Chapter C. *to authorize the Coinage of Three-Cent Pieces, and for other Purposes.* March 3, 1865. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That so soon as practicable after A three-cent piece to be coined
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Chap. C.— An Act *to authorize the Coinage of Three-Cent Pieces, and for other Purposes.* March 3, 1865. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That so soon as practicable after A three-cent piece to be coined. Composition, weight, shape, device, &c.the passage of this act, there shall be coined at the mint of the United States a three-cent piece, composed of copper and nickel in such propor tions, not exceeding twenty-five per centum of nickel, as shall be deter mined by the director of the mint, the standard weight of which shall be thirty grains, with no greater deviation than four grains to each piece, and the shape, mottoes, and devices of said coin shall be determined by the director of the mint, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury.
And the laws now in force relating to the coinage of cents, and providing Laws applicable.or the purchase of material and prescribing the appropriate duties of the officers of the mint, and of the Secretary of the Treasury be, and the same are hereby, extended to the coinage herein provided for. Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted,* That all laws now in force, relating to Laws relating to coins and coin age extended to this coin, &c.the coins of the United States, and the striking and coinage of the same, shall so far as applicable be extended to the coinage herein authorized, whether said laws are penal or otherwise, for the security of the coin, regulating and guarding the process of striking and coining, for prevent ing debasement, or counterfeiting, or for any other purpose.
And the Director of mint to make regulations.director of the mint shall prescribe suitable regulations to insure a due conformity to the required weights and proportions of alloy in the said coin, and shall order trials thereof to be made from time to time, by the assayer of the mint, whereof a report shall be made in writing to the director. Sec.. 3. *And be it further enacted,* That the said coin shall be a legal To be legal tender for sixty cents. 518 THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS.
Sess. II. Cn. 100, 101. 1865.tender in any payment to the amount of sixty cents. And it shall he lawful to pay out said coins in exchange for the lawfill currency of the The three-cent coin may be paid out in exchange for lawful currency, except, &c. United States, (except cents or half-cents or two-cent pieces issued under former acts of congress,) in suitable sums by the treasurer of the mint, and by such other depositaries as the Secretary of the Treasury may designate, and under general regulations approved by the Secretary of the Treasury.
And under the like regulations the same may be exchanged in suitable sums for any lawful currency of the United States; and the Expenses, how paid.expenses incident to such exchange, distribution, and transmission, may be paid out of the profits of said coinage, and the net profits of said coinage, ascertained in like manner as is prescribed in the second section of the act entitled “An act relating to foreign coins, and the coinage of cents 1857, ch. 56, § 2. Vol. xi. p. 163.
No fractional note to be issued under five cents.at the mint of the United States,” approved February twenty-first, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, shall be transferred to the treasury of the United States: *Provided,* That from and after the passage of this act, no issues of fractional notes of the United States shall be of a less denomination than five cents, and all such issues of a less denomination, at that time outstanding, shall, when paid into the treasury or any designated depositary of the United States, or redeemed or exchanged as now provided by law, be retained and cancelled.
Knowingly making or passing any coin, token, &c., for coin authorized by this act, how punished. Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted,* That if any person or persons shall knowingly make, issue, or pass, or cause to be made, issued, or *past* [passed], any coin, card, token, or device, whatsoever, in metal or its compounds, intended to pass or be passed as money, for the coin authorized by this act, or for coin of equal value, such person or persons shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall on conviction thereof he punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and by imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, at the discretion of the court.
“In God we trust,” may be placed on coins hereafter issued. Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted,* That, in addition to the devices and legends upon the gold, silver, and other coins of the United States, it shall be lawful lor the director of the mint, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, to cause the mo t to “In God we trust” to be placed upon such coins hereafter to be issued as shall admit of such legend thereon. “One-cent” and “two-cent” coins to be legal tender only for four cents.
Sec. 6. *And be it further enacted,* That the one and two cent coins of the United States shall not be a legal tender for any payment exceeding four cents in amount; and so much of the laws of the United States heretofore enacted as are in conflict with the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed. Approved, March 3, 1865.