Molds were paid for by the distributors, who actually owned them.
They would be kept and used by the manufacturer.

Molds would wear out and could be returned to the distributor if they wanted them. This did happen to the Arodie mold per a note in Burt records.

When a distributor went out of business they could ask for the mold. Some did, some did not.

Example BC Wills L & S Key:
Burt retained these molds. Did they pay BC Wills for them when they went out of business or just get them by default? Don't know. What I know is the molds were sold to a CA company a few years ago.

I think it was Sunshine Mint that went out of business while I was at the Fiesta late 1990's. They offered us our molds or whatever a token mold is called. We took them. I bet some did not.