Commems Collection Classic: "Did You Know?" Cost Of Coining #12

Very interesting. Thank you for sharing.

Commems: To your knowledge, is there any way to compare the figures that you relate here to the last years half dollar coin. Especially since last years half dollar coin was sold to the public for much than $.50.

The only reason that I ask would be compare the Seignorage from 1946 to 2011 (65 years of difference and increased cost). We know full well that last years coin was clad. So I just wonder if the mint made anywhere near the 180+% it did in 1946.

My guess would be it made much more than 180%. Whatd they sell for 15 bucks or so? The mint makes money off normal half dollars and even if we say this one costs twice that thats still only a dollar to make if you round up. 10 bucks would be 900%. Could be way off but thats what I would guess.

@ghostrider:



To estimate the current profit, we'll need to make a few assumptions...

First, we'll assume that the cost to produce a copper-nickel commemorative half-dollar is the same as what it would cost to produce a standard copper-nickel Kennedy half-dollar.

The last official cost figure released by the US Mint (that I could find) pegs the cost to produce a half-dollar at $0.1511. That figure is several years old (2005), however, so let's add about 20% to it and call the cost $0.18 (estimate based on actual inflation calculations).

We need to account for the cost of the commemorative coin's packaging which, considering the simple packaging for the half-dollar, shouldn't add more than about $0.15 (likely less) to each coin.

Combing the two cost components, we can estimate the total cost for a 2011 US Army half-dollar at approximately $0.33.

The 2011 Army half-dollar cost $15.95 during the pre-issue period and $19.95 thereafter.

We need to remember the surcharge being collecting on the sale of each Army half-dollar in our calculations -- it was $5.00.

So, using the pre-issue pricing first, the Mint could see a profit of roughly $10.62 per coin ($15.95 - $5.00 - $0.33) -- a profit of about 3,218%; using the standard issue price of $19.95 yields a profit of about $14.62 per coin or a profit of approximately 4,430%.

These numbers are likely high as I don't have a good way of estimating the cost of overall advertising that was allocated to the 2011 Army half-dollars or knowledge of the costs associated with administering the coin's surcharge distribution. In any case, however, the US Mint's current profit on producing a commemorative half-dollar should net out to be much higher than it was back in 1946. "Making money" is still a great business to be in -- I wonder if they franchise?

Hope that answers your question!