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                            &n