Ernest, Thanks for the heads up on this, and the work getting it into law. As a result of reading your Friday article, I headed down there Saturday afternoon and picked up some medallions. Your article has a link to a pdf that is not the adopted law (engrossed version). And that original language was amended this part April '11 to this:

 

C. The historical advisory commission shall design, produce and sell commemorative 99.9 per cent pure gold, silver and copper medallions, with weights that do not exceed one troy ounce. The medallions shall be two-sided disks of not more than five millimeters in thickness, shall have the seal of the state of Arizona struck on one side and shall have a representation of the Arizona state flag struck on the other side along with the text "Arizona centennial medallion – February 14, 1912 – 2012" and the weight of the disk in fractions of troy ounces or grams. The department of weights and measures shall certify the weight and purity of the centennial medallions. The historical advisory commission shall negotiate the manufacture and sale, which may include a prepayment requirement for purchase, of the centennial medallions. The sale price of the medallions shall not be more than ten per cent higher than the manufacturing cost of the medallions or ten per cent higher than the current value of the gold, silver or copper, whichever is greater. Manufacturing quantity shall be produced to meet ongoing prepaid public demand. Proceeds from the sale of centennial medallions shall be deposited in a separate account of the state library fund pursuant to section 41-1336, arizona revised statutes, and used by the Arizona historical advisory commission to fund centennial legacy projects and activities. If there are any remaining unexpended funds after the Arizona historical advisory commission funds and maintains the centennial legacy projects, the remaining funds shall be deposited in the state general fund.

 

Changes were: 1. allowed to take prepayments 2. price to be greater of the cost + 10% or the current value of the metal + 10%. And I asked the commission members if they were charging tax, and they said that the prices included 9.3% tax that seemed wrong to me so I researched it and found that the original law's exemption had NOT been amended out. I pointed this out and they said they will be refunding me 9.3% of what I paid them.

 

Here is the statute: ARS 42-5061. Retail classification; definitions A. The retail classification is comprised of the business of selling tangible personal property at retail. The tax base for the retail classification is the gross proceeds of sales or gross income derived from the business. The tax imposed on the retail classification does not apply to the gross proceeds of sales or gross income from: (and skipping down inside A to 54.) 54. Through August 31, 2014, sales of Arizona centennial medallions by the historical advisory commission. SO, prices should be coming down 9.3% for everybody! --Steve

Arizona became a state on February 14, 1912. It was the last of the 48 contiguous states to be admitted to the union.

In 2005 the Governor of Arizona, Janet Napolitano, established a coordinating committee to honor Arizona's centennial in 2012. The mission of the organization is to: