United States Mint 

Program Summary by Budget Activity 

(Dollars in thousands) 

FY 2008 FY 2009 FY 2010 Budget Activity Obligated Estimated Estimated $ Change % Change

 Manufacturing $2,015,699 $2,055,945 $1,981,643 ($74,302) (3.6%)

 Protection $42,598 $47,441 $48,424 $983 2.1%

Total Cost of Operations $2,058,297 $2,103,386 $2,030,067 ($73,319) (3.5%)

Capital Investments $34,499 $36,810 $38,512 1,702 4.6% 

(Not included in Total Cost of Operations above) 

Explanation of Budget Estimate 

 

The United States Mint manufactures and 

delivers domestic circulating coinage, 

numismatic coinage, and bullion products. 

Furthermore, the United States Mint provides 

security for assets, including the government’s 

stock of gold bullion, silver bullion, coins and 

coinage metals. 

The United States Mint’s key priorities for 

FY 2010 include: 

• Efficiently and effectively produce and 

distribute approximately 8.5 billion coins 

to meet demand for circulating coins 

during FY 2010 to enable commerce, an 

important strategic objective for the 

Department of the Treasury. 

• Mint and issue Presidential $1 Coins for 

circulation to honor the following 

Presidents: Zachary Taylor, Millard 

Fillmore, Franklin Pierce and James 

Buchanan. 

• Mint and issue coins and products required 

by the America’s Beautiful National Parks 

Quarter-Dollar Coin Act. 

• Mint and issue the Native American $1 

Coin. 

• Prepare and distribute recurring 

numismatic and bullion products and sets, 

as well as other numismatic items, in 

quantities sufficient to make them 

accessible, available, and affordable to 

Americans who choose to purchase them. 

• Mint for sale to the public the American 

Veterans Disabled for Life 

Commemorative Coin and the Boy Scouts 

of America Centennial Commemorative 

Coin. 

FY 2010 United States Mint estimated total 

revenues are $2,449,400,000, total expenses 

are $2,030,067,000, capital investments are 

$38,512,000, and net results are $419,333,000. 

Purpose of Program 

 

Since FY 1996, the United States Mint has 

been operating under the United States Mint’s 

Public Enterprise Fund (PEF). As authorized 

by Public Law 104-52 (31 U.S.C. § 5136), the 

PEF eliminates the need for appropriations. 

Proceeds from the sales of circulating coins to 

the Federal Reserve Banks and numismatic 

items to the public are the source of funding 

for operations. Both operating expenses and 

capital investments are associated with the 

production of circulating and numismatic 

coins and coin-related products and protective 

services. Revenues in excess of amounts 

required by the PEF are transferred to the 

United States Treasury General Fund. 

Department of the Treasury - Budget in Brief FY 2010 Page 83
Explanation of Budget Activities 

 

Manufacturing ($1,981,643,000 from 

reimbursable programs) The United States 

Mint manufactures and sells products. For 

budget reporting purposes, these products are 

grouped into two programs: Circulating 

Coinage and Numismatic Program.

Circulating Coinage includes the one-cent 

coin, 5-cent coin, dime, half-dollar and dollar 

used to enable the conduct of trade and 

commerce. The primary mission of the United 

States Mint is to enable commerce by minting 

and issuing circulating coinage to meet the 

needs of the United States. The United States 

Mint delivers the circulating coinage to the 

Federal Reserve Banks for distribution as 

demanded by commerce. 

Beginning in 2010 through 2018, the United 

States Mint will mint and issue “America’s 

Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar 

Coins” in accordance with Public Law 110-

456. This program honors national parks and 

sites in each of the 50 states in the order in 

which they were first established as a national 

park or site. Similar to the issuance of the 50 

State Quarters Program, five different coin 

designs will be issued each year of this 

program. 

The Numismatic Program prepares and 

distributes a variety of numismatic products 

directly to the public. For some numismatic 

products, authorizing legislation specifies 

program requirements, such as design theme, 

mintage level and duration of product 

availability. Other programs are structured by 

law to grant the Secretary of the Treasury 

discretion in determining product 

specifications. The Numismatic Program 

includes the American Eagle Program, the 

American Buffalo Program, the recurring 

programs, commemorative coins, and medals. 

The United States Mint also produces bullion 

coins under American Eagle and American 

Buffalo Programs to fulfill investor demand. 

The current FY 2010 budget estimate includes 

resource needs of $1,405 million to generate 

$1,422 million in revenues from the sale of 

these products. 

Protection ($48,424,000 from reimbursable 

programs) The United States Mint secures 

over $200 billion in market value of the 

nation’s gold reserves, silver, and other assets. 

The United States Mint Police protects United 

States Mint assets while safeguarding its 

employees against potential threats at its 

facilities across the country. The United States 

Mint Police addresses possible threats by 

ensuring good perimeter security at all sites, 

and increasing coordination with various 

Federal, state and local law enforcement 

agencies. It also ensures that proper policies 

are in place, and procedures followed, in 

handling the assets used to produce and 

transport coinage. 

Legislative Proposals 

 

The United States Mint has no legislative 

proposals for FY 2010. 

Capital Investments Summary 

 

The United States Mint’s FY 2010 circulating 

and protection capital request is $20.5 million, 

which is $6.2 million below the projected 

circulation and protection depreciation (capital 

limit) amount of $26.7 million. 

Each year, the United States Mint commits 

funds for capital projects to maintain, upgrade 

or acquire physical structures, equipment, 

physical security, and information technology 

systems. Total capital projects are estimated 

Department of the Treasury - Budget in Brief FY 2010 Page 84
to be $38.5 million in FY 2010. This includes 

approximately $12.5 million for circulating 

projects, $8.0 million for security 

improvement projects, and $18.0 million for 

numismatic projects. 

Mint Performance by Budget Activity 

FY 2006 FY 2007 FY 2008 FY 2009 FY 2010

Budget Activity Performance Measure Actual Actual Actual Target 

Met? Target Target

Manufacturing for Conversion cost per 1000 coin equivalents 

Mint ($) (E) 

7.55 7.23 8.46 No N/A N/A 

Protection for Mint Protection cost per square foot ($) (E) 32.49 31.75 31.76 Yes 31.75 31.70 

Key: Oe - Outcome Measure, E - Efficiency Measure, Ot - Output/Workload Measure, and M - Management/Cust. Satisfaction 

Description of Performance 

 

Conversion Cost per 1,000 Coin Equivalents 

The United States Mint’s costs vary by the 

volume and mix of products sold each year. 

This makes it difficult to compare operating 

results from year to year. A Coin 

Equivalent (CE) calculation is used to 

convert production output to a common 

denominator based on a fixed product cost 

ratio. In FY 2008, the conversion cost was 

$8.46 per 1000 CEs, 11 percent above the 

baseline of $7.62. CE production decreased 

to 21.3 billion in FY 2008 from 24.0 billion 

in FY 2007, because of significantly lower 

FRB orders for circulating coins. As a 

result, this FY 2008 performance measure 

was not met.

Cost per Square Foot 

Protection cost per square foot is the Office 

of Protection’s total operating cost divided 

by the United States Mint’s area of usable 

space, which is 90 percent of the total square 

footage. The cost per square foot provides a 

measurement of efficiency over time. Total 

square footage of usable space at the United 

States Mint is a stable figure and will only 

change significantly with major events such 

as the addition, removal or expansion of a 

facility. Protection cost per square foot for 

FY 2008 was $31.76, below the target of 

$32.50. 

Department of the Treasury - Budget in Brief FY 2010 Page 85