Coin Colorization

This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, request for proposal or quotations, nor a promise to issue a solicitation in the future.  The purpose of this Sources Sought is to seek sources, to promote competition in future acquisitions.   Respondents are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this Notice.  All costs associated with responding to this Notice are solely at the responding parties' expense.

Respondents are solely responsible for properly marking and clearly identifying any trade secrets and commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential contained within their response. The U.S. Government will neither be liable for nor suffer any consequential damages resulting from any commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential not properly marked and clearly identified.  Information received in response to this Notice will be safeguarded and handled in accordance with applicable statutes.

Requirements

Printing/Colorizing Program

The contractor shall establish printing and other standards based on industry standards for colorization/enhancement of numismatic coins and medals.  The contractor shall generate standards for artwork, pre-press plates, cliché plates, register of image printed on the coin, spoilage associated with mis-registered print on the coins. The contractor shall define all the defects in a story–board presentation that contribute to spoilage/rejected coin such as mis-register, incorrect color match, debris on coin, no ink transferred to the printing field, insufficient ink transferred to the printing field, streaks, picking, ink marring, etc. where any defect that prevents the printed coin from meeting the acceptable standard of printing and acceptable ink colors.  The contractor will work with samples provided by the United States Mint and provide typical or expected colorized coins for review and approval.  This may be an iterative process and involve one or more designs and/or types of coins.

Configuration of Coins Presented to Printing System

The coins shall be presented to the printing system in trays to protect their surface appearance and these trays may or may not be used to feed coins into the printing system at the contractor’s discretion. The printing system shall use the pad printing and/or inkjet process to provide high quality printed image on the coin.

Coin Size & Metal

While development may focus on several specific sizes and designs, the contractor shall be capable of printing on  United States Mint coins that range in the current sizes listed below and any intermediate sizes.  The contractor shall be able to print on both 99.9% silver composition as well as 90% silver and 10% copper, 0.999 fine gold coins, cupronickel surfaces and 90% Copper and 10% Zinc (commercial Bronze). The contractor shall be able to print on the coin which will have either a proof and uncirculated finish where the proof finish is “brilliant/shiny” and the uncirculated surface is a “matte” finish. Typically, United States Mint coins have a higher relief than those of other countries. 

The Contractor shall have the capability to print on the following denominations and coin sizes and any intermediate sizes:

Denomination                coin diameter (in.)         coin thickness (in.)

Five dollar gold   .           0.850                                0.069   

Ten Dollar gold               1.063                                0.085

One dollar Silver            1.500                                0.109

One ounce silver           1.598                                0.120

One ounce gold              1.287                                0.118

½ ounce gold                  1.063                                0.087

¼ ounce gold                  0.866                                0.070

1/10 ounce gold             0.650                                0.049

5 ounce silver                 3.000                                0.160

Quarter                             0.955

Half-dollar                       1.205

Dollar                                1.043

3 inch Medal                   3.000                                0.375

2.5 ounce silver medal 1.99                                  .16

1-½ inch Medal              1.500                                0.125

1-5/16 inch Medal         1.3125                             0.125

Coin Shape

The contractor shall be capable of printing on a curved, concave/convex coin and a square shaped coin. The United States Mint previously manufactured a curved coin in 2014, the “Baseball Hall of Fame” commemorative coin and currently the Apollo 11 commemorative coins. Coin curvature of future coins may vary from the curvature that has been used for previous coins manufactured by the United States Mint. 

Coin Print Durability

The printed image shall adhere permanently on the surface of the coin for the life of the coin. The color shall not fade, nor contribute to tarnish or corrosion of the coins. Typically collector coins and medals are stored in boxes or presentation cases.

Selective Inking

Contractor shall prepare inking transfer mechanism to selectively apply one or more ink(s) to the printing image area on the coin’s surface conforming to the specific artwork file provided for that size/design.

Printing

The contractor shall employ pad printing to print colors/image on the coin in accordance with industry best practices for colorizing/printing on numismatic coins. The printing inks shall be four color process CYMK colors. The printing inks shall be completely dried after printing. Safety Data sheets (formerly MSDS sheets) shall be provided for the printing inks.

Submissions:  Responses to this Notice shall include the following:

a. General:

1. Company Name

2. Street Address, City, State, and Zip Code

3. Point of Contact (POC) for both technical and non-technical questions along with their contact information.

b. Specific Capability and Technical/Product Information: A discussion of the company's capability to supply coin colorization that meet the requirements specified above.  Technical/Product information (e.g. literature, documentation, etc.) for each type of label for which the company is capable of supplying including on information on where the product will be manufactured.

d. Customer list: A reference list of customers currently using coin colorization

The point of contact for this Notice is:

Linnea Holt

Contracting Officer

Office of Procurement

Management and Operations Branch

801 9th St, NW

Washington, DC 20220

P (202) 380-7624

E-Mail:  linnea.holt@usmint.treas.gov

Brief responses to this Notice shall be sent via email to the point of contact listed above by no later than 12 PM Eastern Standard Time, May 26, 2026. This Notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. All costs associated with responding to this Notice are solely at the responding party's expense. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Further, the Government may contact the vendor for additional information regarding the information submitted as part of this market research effort. Any organization responding to this Notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed. Information provided will be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available for the potential requirement and may lead to the development of a solicitation.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract or agreement. The USM will not be obligated to pursue any particular acquisition alternative as a result of this notice.  Responses to the notice will not be returned.

Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation in any future solicitation, if one is issued. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. If so, respondents are solely responsible for properly marking and identifying such information within their response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).