General Services Administration's Sale of Carson City Silver Dollars

GAO reviewed the General Services Administration's (GSA) sale of the Government's Carson City Silver Dollars including how the limits were set for the maximum number of coins per category that would be sold on individual orders; an evaluation of the order and coin selection processes; the extent to which bad checks were received and why this occurred; and how the $2.2 million appropriated for the program is being spent, with an assessment of whether the expenditures were necessary and prudent. As the volume of orders greatly exceeded expectations, the limits on distribution of coins were changed to provide a more equitable distribution. This still did not guarantee that every order on hand would be filled with some coins. GAO found no basis to question the actions of GSA in this regard. As the sale was oversubscribed, most of the orders received after February 20, 1980, were returned to the sender unopened. The technique for selecting the orders to be filled was not a true random process. GSA established no controls to ensure that all orders were properly accounted for thoughout the selection process, and some order batches were dropped from the computer system during input. These customers probably did not receive their ordered coins since most of the orders had been awarded by the time the dropped orders were reentered into the computer. The selection process for scrambling the mixed years coins seemed reasonable and adequate. Security on undeliverable coins was very poor. More timely deposits of original remittances and better handling of dishonored checks that were returned could have reduced the number of orders filled and refund checks issued relating to dishonored checks. About $730,000 in project funds has not been obligated to date. The costs of the project were generally prudent and necessary. The remaining funds should be more than adequate to cover the costs of selling all the remaining coins, and some money will likely be returned to the Treasury.