A reader writes:
Though we would both agree that Chief Justice Marshall is “cool” in many regards, the truth behind commemorative coin programs is “way uncool.”
I worked for the U.S. Mint for seven years before enrolling in Marshall-Wythe Law School (Wm & Mary) & have a good read on how these programs work. In a nutshell, a sponsoring organization lobbies the congressional banking committees (to whose music the U.S. Mint dances) to pass commemorative coin legislation, usually for one-ounce silver dollars.
Once legislation is passed, the Mint designs and stamps the coins.
(Getting from design to stamped coin is a long and expensive process…many hands in the design process, many engraving steps, test dies, test runs, final design, etc.). The Mint and sponsoring organization then market the coins to coin collectors or others who might be interested in a particular coin. The purchase price of about $33 per coin breaks down as follows: $10 to the sponsoring organization, $7 for the silver, $16 to the U.S. Mint to recoup costs.
In the 1990s, the Mint would get a few commemorative silver dollar programs thrust upon it each year. Because the sales usually were not strong enough to recoup the agency’s fixed costs, the vast majority of these programs were money losers for the Mint (i.e., taxpayers). The Law Enforcement Memorial program is instructive. About 140,000 coins were sold, grossing the Memorial’s fund $1.4m. The Mint/taxpayers lost at least $500,000 (but probably closer to $1m) on the program. See here for the general stats[.]
No one can say how well the John Marshall coin will sell, but it is very likely to be a money loser for the government, and thus a cloaked federal subsidy for the Supreme Court Historical Society. See [here.]
I realize that this is small potatoes in the grand scheme of government encroachments into private enterprise, but it is a no-brainer for someone who even leans libertarian. That is, if there were a true demand for a John Marshall coin, the SCHS could contract a program with the Franklin Mint, Liberty Mint, or another small private mint. This is, in fact, the situation that obtained before the U.S. Mint got back into the commemorative coin business in 1982. It is because the Franklin Mint and others could not compete with the U.S. Mint in for the wallets of coin collectors, the Franklin Mint et al. had to switch to making Civil War Chess Sets and the like.
In short, the government should mint coinage for circulation only (and perhaps proof and uncirculated sets for collectors), and leave commemorative minting to private enterprise.
I have no personal knowledge on the subject, but it seemed worth passing along.
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