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HQ 951290


May 27, 1992

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 951290 EJD

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO: 7616.90.00

District Director of Customs
U.S. Customs Service
300 Second Avenue, South
Great Falls, Montana 59401

RE: Protest No. 3307-92-100005; commemorative medals; 9705.00.00; HQ 087912

Dear Sir:

This is in response to the Application for Further Review of Protest No. 3307-92-100005, dated February 5, 1992, which pertains to the classification of commemorative medals under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

The merchandise under consideration are commemorative medals designated as "First Man in Space Medals" from the Soviet Union. The protestant, The Unicover Corporation, entered the commemorative medals under subheading 9705.00.00, HTSUS, as "collections and collectors' pieces of ... historical ... or numismatic interest."

The medals are to commemorate the world's first man in space. The medal's primary component is aluminum which is stated to be minted from an actual Soviet spacecraft which has flown in space and returned to Earth. 160,000 of these medals are to be officially issued by the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the main Soviet space center. The medal pays tribute to the 30th Anniversary of Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin's milestone flight.

The Import Specialist in Denver, the port of entry, liquidated the entries under subheading 7616.90.00, HTSUS, which provides for "other articles of aluminum...other."

ISSUE:

Are the commemorative medals properly classified under subheading 9705.00.00, HTSUS, as collectors' pieces of historical or numismatic interest, or under subheading 7616.90.00, HTSUS, as other articles of aluminum?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

The protestant contends that the commemorative medals are properly classified under subheading 9705.00.00, HTSUS, as articles of collections and collector's pieces of historical interest and numismatic interest.

The protestant is of the opinion that the medals have indeed achieved a degree of rarity by their unique circumstances of being made from a Soviet spacecraft which had been exposed to space environment.

Explanatory Note (EN) 97.05 of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HCDCS) states that

[g]oods produced as a commercial undertaking to commemorate, celebrate, illustrate or depict an event or any other matter, whether or not production is limited in quantity or circulation, do not fall in this heading as collections or collectors' pieces of historical and numismatic interest unless the goods themselves have subsequently attained that interest by reason of their age or rarity.

HCDCS, p. 1619. EN 97.05 further states that "[t]h[is] heading excludes coins and medals not regarded as collectors' pieces nor forming a collection of numismatic interest (e.g., large consignments of any one coin or medal); these generally fall in Chapter 71...." Id. The Explanatory Notes, although not dispositive, are to be looked to for the interpretation of the HTSUS. 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 24, 1988).

These commemorative medals are not rare. The term "rare" is not defined in the HTSUS or the Explanatory Notes of the HCDCS, which are looked to for proper interpretation of the HTSUS. Tariff terms are construed in accordance with their common and commercial meaning. Nippon Kogasku (USA), Inc. v. United States, 69 CCPA 89, 673 F.2d 380 (1982). Common and commercial meaning may be determined by consulting dictionaries, lexicons, scientific authorities and other reliable sources. C.J. Tower & Sons v. United States, 69 CCPA 128, 673 F.2d 1268 (1982). Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary (1988), defines rare as:

1. occurring infrequently: uncommon. 2. highly valued owing to scarceness or uncommonness: special.

Inasmuch the medals were produced in a large amount as a commercial undertaking and were imported in a large consignment, we would not regard them as collectors' pieces nor forming a collection of numismatic interest. It is our position that these commemorative medals are classifiable under subheading 7616.90.00, HTSUS, as "other articles of aluminum...other."

HOLDING:

The commemorative medals are properly classified under subheading 7616.90.00, HTSUS, which provides for "other articles of aluminum...other."

This protest should be denied in full. A copy of this decision should be attached to the Customs Form 19 and provided to the protestant as part of the notice of action on the protest.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

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