Tyler, Polk, and Taylor Added to Direct Ship Program
Today, the United States Mint added some new options to the Direct Ship Program. Three out of the four releases for the 2009 Presidential Dollars featuring John Tyler, James K. Polk, and Zachary Taylor are now available.
The Direct Ship Program allows individuals or businesses to order $1 coins in quantities of $250 at face value with no charges for shipping and handling. The purpose of the program is to facilitate the introduction of the coins into circulation. Some coin collectors have ordered boxes of $1 coins through the program to search the coins for errors or high grade examples and then spend the rest into circulation.
The last time the US Mint added new options to the Direct Ship Program was in early January, when 2010 Native American Dollars and 2001 Sacagawea Dollars were added. Both of these options still remain available along with Presidential Dollars for George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Andrew Jackson. With today's addition of John Tyler, James K. Polk, and Zachary Taylor, there are now ten different design options available through the program.
On a related note, I wrote an article about $1 coins that was published today in the Washington Post. Many others have written about the lack of public adoption and the growing stockpile at the Federal Reserve Banks. In my article, I explore exactly why the Federal Reserve Banks are forced to order the coins, which in turn compels the US Mint to produce them in such unnecessarily high numbers, and also the odd fact that production of $1 coins accounted for more than 60% of the US Mint's profit last year.
Here's the article: Why does the Mint keep pumping out $1 coins when few are buying in?
Labels: Presidential Dollars
posted by Mint News Blog @ 9:23 AM
29 Comments:
Great article, Mike!
Ditto!
I just tried to order some Zachary Taylors, but there was a shipping charge being added on the very last page of the ordering process (by which time it usually had disappeared). I cancelled the order for now until they get that problem ironed out, since the page still says that the Mint pays for shipping on domestic orders.
There's something wrong with the shipping on the new additions to the Direct Ship Program. If you try to order just the new ones, or some new ones mixed with old ones, it adds the $4.95 shipping charge to your order. If you order just old ones, the shipping charge is still zero. Some kind of product encoding error, maybe?
The buck obviously stops there...
If the mint had resized the coin to a penny or a dime and done the series in copper...we would have had a good, useful and interesting coin for circulation.
To save face and money, the country needs to do away with the one dollar paper bill. If we dump the greenback the coin stampede will follow.
Goldfingers
Since everyone still wants dollar bills maybe we should instead switch to plastic bills like other countries have already done and cancel the dollar coins. The plastic bills last a lot longer and look better and no more coins clogging up the federal reserve.
Or better yet, eliminate our paper and coinage and carry some type of currency debit card so all tansactions can be followed and eliminate tax evasion that so many cash businesses do (ie the dry cleaners, beer store, illegals etc.).
Congrats on get the WashPost to publish your article! Awesome read!
Is 63.5 percent... the percentage of the Mint's total seigniorage last year or a percentage of their total income including seigniorage?
That's 63.5% of their total net income and seigniorage.
For FY2009, the US Mint earned a combined $501.6 million net income through circulating seigniorage, numismatic seigniorage, bullion program net income, and numismatic program net income.
Seigniorage from $1 coins accounted for $318.7 of that total.
You did a terrific job of explaining the reasons for the awful build-up of dollar coins in Federal Reserve vaults. You could follow-up by looking into the costs to the public of those inventories. The Federal Reserve had to pay out a billion dollars to banks to take back the coins. Those funds would otherwise be invested and earning interest. Instead, the Federal Reserve will lose more than $30 million dollars this year, closer to $38 million next year and increasing every year thereafter. The billion coins now in the vaults would satisfy demand for transactions for more than 16 years. By the time the program is over, they will have enough coins for more than 30 years. The dollar coin program is a terrible drain on the public-- especially during this recession,
The whole issue of seigniorage on coins is a shell game. The money to pay for the coins moves from the Federal Reserve's balance sheet to the Treasury's. If there is no public need (demand) for the coins in commerce, the Federal Reserve loses the amount represented by the coins in its vaults and on its balance sheet.
wonder if there has been enough of these minted to have an impact on inflation? after all minting a dollar coin is the same as printing a dollar bill.
It's a shame all these rubbish coins are being made in asinine quantities. I suppose it doesn't matter what design is on it though, as long as the paper dollar is being made, nobody is going to use the coin (unless of course it was real money that had the composition of real money).
Also, I like how the mint often uses the term "golden" to describe their current dollar coins. I mean come on, call a subway token for what it is.
Very nice article in the Post,Mike!!! I am very impressed. The political boondoggle laws (bills in congress) that have created this major problem with the golden dollars will eventualy catch up to them. It remindes me of the 1962-1964 treasury release of the silver dollars prior to the Clad coins in 1965. Although these golden dollars are being used in commerce, paper money still serves the needs of trade and exchange, so the treasury is forced to stockpiling these coins. Silver coinage could have been remelted and used elsewhere but mangoneze brass and zinc ????? The stock pile keeps building!!!! Collecters are the only real purchasers of these dollars and there is ample supply of uncirculated mint issues available. sooner or later the mint (treasury) will need to do something with these billions of golden dollars. Maybe they will sell them for 50 cents each.
DC is one of the few places in the US where there are a lot of dollar coins circulating, since they are given as change from Metro ticket machines.
I don't think we'll ever see the $1bill ever go away. Look how long we've been talking about getting rid of the useless penny. I don't know many people who if they had to carry $5 in their pocket would choose 5 $1 coins over 5 $1 bills or one $5 bill. Plus bills won't scratch your Iphone!
As the Roman empire started decaying the emporers diluted the precious metal content of the money. It started off mostly silver and then came the lower and lower grade alloy coins. As news traveled slowly the word on the crap coins the empire was producing took a long time to get out. Not so today. The news on the crap coins gets out immediately and people want to know when the proof version of the crap coin will be available.
You all know we will never want to give up the old George $1 bill. It is a symbol of our country. These $1 coins will only be used in slot machines in Vegas or at Amusement parks as a curio for kids. There are too many minted for a rarity, just like the state quarters. Honoring Pierce and Buchanan, who symathized with enslaving African Americans would make vets of the Civil War roll over in their graves. Best is to continue, but pass legislation to make much less. Why waste tax money?
Didn't George Washington have slaves?
"While not negative, 2010 Mint Set numbers might as well have been with their weekly pick up of 67. That figure is so low that it has the potential to stand as the smallest increase for the sets until they go off sale in 2011."
Wow Dude!
The poor sales are a result of the increased prices from the US Mint.
Sorry, but I think both the penny and the dollar bill are reflections of a country completely stuck in the past. they do nothing except illustrate how wasteful and foolish we are. The denominations we have are a relic of the past. Our inaction a perfect example of the polarization of politics in DC. Making halves a joke. My hope is this great stockpiling of dollars will allow for the abrupt withdrawal of paper dollars, and a ready supply of their replacements. Where is a Teddy Roosevelt when you need one>
You know it's kinda sad, but the nickel is probably the closest thing to real money with regards to present day circulating coins. The metal % of denomination is at or above the face value of the coin.
Got a nickel go buy a pickle...
I really did try, but they charged me $1.19 for just one half sour pickle. When I was a kid they really were a nickel.
You are correct, a nickel is about the only coin that has any material value any more, that and the older pennies.
GF
It looks like the Mint left their options open to add William Henry Harrison to the Direct Ship program too at some point. The product numbers give it away.
When the program first started, John Quincy Adams was the first one offered, with a product code of "Y01". He was soon followed by John Adams (Y02), Thomas Jefferson (Y03), James Madison (Y04), James Monroe (Y05), George Washington (Y06) and Andrew Jackson (Y07), in that order. The product numbers reflect this.
Later, when Martin Van Buren made a very brief appearance in the program, his product number was "Y08".
Now John Tyler (Y10), James K. Polk (Y11) and Zachary Taylor (Y12) have been added. What happened to "Y09"? Had they added them in order, that would have been William Henry Harrison's number. Since they left it open, he will likely show up at some point.
Wouldn't it be a HOOT if they packed the direct ship rolls for him in the special Mint paper that has fetched over a $300 premium per roll in the past?
I wonder if they will actually add the Harrison's dollar coins. They have commanded such a high price on the after-markets both in the original mint packaging as well as the NSF $25 rolls.
I would love it if they did so.
I haven't really seen very high prices for the NF String Harrison rolls, just the ones in Mint paper.
If there was any premium on the NF rolls, it would vanish quickly once they hit the direct ship program anyway. Of course, the same thing would happen if they showed up in the Mint paper!
I was in the market for several Harrison NSF rolls on websites and on FeeBay and I think the absolute lowest I saw was $32 and the average was probably around $35, the highest asking prices being in the upper 30's.
Out of all the NSF rolls I've been in the market for, I'd say the Harrison rolls have been the highest priced ones by far. I'm not even talking about the mint rolls which have sold for hundreds each.
As the previous poster states, I think those premiums are going to vanish overnight should the rolls go on the DirectShip.
Taylor is sold out.
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