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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;johnmilton, post: 8479350, member: 101855&quot;]My first job after I finished undergraduate school was as a cost accountant for a chemical company. I will use some of those skills to give you the mint’s rational.</p><p><br /></p><p>Striking 3 inch medals is much more involved than making coins. The piece must be struck multiple times to bring up all of the detail. The piece must be heated between each strike to soften the metal. That costs money. Here is a process set for the 1989 George H. W. Bush inaugural medal in bronze.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1501436[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The first piece is the blank planchet. The next five are the consecutive strikes that are needed to bring up the detail. The last two are the application of finish and then the finished medal. This work was done by a private business, the Medallic Art Company.</p><p><br /></p><p>This represents the direct costs of making the medal. The step that is left out is rolling ingot of metal and punching out the planchet. Fixed costs include designing and making the two dies that strike the piece. Overhead includes the machinery involved and the building that houses it. There is also the cost of management to consider. As you produce more metals, the overhead and fixed costs are spread over more pieces. </p><p><br /></p><p>One of the problems with medals is that the market for them is almost always much smaller than the market for special coins, like Proof sets and specially made Uncirculated coins. There for the fixed costs are spread over fewer pieces. </p><p><br /></p><p>I am surprised that the mint is covering its costs with the $165 price given the low volume of sales at that price. As the mint raises prices, fewer pieces are sold. It is a vicious cycle. </p><p><br /></p><p>Still, I am not aware that the Medallic Art Company has raised its prices as high as the U.S. Mint. They are a for-profit company so they must be covering their costs.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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