1525-0012 Bulk Dealer Phone Interviews - Justification

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 1525-0012)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Bulk Dealer Phone Interviews

PURPOSE: To conduct one-on-one interviews with up to 10 United States Mint Certified Bulk Dealers via phone to get their feedback on potential themes/designs for a new United States Mint circulating quarters program.

The United States Mint will contact up to 10 certified bulk dealers to request a phone discussion and their input on a new quarters program to replace the current America the Beautiful program to commence in 2022. The recipients of this survey will include up to 10 United States Mint highest volume spend certified bulk dealers and will last 30 minutes.  Each year bulk dealers provide approximately 25 percent of the United States Mint revenue.

The Mint is collecting information/feedback on potential new themes/designs for a new circulating quarter’s program which would commence in 2022. Since the currently legislated America the Beautiful (ATB) program will conclude in 2021, the United States Mint must recommend to the United States Department of Treasury a new design program to follow. The unique designs of the quarters programs such as the 50 state quarters and the ATB gives the general population the ability to collect coins out of circulation, making collecting coins a hobby. Today many Americans continue to enjoy the ability to search for specific designs and to learn about the coin’s origins whether it be a state, National Park, U.S. Forest or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Refuge. The United States Mint will enlist through this data collection instrument input from the highest spend bulk dealers, who purchase and sell the Mint’s products, to weigh in on potential themes for a new quarters program. The Mint will provide six themes to the bulk dealers and ask them to provide input. This will give the Mint the ability to provide bulk dealer feedback to the U.S. Department of Treasury. It is imperative to collect this information from these bulk dealers since overall bulk dealers make up almost a quarter of the United States Mint revenue each year.

The United States Mint’s bulk purchase program provides coin dealers an incentive to purchase quantities of numismatic products directly from the United States Mint at a discount. Currently each bulk dealer must spend $10,000 split evenly between two purchases each year to be certified as a bulk dealer. The Mint established the bulk dealer program in 2002.

The Mint operates under the Public Enterprise Fund (PEF) (31 U.S.C. § 5136). The PEF enables the Mint to operate without an annual appropriation. The Mint generates revenue through the sale of circulating coins to the Federal Reserve Banks (FRB), numismatic products to the public, and bullion coins to authorized purchasers. Revenue in excess of amounts required by the PEF is transferred to the United States Treasury (Treasury) General Fund. Thus the Mint’s programs are self-sustaining and operate at no cost to the taxpayer. The development of a new quarter’s program has the potential to increase the interest of collecting circulating quarters, thus increasing sales. Since legislation will be written for a new quarters program, the short timeframe to collect information regarding the themes is critical to meet manufacturing deadlines and commence the new program in 2022.

The primary mission of the United States Mint is to produce an adequate volume of circulating coinage for the nation to conduct its trade and commerce. Executive Order No. 12862 (September 1993), titled “Setting Customer Service Standards,” establishes a mandate for the government to improve and adhere to best practices when providing customer service directly to the American people, such as by conducting research to determine satisfaction with existing services, products and to ensure the kind and quality of products and services offered are aligned with those the public wants (Section 1b). To effectively accomplish these goals, the United States Mint utilizes a combination of accepted research methods that shed light on the awareness, satisfaction and preferences among the public as they relate to circulating and collectible coin products and services.

Since 1792, the Mint has taken great pride in rendering the story of our nation through coins. To hold a coin or medal produced by the Mint is to connect to the founding principles of our nation and the makings of our economy.

The Mint is the nation’s sole manufacturer of legal tender coinage and is responsible for producing circulating coinage for the nation to conduct its trade and commerce. The consequence of not performing this collection is the United States Mint’s diminished ability to attract new interest in coins and to expand interest in circulating coins thus decreasing revenue generated for the United States general treasury fund.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: The recipients of this survey will include up to 10 United States Mint highest volume spend certified bulk dealers, as discussed above.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [ ] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group

[ X] Other: phone interviews with United States Bulk Dealers

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Leslie Schwager

202-354-7291

[email protected]

Manoj Pillai

202-354-7255

[email protected] 24ERRRR78R7878

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No

2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

1. Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [X ] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
United States Mint Bulk Dealers	10	30 min	5 hrs
Totals	10		5 hrs

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $25,000

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [X] Yes No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

We will contact up to 20 certified United States Mint bulk dealers to participate in one on one phone interviews about a potential new quarter’s program. These bulk dealers have been identified as the top 20 who have accrued the highest spend. The goal is to have 10 bulk dealers participate in interviews. The identified bulk dealers will be qualified to participate after an initial screening (using the attached screener) is complete to ensure that they continue to be active certified bulk dealers. The first 10 qualified bulk dealers who agree to participate will be contacted and scheduled for a 30-minute interview with Naxion. These interviews will follow the discussion guide with a focus on potential themes for a new circulating quarter’s program. The interview discussion will ask for input on 6 proposed themes and how they would appeal to the bulk buyer as well as youth.

The United States Mint’s bulk purchase program provides coin dealers an incentive to purchase quantities of numismatic products directly from the United States Mint at a discount. The Mint established the bulk dealer program in 2002.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ X ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [X ] Yes [ ­ ] No

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Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

Instructions for completing Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback”

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Provide the name of the collection that is the subject of the request. (e.g. Comment card for soliciting feedback on xxxx)

PURPOSE: Provide a brief description of the purpose of this collection and how it will be used. If this is part of a larger study or effort, please include this in your explanation.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Provide a brief description of the targeted group or groups for this collection of information. These groups must have experience with the program.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: Check one box. If you are requesting approval of other instruments under the generic, you must complete a form for each instrument.

CERTIFICATION: Please read the certification carefully. If you incorrectly certify, the collection will be returned as improperly submitted or it will be disapproved.

Personally Identifiable Information: Provide answers to the questions. Note: Agencies should only collect PII to the extent necessary, and they should only retain PII for the period of time that is necessary to achieve a specific objective.

Gifts or Payments: If you answer yes to the question, please describe the incentive and provide a justification for the amount.

BURDEN HOURS:

Category of Respondents: Identify who you expect the respondents to be in terms of the following categories: (1) Individuals or Households;(2) Private Sector; (3) State, local, or tribal governments; or (4) Federal Government. Only one type of respondent can be selected per row.

No. of Respondents: Provide an estimate of the Number of respondents.

Participation Time: Provide an estimate of the amount of time required for a respondent to participate (e.g. fill out a survey or participate in a focus group)

Burden: Provide the Annual burden hours: Multiply the Number of responses and the participation time and divide by 60.

FEDERAL COST: Provide an estimate of the annual cost to the Federal government.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents. Please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them. If the answer is yes, to the first question, you may provide the sampling plan in an attachment.

Administration of the Instrument: Identify how the information will be collected. More than one box may be checked. Indicate whether there will be interviewers (e.g. for surveys) or facilitators (e.g., for focus groups) used.

All instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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