The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday, Dec. 2 to pass H.R. 6162 a measure to allow research authority for alternative coinage materials, a measure supported by the National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA). The legislation allows the Secretary of the Treasury to research and develop alternative coinage material. However, the Secretary must consult vending machine and coin acceptor manufacturers, and "may not include any recommendation for new specifications for producing a circulating coin that would require any significant change to coin-accepting and coin-handling equipment to accommodate changes to all circulating coins simultaneously."
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