Mint News Blog

News, Information, and Commentary on US Mint Products

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

UHRGoldGoin.Gov Follow up

A small follow up to my previous post about the US Mint's new site located at UHRGoldCoin.gov from Friday.

The US Mint seems to be using the new site primarily as a landing page used in coordination with a pay per click advertising campaign. I spotted some ads listed in Google's sponsored links section with the URL of the Mint's new site and also noticed a new option in the US Mint's check out process.


Through it's Adwords program, Google allows advertisers to bid on ad placements within the "sponsored links" section of its search engine results or across its content network. Advertisers only pay if someone clicks on the ads. This has been established as a very effective form of advertising for many businesses.

In this situation, when someone clicks on the US Mint's ad, they are sent to the UHRGoldCoin.Gov site which is filled within information, images, and videos of the coin. If they like what they see, the visitor can click through to the US Mint's online catalog to purchase the coin.

This is the first time I have seen the US Mint implement a coordinated internet advertising campaign, but it does seem very well put together. There was one comment on my previous post which stated: "makes me want to buy one this minute." I have to admit that the first time I saw the site, I also felt a compulsion to buy a second example of the coin.

If this type of advertising ends up providing a positive return on the Mint's investment, hopefully they will repeat the process for future products. Even if the primary purpose is advertising, collectors get a professionally designed, informative, content rich site for their enjoyment.

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8 Comments:

At August 5, 2009 at 1:01 PM , Blogger Lasloo said...

Hear! Hear!

 
At August 5, 2009 at 1:45 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm not sure if it was the mesmerizing 360 degree view from the new site or the expectation that the price would be adjusted up by $50 in the near future that prompted me to click the "Add to Cart" button!

 
At August 5, 2009 at 3:03 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

All things being equal, I would rather have two 1/2 once gold coins...I just ordered a Tyler and another Jackson...price of gold is up, can the Mint be far behind?

Goldilocks

 
At August 5, 2009 at 6:03 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Michael, you said you noticed a "new" option on the menu of a high relief advertising site... that has been on the drop down menu all year... I just didn't think it was a referance to an official government advertising site. It's nowhere near a "new" thing.

 
At August 7, 2009 at 12:33 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

So now the house hold count goes to ten on the UHR.LOL.I bet all who bought early are happy to see this change.Population just went through the roof.Auction prices will suffer as well.Only the first strike will maintain pricing.And by all rights.That first strike bogus claim will and should fall right along with the rest.I'm thinking I should be able to pick one up cheaper then at the mint now.I'm glad I waited.

 
At August 7, 2009 at 6:25 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Let's consider the market for 1oz. proof Buffalos. Over 300,000 sold to date with the prospect of continued annual production. The UHR, one year only. Both 24K and both can be considered highly aesthetic coins. Given the relatively high production of the Bufs, people seem to be holding on to them and that keeps the margin fairly high. Once production ends, I doubt you will be able to pick up a UHR for less of a premium than the Bufs. Knowing that there will be no annually produced UHR and once the flippers have sold to "collectors," the market will be thin. I can see the premium for a UHR at $100+ more than a Buf, but we won't know for a while. There is no way that the UHR final production will begin to approach that of the 2006 Buf proofs and they are selling for about $1200 and up.

 
At August 9, 2009 at 10:28 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have a feeling that the Mint set the total production number of the UHR at 100,000. The reason I think this is that when they first started production of this, they had to order a certain number of cases and books to go with the coin. I bet when we get to 100K they will go bye-bye. Last time I looked the mint has sold like 71K.

 
At August 11, 2009 at 3:52 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

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