How much in surcharges did the 1995-1996 Olympic coins generate?

CaptHenway

Anybody know? I cannot find it online.



Thanks,



TD

Zoins

The 1995-1996 Olympic program generated $18 million in surcharges for the Olympics, but the Mint ended up losing $3.2 million.



This is on page 7 of the GAO report - U.S. MINT: Commemorative Coins Could Be More Profitable:

Originally posted by: United States General Accounting Office:

Sponsors Received Millions in Surcharges Despite Mint Losses on Some Programs



Because income from surcharges is paid to sponsoring organizations beginning with the first coin sold, sponsors may receive substantial funds at the same time the government records a loss on the program. In 1994, the Mint lost $4.1 million on the World Cup commemorative coin program, while the sponsor received $9.3 million. Also in 1994, the Mint lost $100,000 on the Capitol program while the sponsor received $5.2 million. With respect to the 1995 programs, the Mint reported that it lost (1) $300,000 on the Special Olympics program as of September 30, 1995, while the sponsor received $4.4 million as of March 31, 1996; (2) $400,000 on the Civil War program, while the sponsor received $6 million as of March 31, 1996, and (3) $3.2 million on the 2-year Olympic program, while the sponsor received $18 million, as of March 31, 1996.

CaptHenway

Great! Just what I needed. Thanks!



Isn't it amazing that a 32-coin program could only generate $18 million surcharges, while the 1983-4 Olympic coins generated over $73 million!

Zoins

Originally posted by: CaptHenway

Great! Just what I needed. Thanks!



Isn't it amazing that a 32-coin program could only generate $18 million surcharges, while the 1983-4 Olympic coins generated over $73 million!

Glad to help! Is there an article in the works?



One reason I can think of why the 1983-1984 coins generated more is that the US Mint had just restarted a regular commemorative program in 1982.

savoyspecial

>>One reason the 1983-1984 coins I can think of that may have generated more interest is that the US Mint had just restarted a regular commemorative program in 1982.>>





Great point, Zoins....Also, don't underestimate that gold $10 that was the first U.S. gold coin in 50 years that Americans could legally own

CaptHenway

Yes, working on an article on surcharges.

ricko

Amazing the difference between the surcharge and losses.... Cheers, RickO

BillJones

Originally posted by: CaptHenway
Great! Just what I needed. Thanks!

Isn't it amazing that a 32-coin program could only generate $18 million surcharges, while the 1983-4 Olympic coins generated over $73 million!

The answer was simple. There were too many coins in that set. Most collectors looked that 16 or 32 coin set and threw up their hands. For some collectors it was all or nothing.

The 1983-4 set was the first of it's kind. It contained the first U.S. gold coin since 1933, which made it seem like a "must have." The powers at be got greedy on that one too at the end. They issued more $10 gold pieces from the PD and S mints. Those did not sell very well although they a taret for price speculation for a few years.

CaptHenway

What's sad is that while I was still working for Harlan Berk until 2010 we melted a lot of common commemorative gold because gold was way up, people were selling them for scrap and we could not retail them even at melt value.