US Mint News Updates
There are a number of US Mint related news items that I wanted to cover before the weekend. I will do a combined post on the topics which include sold out products, an update to the Braille Education Set offering, Girl Scout coins, and a technical amended for the 2009 Lincoln Cent.
Sold Out Coins
Two products have sold out at the US Mint. The first is the Lincoln Coin and Chronicles Set. Although the set had received orders for the maximum 50,000 sets by the second day of sales, ordering options remained open for anyone wanted to be placed on a waiting list. Orders would be fulfilled from the waiting list only in the event of cancellations. The sets officially moved to "sold out" status yesterday. Many readers have also been indicating that they have received their sets.
Earlier in the week, the Martin Van Buren Direct Ship Dollars were sold out. These dollars were available for for purchase in boxes of $250 at face value with no charge for shipping. Martin Van Buren Dollars were added to the Direct Ship Program in September. Coins are offered through this program to encourage circulation of dollar coins. Other Presidents and the Native American Dollars remain available.
Braille Education Set
The US Mint lifted the ordering limit in place for the Braille Education Set. The sets went on sale October 8, 2009 with an initial ordering limit of one set per household. In the first week the set sold 2,719 units. The second week marked faster pace of sales to bring the total to 5,996 units. The set is limited to a maximum production of 25,000.
Girl Scouts Silver Dollars
H.R. 621: The Girl Scouts USA Centennial Commemorative Coin Act has passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate. In order to become law, the bill needs to be signed by the President, which is expected to take place soon.
The bill calls for up to 350,000 silver dollar commemorative coins to be produced and issued during the calendar year beginning January 1, 2013. The design would be emblematic of the centennial of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America. A Boy Scouts commemorative silver dollar was previously approved for release in 2010.
2009 Lincoln Cents
Besides authorizing a new commemorative coin program for 2013, the H.R. 621 also contained an interesting technical amendment related to the 2009 Lincoln Cents:
(a) Continued Issuance of Certain Commemorative Coins Minted in 2009- Notwithstanding sections 303 and 304 of the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 (31 U.S.C. 5112 note), the Secretary of the Treasury may continue to issue numismatic items that contain 1-cent coins minted in 2009 after December 31, 2009, until not later than June 30, 2010.The issuance of 2009 Lincoln Cents with a composition matching the original 1909 Lincoln Cent was authorized under Public Law 109-145. The law specifically states the coins shall be issued "in 2009."
This authorization has been used to produce 95% copper versions of the 2009 Lincoln Cents for inclusion in 2009 Proof Sets and 2009 Mint Sets. Most years, the US Mint's annual sets are available into the following year. Without this amendment, it seems that the US Mint would have had to cut off sales at year-end, since the Lincoln Cents contained in the sets were only authorized to be issued in 2009. Someone must have realized this and made sure the technical amendment above made it into the bill.
Labels: US Mint
posted by Mint News Blog @ 10:14 AM
109 Comments:
The technical amendment was certainly timely. There would have been a rapid run on all cents-2009 otherwise. I'm still curious what the design will be for 2010. Is there any news on this yet?
Native American Direct Ship Rolls are now sold out as well.
I could not agree more with October 23, 2009 12:10 PM. Thank you!
Michael or Anyone,
I have a question about the 2008 Uncirculated dollar set. Do we know if any of the 2007 reverse error Silver Eagles have been found in this set? The set is still available and I am wondering if it is worth a gamble to purchase some of these sets?
Sorry to go off topic.
Soooooooo….. They can act with the utmost of speed to amend the law to allow some pennies to be sold into the next year… and yet they can’t amend the law to allow some of the silver to be allocated towards the production of proof silver eagles???...
Skid – Be forewarned. Those sets are not doing too well in the secondary market. You can buy them cheaper on eBay than you can from the Mint. That may be partly due to people buying them to cherry pick them for the special eagles. So it’s either buy it from the Mint and take an immediate loss (unless you do happen to get the special eagle) or buy one from eBay knowing it won’t have that eagle type.
The math would probably not be in your favor on this one.
From what I read aprrox 20% of the 2008-w eagles had the error. I'm just wondering if anyone has found the error eagle in the Uncirculated Set? It might be worth buying a few if so.
Anyone notice that the chronicle sets are creeping up in price slowly...
Looks like the Chronicle sets have gone up about $5-$10 a set.
I just got my 2009 Unc set. One of my pennies (LP2) has been encapsulated with one of my prez dollars? Is that weird or what?
I got my chronicle set today and I ordered it at 12:24 on the first day.Problem is that I'm afraid to even open the mint shipping box because of fear that it will devalue the set.Has anyone looked at these sets to see how easy it would be to have the coins replaced without anyone knowing it.If I ever do go to sell it.Which I plan not to for the most part.I would want to get the most for it if I do.All the rants about the ease of coin replacement has made me paranoid now to even open what I really wanted to see in person.I hope someone can assure me that these sets are made in a tamper resistant way?
Anyone can see that the braille is a big sleeper.Even if your eyes are closed.No pun intended.
They aren't tamper proof , I received my set today and they are in the air-tite capsules which all the Mint issue coins are in ,and can easily be opened and replaced.
Braille is a loser.
Today's loser can be tomorrow's winner. In the simplest terms, since price is determined by the intersection of supply and demand, the fewer Braille Ed sets sold, the better for the future price. If someone decides they want one later on (demand), there will be fewer of them available (supply). This will cause the price to rise in the future if only a few are sold by the Mint.
Keep on dissing the Braille Ed set. I hope no one buys them anymore. That will only help mine to achieve higher price in the future. QED, today's loser could turn out to be tomorrow's winner.
October 23, 2009 4:34 PM
Good Grief, Are you a collector or an investor? If you are that afraid to open it, send it back and someone will get it that missed out and they will open it. Mine is on the way and I am going to open mine and BE VERY HAPPY !!!
limalo, if people don't but the Braille now, why would there be more demand for it in the future? It won't happen
As predicted, the Chronicles sets are moving higher.
To someone who posted at 6:40 PM, oh yeah, Anonymous, there may be more demand for it in the future because it will no longer be readily available. Remember, as somebody (Anonymous, I think) already said, "nobody wanted the '96 Olympic commems, now look at them." This is also true of a certain Botanical Gardens coin a few years ago. The more some people can't have something, the more they want it. Things sometimes come into their own in the most unexpected ways. It's kind of interesting that some of these ugly ducklings eventually turn out to be swans.
I'm not saying that the Braille coins will necessarily follow the same script as the Olympic coins or the Botanicals but you never know. My point was that the fewer of them that are sold today, the better chance they have of becoming swans tomorrow (the future, not literally tomorrow). For a few dollars, why not take a flier on it?
No offense intended to you, Anonymous, we just differ on our approach.
Interesting how brave people are when they can hide behind the Anonymous tag. It does seem to promote a certain arrogance, does it not?
Blog rage seems more potent than road rage. I'm just stoked that I actually got a lincoln chronicles set!! This has been and will be an exciting end to the year for coinage!!
That it does @ limalo . I was just thinking the same thing. I'm still trying to figure out how this blog went so off course,lol.
Well said @ anon 8:52 PM.
You boys need to behave and respect Michael and his blogs.
Grandma
Michael, Thank you for this great Blog and for all the hard work you put into it. So unfortunate that instead of coins, the discussion has to usually always bring in politics. I really hope it never gets to the point where you quit and this forum disappears.
On Ebay, United States Mint Braille Education Set is in the 70 to 100 range. People are actually paying this when the mint still has it.
Some of the comments about Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts organizations got out of hand- so I have taken down all comments related to this. I don't like removing comments, so please keep things focused on coins.
In response to some of questions-
2010 Lincoln Cents
Still no news on the design selection, but once it is announced you will definitely see a post here.
"I have a question about the 2008 Uncirculated dollar set. Do we know if any of the 2007 reverse error Silver Eagles have been found in this set?"
I have never seen anyone report finding the reverse of 2007 within the 2008 Annual Uncirculated Dollar Coin Set. The set was released on August 7, 2008. From what I have seen, the reverse of 2007 coins were produced earlier in the year and found in the individual coin option throughout March, April, and May.
"They can act with the utmost of speed to amend the law to allow some pennies to be sold into the next year… and yet they can’t amend the law to allow some of the silver to be allocated towards the production of proof silver eagles???"
My thoughts exactly. That's why I wanted to highlight this amendment, which probably would have escaped everyone's notice.
Michael,
There is one post that I hope you neglected to delete. 6:45pm.
Thanks, removed it.
regarding the 2010 lincoln design... i think this is what they are going to run with.
http://coinreview.com/2010-lincoln-cent-lp-13/
Braille Education Set – Unless I’m not filtering correctly, I don’t see where anyone has “sold” the Braille sets for $70-$100. I see people “trying” to sell them for that amount but I don’t see any completed sales, nor do I see any bids for the ones up for sale. I don’t know how well this set is going to do in the secondary market, but I did pick one up, just to have something written in Braille… I thought that would be kind of neat.
Something to keep in mind is that after including eBay fees and shipping charges, your break-even point on the Braille sets at re-sale would be about $60. Probably not a bad idea though to keep an eye on any sales of those to try to get a pulse on how well they’ll do. So thanks for bringing some attention to this.
Michael – We do appreciate your diligence with spotting things like changes to the coin related laws. Bullion buffalos are mandated by law, but are proof buffalos also mandated? If not then it makes absolutely zero sense that they can’t also mint proof eagles.
BTW – I got my Coin n Chronicles set today. Looks nice…
What does order on hold mean? Item is in stock and reserved though. Thanks
I got my Chronicles set in record time. Faster than any other order this year.
Glorioski, my Chron set apparently has been shipped-- it was backordered to 10/30 after ordering the morning of the second day, think I got lucky
why haven't the polk rolls sold out like the harrison and tyler rolls did. i assume it's because they minted more of them, but why.
Regarding the Polk rolls, the Mint reports selling quite a few more of them than either the Harrison or Tyler rolls. Those of us who bought the Polk rolls hoping for a quick sellout got third-degree burns on that one.
I ordered 5 of both "P" and "D" Polk rolls, and by doing so I might as well have flushed $114.45 down the toilet. The reason? Because my Polk rolls will likely only be worth their face value. Even if I could sell them for a slight markup on eBay, by the time I pay the eBay/PayPal fees and postage, I would likely have less money left over than if I had redeemed the rolls at face value. Hence, that is probably what I'll eventually end up doing.
Due to the Polk disappointment, I'll bet the Mint does not sell very many Zachary Taylor rolls. They'll then probably end up cutting those off at 15,000 rolls for each Mint and they'll later end up selling for $350 a roll, for those willing to take a chance on them.
Lincoln chronicles are on the rise but I don't know why anyone in their right mind would sell theirs and even if they have a few. You pay over $100 for a LP1 and almost $200 for a Harrison...which one would you rather have? These things are going to be worth a lot more once the dealers and ebayers are finished with their sales which will probably happen in 6 - 8weeks from now!
They probably will rise briefly after the eBay sales slow down, but don't wait TOO long to sell. I've been burned MANY times in the past by the "this is worth so much now, it's BOUND to be worth much more later!" mentality. I keep waiting for the price to rise to what I think it will hit, but then it starts dropping in a free-fall and I end up either stuck with it hoping for the rebound that never comes, or sell it for a lot less than I could have gotten had I sold at the peak of popularity.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't set your goals too high. Take whatever you're comfortable with and don't be greedy. You may end up sorry later.
I think the least the mint could do for the collectors is make fractional silver eagle this year.LOL
I think that's a great idea because more collectors that can't afford the oz. would buy.And it would create a new look and market for more collectors to enter into collecting that are not rich.If silver keeps going up that might be a great idea at least to start out in 2010.I bet they would be hot sellers too.
We already have fractional silver coins. They are the dime, nickel and quarter in silver. :)
How about that mea culpa the mint published on their catalog home page regarding the Chron set? First time for everything I guess.
--snip--
To Our Valued Customers:
Unfortunately, the United States Mint Web site did not perform as expected when the popular 2009 Lincoln Coin and Chronicles Set went on sale at noon Eastern Time on October 15. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and frustration many of you may have experienced while attempting to purchase this and other products using our online catalog.
We did not meet the standards of excellence we have set for serving our customers. You deserve a better online shopping experience, and we are committed to resolving these issues quickly and permanently.
Thank you for your patience and continued support.
Heres an idea for the mint extrapolated from earlier comments. Yes we has silver fractional coins but you have to buy all the other crap brass coins to get them in the silver proof set other than the quarters proof set.
How about a true silver proof set with all silver coins and leave out the presidential batting cage tokens and the other brass and copper coins. Problem is I bet they would have trouble unloading the brass coins so they have to package them as they do now.
Once you have invested in physical gold and silver, how do you go about selling it when the prices of the metals go up?
Ebay
A big Thank You to Michael for all the information on the Lincoln Coin and Chronicle set. I probably would have missed it without this blog. Arrived yesterday and I think it’s one of the nicest things the mint has produced.
Batting cage tokens???.... Do batting cage tokens cost as much as a dollar or are you giving the presidential dollars too much credit? ;-)
I agree that the Coin and Chronicles set is one of the nicest things to come from the Mint in a while. At first glance it might seem a little expensive for four pennies and a commemorative dollar - which is only 90% silver – however, the whole set was sold from the Mint for less than the dollars alone are bringing on the secondary market.
I agree the Lincoln Coin and Chronicle set IS the best set put out by the Mint lately.
The Mint has certainly dropped the ball this year, but there have been a couple shining products (no pun intended):
= Although the mintage is high, the UHRGE is a very beautiful coin. I bought a couple over the course of the year and should mention that the quality has gone down. It appears that the reverse rim of the UHRGE (top side above the eagle) now exhibits an issue with the die. The rim above the eagle is no longer smooth, but appears to be "sunk in". I exchanged one for another and they both had similar issues. I think the die is almost at its end-of-life.
= The various Lincoln sets including the proof/uncirculated dollars and the pennies. Very well done for the most part IMHO. Lincoln is universally a favorite president and coins with his image sell.
= I really like the buffaloes and am glad the Mint will be releasing the gold proof buffaloes this week. This coin is exhibits one of my all-time favorite designs for any coin.
Losers (IMO) this year are:
= Braille...nuff said!
= Some of the spouse coins are nice (especially when a spouse isn't on the obverse...Jefferson, Jackson, etc.), but overall I wish the Mint had used the gold for AGEs or some other gold coin.
= The various designs on the quarters are getting out of hand. They are interesting to look at, I guess, but the Mint is now out of control.
Perhaps the Mint should have put the presidents on the gold coins and their wives on the dollar coins. It would have likely sold more gold coins and wouldn't have hurt the already low interest in the dollar coins much. I would imagine that a gold Abe Lincoln coin next year in lieu of a gold coin with his borderline insane wife would sell out much faster.
Mary Lincoln's Spouse coin at the end of 2010 has a pretty good chance of selling out I would imagine. Since Lincoln is so popular, I doubt his wife will not draw interest. After all, it will be the first (and most certainly last) opportunity to get a coin with HER image on it.
President Lincoln has been on countless coins. If just 40,000 Lincoln collectors want his wife's coin to fit into their Lincoln collection, the entire mintage will be sold. Interestingly, that could be the first chance for a First Spouse Proof coin to annihilate the companion Uncirculated version mintage-wise, since the Mint allows customer demand to dictate the split between proof and uncirculated finishes. It should be interesting to see how it turns out.
It is very stupid and completely backwards when you think about it: the great presidents of our contry get put on a crappy brass coin, while their do-nothing wives are honored on half an ounce of 24 karat gold!!?!?!? I bet they are rolling over in their graves!
I'd agree with previous post commenting on the UHRGE. I've bought several over the course of the year and the quality of the strike has declined quite a bit. Be cautious buying now since I don't think Mint employees look twice at the coins they package (if at all to begin with).
The Sacagweas have proven year after year that the dollar coin just does not work in the US of A.Before that the Susan B Anthony was no big hit either.I believe that the Mint actually thought that the presidents would actually help to bring the dollar coin into circulation.It has proven to be like all others before mentioned.A collector coin not destine for circulation.If they had done a switch and put the spouses on a dollar.That too would have only been a collector coin.As is proof from the first spouse medals.This country will in my opinion never be ready for a dollar coin to be placed in circulation that would replace the greenback.Now we face the fact that no dollar will be worth much and coining them or printing them will not help to increase their value.kind of a catch 22 of the dollar.The more you print and the more you coin.The less value they carry.This in it's self proves that the gold standard will come back.If not by the USA by the rest of the world.China is currently working to make this a reality.If we don't lead the way and do it first.It may be to late to save the dollar.
The only way that the dollar coin will be used in circulation is to do away with the dollar bill. Try to get the other side to do that will be a miracle.
I totally agree with the last post!
Interesting posts about recently purchased UHR coins. I bought a second one 2 days before the price rose to it's current level. I've only scanned it once and have left it in the box since, but I thought it was nicer than my 1st. My 1st coin has a blemish on one of the rays of light below the eagle. Maybe I should look at the reed more closely on my newer one.
I recently purchased 2 UHR, one had an obvious scratch mark on one of the rays.
But both looked prooflike; although both rim appears not smooth.
Anyway, returned both for full refund; not taking anymore chances with the Mint...; cost me quite a bit to ship back from overseas
Isn't it sad that now a days you have to consider trying to buy a decent coin from a MINT "taking a chance"... LOL ...
The problem I have with lower quality UHRGEs is that the dang things cost so much in the first place. Is it too much to ask to get one that is in good condition? I have a very clear conscience sending them back if they have any visible flaws as I figure I paid a premium to receive a nice coin.
Does anyone know/use an alternative to eBay and or PayPal for online buying or selling of coins on the secondary market?
I wish I DID know an alternative to the eBay/PayPal empire. It totally stinks having to pay the eBay fee for selling the item, then having to turn right around and pay another large fee to get paid for it! (to a company OWNED by eBay, I might add!)
Free online auctions (alternative to eBay?) http://www.wensy.com/
I too recently bought another UHR before the price hike. The strike looks very nice, however, the coin came out of its capsule during shipping so it was just rattling around inside the wooden box along with the two halves of the capsule. Under magnification I can see where the rims got some slight scratches and dings as a result of this.
I have a day or two to decide on whether to keep it or have it replaced. Suggestions?... I want to have another one in my collection – this one or a replacement. From what many of you are saying though, I might wind up with another one that’s even worse. I agitates me that they mint this beautiful coin and put it in this super fancy box and they won’t spend an extra 10 cents to put some bubble wrap in the box to keep the coin from popping out.
I’m thinking that perhaps later on I’ll buy another one and just return the lesser of the two.
Dave,
I have been doing exactly what you concluded: Buying two are returning the worst. If the coins arrived in good condition, I wouldn't have to do it that way. I figure it's worth an additional shipping fee to get a decent coin.
SO if everyone orders multiple UHRs and return the imperfect ones back to the Mint, what does the Mint do with those? Recycle them to the guy whose willing to accept a "flawed" coin?
Yes...most likely. Or to the person that doesn't want to take the effort to return it.
I am not worried about that. I am more concerned with spending my hard-earned cash on a flawed coin. If I am buying a coin at spot, THEN and only then will I be less concerned about its appearance.
Gold is back below $1050
Yeah, the "ask" price is $1,038.60 at the time of this writing.
I sure hope the London Fix is near this level for a day at least. That just might pull the average low enough to force the Mint to drop the prices by $50 just in time for the Buffalo Proof coin. With no order or mintage limits, we can then keep an eye on the averages for next week without having to worry about a sellout. With some luck, the gold price will continue to drop enough to earn us another $50 price drop. I won't be counting too much on that one, though. But I can dream, can't I? :)
To 8:33am Try ebid as an alternative to Ebay.
The practice of buying two coins and returning one - that a couple of us here have mentioned – wouldn’t be necessary if quality control at the Mint hadn’t gone down the toilet. I’ll have to pay one more shipping charge and a return postage charge. I’ll hold on to my one coin though until I get another one, in case the next one is worse. Isn’t it a shame that that is such a real fear.
I’m sure my UHR is not a previously returned coin. It’s a beautiful coin with a nice strike. The problem is this beautiful coin was damaged due to shoddy packaging. I have wondered though what happens to the returned coins. What happens if it’s a limited issue coin and some get returned because they’re so darned ugly? Do they melt them down and produce others till they once again reach the limit, do they just leave the true sales figure below the intended limit, or do they just ship the cruddy coin back out to the next guy? That would be a great question to ask someone at the Mint. They might not tell us though since we might not like the answer.
I'll bet they just ship the "cruddy" coin out to someone else. They wouldn't want to melt it down and lose the revenue from it, and they probably figure that everyone won't be as picky or want to go to the trouble and expense of a return. Eventually, the coin will be accepted by SOMEONE.
If retail stores tape together opened packages of returned items for resale, can the Mint really be much different?
I purchased two UHR coins back in April when they were only $1239 each and never opened them. I was keeping them sealed for a better resale factor. Now after reading many posts, I'm wondering if my coins will have any problems. I may open one to take a peek. Who would have thought that you'd have to cross your fingers to get a properly struck, clean coin at a premium price. What kind of mint are we saddled with???
http://www.propertyroom.com/
I have yet to buy anything here but I know of people that buy here on a daily basis. I've heard no complaints.
vaughnster,
I posted a couple of the previous posts on the poor quality of UHRGEs. I've bought a few since the Mint raised the limits, and the problems I've seen have only occurred since September. The coins I purchased before that time were very nice overall.
I do agree with previous posters that the Mint likely just repackages and sends out the returned coins to another buyer. They certainly won't go through the pain to melt them down to make a customer happy with a shinny new one. When I return "poor quality" coins, I do note them as poor quality on the return slip and tell them that I'm not about to pay a $300 premium on a coin that's in poor condition. What they do with it then is anybody's guess.
Since there seems to be a rut of poor quality UHRGE's being shipped, perhaps the Mint is cleaning out its inventory and the UHRGE is about to end.
Alternatively, their dies may be worn out and they are too cheap to replace them.
Aw, shoot! Today's London Fix gold prices were $1,055 am and $1,054 pm. The average since the marking period started is $1,056.63. It will take a SERIOUS, prolonged dip in price to pull the average down enough to get us that $50 price decrease this week now!
The dies used for the UHR coins do not last very long due to the extreme pressure. So they are replaced on a regular basis. I think the UHR dies only last about 500 strikes, which is a small fraction of what dies from other coins typically last.
I've got a question unrelated to this topic. I'm fairly new to collecting coins, and was wondering if it is ok to take coins out of the plastic capsule they come in? What are precautions, if any, people take? The reason I'm asking this is because I don't know how to look closely at coin rims while they are in the capsules. Is the coin devalued if it was ever removed from the capsule? Do the capsules have a seal which could only be broken if someone removed the coin?
Thanks
Capsules aren't sealed, but can be somewhat difficult to open (hence, the Mint makes the Braille Commemorative coin available in an "easy open" capsule). However, if you ever choose to open your coin capsules, exercise EXTREME caution when handling your coins outside the capsule. NEVER touch the surface with your bare hands, or with any kind of metal tool (tweezers, etc)! Always make certain you wear cotten gloves when handling the coins. Also, handle them very gently and only by the edges if at all possible.
Coins that sustain surface damage from being outside their capsules WILL be seriously devalued, so be very careful!
I personally don't remove coins from the capsules. While gold is fairly inert, the oil from your fingers (in combination with oxygen) does not generally react well with metals.
That said, the rim issues described above are readily apparent with a 5X loop through the plastic capsules. Once I think I see something, I take the coin (in the capsule) out into natural light and the rim issues show up pretty well (even without the loop).
JMHO.
Thanks for the capsule input. I always exercise extreme caution with delicate things. In addition to coins, I've got a decent sized collection of vinyl records and know how to handle them. They are quite delicate. The gloves are a good idea. Would latex or thin vinyl gloves work well. I'd worry about fabric scratching something.
I am a avid coin collector and have been for 35 years now.I just saw TV commercial with Roslin Capital and Gordon Liddie.He was explaining how great a gold investment is in these times.Ok I can buy that.But then he said gold only goes up,it doesn't go down.(Wrong).Then he did something that really made my heart break.He took about 4 gold eagles in his bare hands and threw them back and forth against each other at the same time saying"This is the sound of gold,A great investment".OMG someone needs to beat that man for completely destroying 4 gold eagles by slamming them into each other.After seeing that commercial I could only conclude that buying a gold coin from them would be a very bad move.Just thought I would share this since the issue of handling coins came up.
Gold down to $1035
You know that you are addicted to coin collecting when you cring at the sight of somebody rattling 4 of millions of bullion coins together.
I have both cotton gloves and latex gloves for handling coins – both purchased from numismatic supply companies. Cotton seems to be more popular though. I don’t make it a habit of taking my coins out of the capsules, but when my coin has come out of its capsule during shipping it warrants a close inspection.
Something to take note of… the coin graders at companies such as PCGS do not wear gloves when examining coins. The coins can slip out of your hand more easily when wearing gloves so they opt not to wear them. Imagine if they accidentally dropped a hundred year old MS-69 coin on the floor…
Regarding the TV commercial… We think nothing of jingling around the change in our pockets, but most of us cringe at the thought of doing that to a gold coin. I sure wish I had enough money to where I could buy gold bullion and jingle it around while only being concerned about its precious metal value and not its numismatic value. lol
Don't worry about gold being down.. this coincides of course with Thursdays issuing of $150+ billion of gov't bonds. The trend should be back up after this treasury auction. Our debt is going to continue to crush the value of the dollar long term.
I thot that I had missspelled cringe. Michael, put a spel chekker on this sight ;)
LOL!
Question: I just received my Lincoln Coin and Chronicles set today. I do not see the copy of the document of the Gettysburg address in Lncolns handwriting with this set. Is it hidden in the packaging or did I just not get the document?
Nevermind, I found it. The front flap was stuck.
To Anon. at 8:56, you have to open it up. The Gettysburg Address is right there. If you open the booklet, you can't miss it.
Do the remaining Mint releases for 2009, except the gold buffaloes, seem anti-climatic after the Lincoln Chronicles frenzy? Not much to get excited about and 2010 doesn't look much better.
vaughnster,
Yes.
I don't know. I am really looking forward to the First Spouse 5 medal set!!!! Seriously, I do want one.
Aw, man! The am London Fix gold price was $1,035.50. The average for the Mint's price determination this week is $1,050.28. Because of that, the gold buffalo proofs will cost $50 more than they should. Count me out this week.
But, there's always next week!
Maybe, just to spice things up, the Mint will cancel the rest of the coins they make just to throw us collectors a curve ball! Wouldn't that be exciting! Don't put it past Moy & Associates.
I have a coin magazine that states the mint is going to produce 5oz. silver coins. Does anyone know about this?
I believe they are going to make 5ounce silver coins of the park quarters.
Yeah, that's the deal. I understand they will still retain the "Quarter Dollar" face value too, despite containing over $80 in silver value! It's worse than the $50 gold coins that contain over $1,000 in gold!
These will most likely be viewed as nothing more than novelty items. The mintage on most of them will probably be incredibily low, but will anyone really care? Time will tell, I guess.
Gold down to $1031.
I’d be OK with the Mint producing the 5 oz silver quarter novelty things next year if not for the fact that it will be one more thing consuming the silver that many of us would like to see devoted to proof eagles. I’m tired of the silly excuse that they can’t meet bullion demand so they can’t produce the proofs. They can ramp up the presses for things like this and the Brailles that they keep trying to push, yet no proof eagles.
It’s one more thing that shows the level of incompetence and lack of common sense that appears to common place with our lawmakers.
The Lincoln Coin and Chronicle has hit ebay full force and prices are dropping as I expected they would.average price is between 140.00 and 150.00.The expected price of 200.00 never happened other then the first and second day of release.As many flippers step on each others toes I expect prices to drop even more.The economy has hit numismatics in a very hard way and the only items selling at higher premiums and holding steady is gold and silver.Many collectors have begun to stop paying higher premiums. And lower qualities from the mint has taken it's toll on expectations of high quality items.All of this is a direct result of so many accumulative problems plaguing the collectors world.Unless a concerted effort is made by our US Mint to increase quality and awareness of popular demand by our fellow collectors.I can only think that the future looks very bleak for the up coming year in numismatics.
To the above is that why the LP1s are selling for over $100 or the harrisons over $150? 4 - 6 weeks and you will see a price increase. This is the only decent thing the mint has made all year
I received my Lincoln Chronicle set this week. The coins are in excellent condition. The box is ok. I believe that this set will retain its value/grow in value over tme. The set is attractive, and there is always interest in Lincoln items, in general. Also, it seems to me that the average price for successful Ebay auctions has been about $140 - $150 since day 1, so I don't see the "price drop".
One last thought. What if the Mint stops making pennies one of these days? Once Lincoln's bicenntenial is over, might the call to halt penny production arise again? would that make the 2009 pennies even more desirable?
I don't see the cent going anywhere anytime soon.
To the 5:59 blogger
Putting a large amount of money into any clad coin is an extremely risky adventure.Mintage alone is not a great reason to pay out great sums of money for clad coins as history will show.Once the final tally on all mintage of the Lincoln cents are taken in.The Lp1 may become 2nd to the LP4 causing extreme drops.The LP1D has already fallen victim to the LP3 in mintage.The presidential coins have an extreme ability to drop in price quickly as well.All I am saying is that the clad coins are a very high risk adventure in this economy.The coin and chronicle although a very nicely put together set has not proven to meet expectations.As Christmas grows near and set numbers increase on ebay.I can only think that many people will hold back for the lesser amount deals to be had.If there will be any increase in this set.I believe the increase will only come as the high numbers of sets start to dissipate.Which could be well into next year when other US Mint items may over shadow the popularity causing trends to stay neutral or lower.I would be very careful on the secondary markets of any Mint clad products.Silver and gold on the other hand are expected to rise rapidly throughout the next few years.That is where the investments will pay off.Good luck
I just finished cancelling my subscriptions for the proof and uncirculated Silver Eagles. I was glad to see that in the checkbox for the reason for cancelling they gave the reason "Dissatisfied with availability of the item in the program". If they see enough people check off that reason they might get the idea that they are loosing people and income by not producing a money making item in the proof and uncirculated Silver Eagles.
Mine arrived today! I think I'm going to leave it in the box and just put it away..
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