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Riegle Improvement Act
Section 5119(b)(2) of Title 31, United States Code, was amended by the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-325) to read as follows: "The Secretary shall not be required to reissue United States currency notes upon redemption." This does not change the legal tender status of United States Notes nor does it require a recall of those notes already in circulation. This provision means that United States Notes are to be cancelled and destroyed but not reissued. This will eventually result in a decrease in the amount of these notes outstanding.
United States Notes are an obsolete form of currency last printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in 1968. The Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act, Public Law 103-325, codified at 31 U.S.C. 5119(b)(2), enacted in September 1994, amended 31 U.S.C. by canceling the requirement to reissue these notes when they are redeemed.
Some numismatic groups have expressed interest in selling selected notes to the public. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing consulted with Treasury's Financial Management Service and the Bureau of the Public Debt, and the following determination was made:
- Releasing the notes to the public will violate the spirit of the act, which authorized the Secretary to "not be required to reissue United States Notes upon redemption."
- The Bureau of Engraving and Printing lacks the legal statutory authority to sell these notes to the public.
- The Bureau of Engraving and Printing lacks any mechanism by which it could release the notes to the public now that the requirement to reissue them when redeemed is no longer in effect.
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