Francis Cook

Francis Cook, doing business as The Bud Cook Studio, is a sole proprietorship based in Woodstock, Connecticut, that provides specialized artistic design services for commemorative and circulating coin programs to the United States Mint as a prime contractor on a full-and-open (no set-aside) basis. The vendor operates under NAICS 711510 (Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers) and PSC Collectors' And/Or Historical Items, with a narrow but focused customer concentration limited entirely to the Department of the Treasury's United States Mint across all twelve recent awards.

Cook's portfolio centers on numismatic design fees for the Mint's American Innovation Program (AIP) and related commemorative coin initiatives. Representative work includes a $6,000 delivery order (awarded September 21, 2026) for design fees related to the Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal, a $3,000 delivery order (awarded July 30, 2026) for the Paralympic Sports Half Dollar Coin design, a $6,000 delivery order (awarded July 2, 2024) for the 2026 Abolition Quarter Dollar AIP design fees, and design services for the 2027 Native American Dollar Coin, 2027 American Liberty Gold Coin and Silver Medal, Shirley Chisholm Commemorative Gold Medal, and Semiquincentennial quarter dollar designs. Individual delivery orders typically range from $3,000 to $6,000 in firm-fixed-price value.

Cook holds two single-award indefinite delivery contracts with the Mint. The first, awarded August 31, 2023, carries a $362,000 ceiling through December 31, 2026 and has generated seven active delivery orders totaling approximately $34,000 as of the contract documentation. The second, awarded July 15, 2026, carries a $640,000 ceiling through December 31, 2027 and has generated two delivery orders totaling $9,000 to date. Together, these two IDCs account for ten of the twelve recent awards (combined potential value $644,000), with the remaining two awards representing individual delivery orders outside the IDC structure ($6,000 each). The top parent vehicles are the two IDCs: the 2023 IDC with eight task orders ($35 thousand combined potential value) and the 2026 IDC with two task orders ($9 thousand combined potential value).

Activity has grown from a single IDC award in 2023 to six awards in 2025 and three in 2026, reflecting increased Mint reliance on Cook's design services. Combined potential value across all twelve awards is approximately $1 million, with only $44 thousand obligated to date (4% of potential value), indicating that most task orders remain unexercised or partially invoiced. Two awards carrying $9 thousand in combined potential value reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, presenting minimal near-term recompete exposure. Cook has no subcontract footprint and operates exclusively as a prime contractor to a single federal customer with no teaming relationships or vehicle participation outside the Mint's direct procurement structure.