Final Report, Alternative Metals Study (For Circulating Coinage) Submitted
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Description of document: Final Report, Alternative Metals Study (for circulating coinage) submitted to the US Mint by Concurrent Technologies Corporation under Contract Number TM-HQ-11-C-0049, 2012 Requested date: 22-November-2018 Release date: 17-December-2018 Posted date: 28-January-2019 Source of document: FOIA Request Disclosure Officer, United States Mint 801 9th Street, N.W., 8th Floor Washington, D.C. 20220 FOIA Online Request Form The governmentattic.org web site (“the site”) is noncommercial and free to the public. The site and materials made available on the site, such as this file, are for reference only. The governmentattic.org web site and its principals have made every effort to make this information as complete and as accurate as possible, however, there may be mistakes and omissions, both typographical and in content. 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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY UNITED STATES MINT WASHINGTON, D.C. 20220 December 17, 2018 FOIA REQUEST 2018-11-119 This is in response to your November 22, 2018, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requesting a copy of the final report, interim reports, and presentations provided to the US Mint under Contract TMHQ 11 C0049 to Concurrent Technologies Corporation which conducted an alternative metals study for circulating coinage. Enclosed as responsive to your request is a final report provided to the US Mint Contract TMHQ 11 C0049 to Concurrent Technologies Corporation which conducted an alternative metals study for circulating coinage. The United States Mint maintains no responsive documents regarding the presentations provided in reference to the alternative metals study for circulating coinage. Please be advised that the names, job descriptions, telephone numbers, fax numbers, and email addresses of contractor personnel have been excised from this documentation in accordance with Title 5, United States Code (U.S.C.), Section 552(b)(6): Personal privacy. Should you disagree with this FOIA determination, you may appeal this decision within 90 days from the date of this letter. Your appeal must be in writing, signed by you, and should be addressed to: Mr. David J. Ryder, Director, United States Mint, 8th Floor, 801-9th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20220. The appeal should reasonably describe the records requested, and should specify the date of the initial request and date of this initial determination. The appeal should also include any supporting arguments as to why you believe the records denied should be released, and should set forth !he address where you wish to be notified of the decision on appeal. Sincerely, ~~<u~ Lateau D. Jones Acting Disclosure Officer/ FOIA Public Liaison ALTERNATIVE METALS STUDY Contract Number: TM-HQ-11-C-0049 FINAL REPORT August 31, 2012 Submitted to: United States Mint 801 Ninth Street, NW Washington, DC 20220 Contracting Officer Josephine Stanton, 202-354-7425, [email protected] Contracting Officer Representatives Richard R. Robidoux, 202-354-7514, [email protected] Theresa Agugliaro, 202-354-7419, [email protected] Uvon Tolbert, 202-354-7454, [email protected] John Roeder, 202-354-7422, [email protected] Submitted by: Concurrent Technologies Corporation Robert J. Stossel, 814-269-2541, [email protected] Michael L. Tims, 814-269-2515, [email protected] Joseph R. Pickens, 410-489-9696, [email protected] David K. McNamara, 814-262-2320, [email protected] Lawrence S. Kramer, 410-531-0679, [email protected] Michael G. McCann, 814-466-7116, [email protected] Raymond F. Decker, consultant, 734-261-2800, [email protected] 100 CTC Drive Johnstown, PA 15904 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Pursuant to Public Law 111-302 (the Coin Modernization, Oversight, and Continuity Act of 2010), the Secretary of the Treasury was given “authority to conduct research and development on all circulating coins.” Furthermore, this law authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to “solicit input from or otherwise work in conjunction with entities within or outside of the Federal Government.” To achieve an unbiased, independent assessment of potential and currently available metallic materials and processing methods for production of United States (US) circulating coins, the United States Mint, working on behalf of the Secretary of the Treasury, awarded a competitively bid contract (Number TM-HQ-11-C-0049 entitled “Alternative Materials Study”; referred to here as “the study”) to Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) headquartered in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The objectives of this study were to: x Reduce the costs to produce circulating coins x Consider key stakeholders and, to the greatest extent possible, minimize conversion costs that would be necessary to accommodate significant changes to all circulating coins simultaneously x Address critical performance attributes including physical, electromagnetic, mechanical and chemical properties. To accomplish the goals of this Act and the requirements of subchapter II of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code elements of this study or factors to be considered included the following: x Research and development (R&D) of metallic materials appropriate for coinage x Perform appropriate testing of appropriate coinage metallic materials within or outside the Department of the Treasury x Fraud prevention x Ease of use and ability to co-circulate new coinage materials1 x Analysis of production costs for each circulation coin and alternative material candidates, cost trends for such production x Improved production efficiency x Impacts on current and potential suppliers x Environmental assessment x Detailed recommendations for any appropriate changes to metallic content of circulating coins x Recommendations for improved production efficiencies, changes in the methods of producing coins, that would further reduce the costs to produce circulating coins. This report summarizes the findings of the study from which important conclusions and recommendations are presented that are related to each of these objectives. To meet the schedule required by the study, CTC chose to leverage the research and development of current material suppliers of coinage materials to the United States Mint. These suppliers were selected as a result of their preexisting familiarity with US circulating coin 1 Seamless – Differences and abilities to recognize or process incumbent coins and coins produced from alternative material candidates cannot be distinguished through normal coin processing. Co-circulate – Differences between incumbent coins and coins produced from alternative material candidates can be accommodated, however, upgrades are required for coin-processing equipment. i specifications. In addition, these suppliers have proven ability to “develop and evaluate the use of alternative metallic materials” and the “potential impact of any revisions to the composition of the materials used in coin production,” as required by Public Law 111-302 section 2(a) and section 2(b)(1), respectively. Each of these suppliers produces materials for other mints throughout the world and was thereby familiar with and/or had previously developed potential low-cost alternative materials for use in US circulating coins. In addition, other metallic material suppliers were consulted and asked to recommend materials that would meet the current specifications and demanding requirements of US circulating coins. A search was made of novel methods to produce stock materials (including sheet, blanks [i.e., cylindrical disks] or planchets [i.e., blanks that have been further processed and are ready for striking into a finished coin]). Finally, the Royal Canadian Mint and the Royal Mint (in the United Kingdom) were consulted relative to plated-steel coinage materials. In all cases, suppliers were asked to provide material samples that were subsequently tested according to standard ASTM International and/or United States Mint material tests that included wear, steam corrosion, color shift after steam corrosion, hardness, determination of critical metallurgical features, electromagnetic properties and coinability (i.e., the ability to be formed into a visually aesthetic coin). There are two types of alternative material candidates presented for each denomination: 1) potentially seamless candidates having approximately the same EMS and weight as the incumbent coin and 2) non-seamless (co-circulate) alternative candidates having a different, albeit unique, EMS and/or a different weight from the incumbent coin. The seamless alternative material candidates provide for a modest cost savings, whereas the non-seamless alternative material candidates result in larger cost savings to the United States Mint. Use of non-seamless alternative material candidates may result in significant conversion costs to upgrade coin- processing equipment. Supporting the selection of potential material candidates, detailed