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Issued
September 30, 2026
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Download official Senate Record PDFReturn to issue contextMs. LUMMIS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have the following statement printed in the Record.
Remarks by Senators Lummis, Gillibrand, Duckworth and Durbin, 5-Cent
Coin Composition
(September 30, 2026)
Mr. President, earlier this week, Congress passed the
Common Cents Act (H.R. 10167), which ends the production of
the penny and creates a rounding scheme for cash payments.
This legislation will save the U.S. Mint, and ultimately
taxpayers, tens of millions of dollars each year. The bill
also allows the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Mint to
change the composition of the 5-cent coin.
As Members of Congress who are engaged on the Common Cents
Act, including the bill's bipartisan Senate cosponsors, we
wish to clarify our intent of the provision that allows the
Treasury and Mint to change the composition of the 5-cent
coin from its current nickel-copper alloy to a zinc-nickel
alloy. Not only should the Treasury and Mint evaluate the
direct cost of production of the 5-cent coin when determining
its composition, but it also should evaluate the cost and
recyclability across the Treasury's and Mint's integrated
coin-alloy and scrap-recycling system, as well as the
availability of qualified suppliers and the overall
resilience of the supply chain.
The current copper and nickel 5-cent coin, dime, and
quarter production streams are operationally and economically
interconnected. The current composition of the 5-cent coin
uses a closed-loop recycling model, and the nickel-copper
alloy used in the 5-cent coin is compatible with the
materials also used in dimes and quarters. This allows the 5-
cent coin scrap to be recycled and reused into dime and
quarter feedstock.
The goal of the Common Cents Act is to save taxpayers
money. Therefore, the Treasury and Mint should look at the
impact and cost of changing the composition of the 5-cent
coin, including the cost of production of the 5-cent coin and
other coins, recyclability, availability of suppliers, and
supply chain.