators,” and (c) the year of issuance, mint mark, and motto “E Pluribus Unum” edge-incused on the coin. For subsequent years, the reverse was to be emblematic of a significant innovation, an innovator, or a group of innovators from one of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, or a United States territory. The American Innovation Dollar was limited to uncirculated and proof coins.