Poll: Do you feel some sort of compulsion to buy whatever the mint releases?

[pendragon1998]

I'm bored - how about a poll?

 

I get the impression some people out there buy whatever the mint's currently offering, for no better reason than because they feel some sort of compulsion to buy everything the mint has for sale, regardless of artistic merit. I don't get that (but to each his own). Is this a false perception? Let's find out.

[James_OldeTowne]

Well, I guess if my LIFE depended on it, I'd buy. But I have never bought even a single item from the mint, ever.

[okbustchaser]

I feel a strange compulsion to buy examples of all the silver and copper which the mint released prior to 1836 and much of the silver released prior to 1891.

 

In 50 years of collecting I have never bought anything directly from the mint.

[shirohniichan]

You need to make an option for those of us who are recovering Mint junk addicts.

[World Colonial]

I bought a few of the state quarters proof sets in the first few years after I started collecting again (no 1999 unfortunately), but then I realized there were so many better uses for my money. And while I know that there are collectors who really want this material (unlike me since I collect no US coins), I still think that there are much better uses of the collecting Dollar within US classics. Except as conditional rarities and a chance to win the certification lottery, I do not see much financial potential for them either. There are too many of them (all of them) and they will always be common.

[bsshog40]

I have subs for the the Proof and Uncir SAE's. I love the SAE's. I have subs for the Silver and Regular Proof sets and a sub for the uncirculated sets. I will buy an occasional Comm. if I like the design. I bought the SF Mint and Jamestown last yr and have an order for the bald eagle this yr. Just the Dollars tho', no gold.

[jgrinz]

I have a pension(?) not to buy when first released from the US Mint and buy at extrodinarily MORE money when they are slabbed. hmmmm .. Luckily I only have to worry about GOLD commems for my Set ... Baldies here I come

hehe

 

[EZ_E]

In 2002 when I started collecting again, I bought about everything the mint had including the proof gold and platinum sets.

 

After that, I mellowed out and just bought the clad and silver proof sets, mint sets, and gold and silver commems and proof ASE's.

 

I did buy the 3 piece gold set last year with the reverse proof and made a $4500 profit since I scored with a PCGS RP70. That was cool. However, when the 3 piece silver set was at its peak, one could have made even a greater profit with 10 silver sets.

 

After this year, I will no longer buy proof or mint sets since they just take up too much space and hold no interest for me.

 

I'm still iffy if I want to continue my commem set but I will keep it up until I sell it.

 

So, I am gradually weening myself off of US mint products. Eventually, I want to cull my collection down to pretty much just my type collection and ignore the mint entirely.

[Mozin]

I bought a small number of mint sets back around 1970, sold them off about 1975. I would NEVER buy another US Mint modern issue. The current products are too perfect, lack minor imperfections such as die cracks. Besides, they are unlikely to increase in value during my lifetime.

[MikeInFL]

Do you feel some sort of compulsion to buy whatever the mint releases?

 

I am in complete recovery, having kicked that habit a few years ago.

[Just Bob]

I have a pension(?) not to buy when first released from the US Mint and buy at extrodinarily MORE money when they are slabbed. hmmmm .. Luckily I only have to worry about GOLD commems for my Set ... Baldies here I come

hehe

 

I believe the word you're looking for is "penchant", meaning "a strong inclination."

 

Good word usage, Mike, but points deducted for spelling.

 

 

 

 

 

[pendragon1998]

I guess I should mention my own position:

 

I will pick up the occasional commemorative if it (a) has a nice design - the baldies don't, IMO - and (2) if it commemorates something of true historical significance (to me) - again, the baldies don't.

 

I used to buy the proof silver eagles each year, but I'm undecided as to whether I want to continue with that this year in the light of milk spots and no real upside value. I missed the boat on the 20th anniversary sets - I thought they were gimicky; apparently they were gimicky enough to be popular - so I don't see any subsequent issues being worth much of anything. I may just end up selling them.

[jgrinz]

I have a pension(?) not to buy when first released from the US Mint and buy at extrodinarily MORE money when they are slabbed. hmmmm .. Luckily I only have to worry about GOLD commems for my Set ... Baldies here I come

hehe

I believe the word you're looking for is "penchant", meaning "a strong inclination."Good word usage, Mike, but points deducted for spelling.

 

Is that where you learn to spell that - at collage ... I never went to collage

 

heheh I was sure I was wrong BOBo hence hence the (?)

 

Thanx tho us MECHANICS

jus dunno sheatzu bout dat dar spellin sh itashi

 

whaddya think am I gonna get 'spooned'

 

[Just Bob]

[ldhair]

I started buying from the mint when I was a kid.

Not much money so I had to go for what I needed most.

 

Fast forward about 40 years and I'm still doing the same.

There is just too much coming out to worry with it all.

 

 

 

 

[Dwaine]

I am not into buying all the commem's the mint issues. I do buy the SAE proof and burnished as well as regular and silver proof sets. Recently I have started buying bags of the SAC's and Kennedy's. That is about it.

[physics-fan3.14]

I have a pension(?) not to buy when first released from the US Mint and buy at extrodinarily MORE money when they are slabbed. hmmmm .. Luckily I only have to worry about GOLD commems for my Set ... Baldies here I come

hehe

 

I believe the word you're looking for is "penchant", meaning "a strong inclination."

 

Good word usage, Mike, but points deducted for spelling.

 

 

Penchant, thats good. I was thinking "propensity" myself.

 

The only mint product that I routinely get is the mint set (and actually, mom always buys that for me for Christmas). The last thing I actually bought for myself from the mint was the First Flight silver dollar.

[stinkycheese1]

I really wish the US mint would release fractional 'four nine' gold (9999/1000 pure)

 

I just can't afford a buffalo.

And the first spuouses aren't my fancy, they are too expensive

 

The closest thing I could find was a 1/25 oz four nines pure gold wolf coin at the royal canadian mint which contains a little more than a gram of gold. How much? $80.

 

Insane prices and just not fair IMHO

 

[Just Bob]

Penchant, thats good. I was thinking "propensity" myself.

 

I like that. You get an "A"!

[Just Bob]

I really wish the US mint would release fractional 'four nine' gold (9999/1000 pure)

 

Wasn't there a plan to do just that, or was that merely a rumor?

[physics-fan3.14]

I really wish the US mint would release fractional 'four nine' gold (9999/1000 pure)

 

Wasn't there a plan to do just that, or was that merely a rumor?

 

I think there were plans at one point, but they never did. Don't know if they are still thinking about it or not, but I wouldn't imagine there would be too much of a market on them.

[BillJones]

I have kept up with the Proof sets (I have run from 1942 to date of the "main stream" sets), and the commemorative coin series EXCLUDING the First Spouse gold coins.

 

As dealer I used to buy a number of Proof sets for inventory, but no more. I've consistently lost money on them as the bids have slipped well below the issue prices for year after year. At the last FUN show I blew off every Proof set I had in inventory for 15 to 50 percent off of bid just get rid of them. Here’s a tip. Stay away from the State Quarters only and Presidential Dollars only Proof sets. You can’t sell them for even 20% in back of bid. I was tempted to crack mine out an spend them to make a point.

 

To put it concisely, the U.S. mint has become THE SOURCE for bad deals. It has also become a stink-o marketer with these “limited issue” coins, like the First Spouse series, that have people driving themselves crazy trying to get on the Internet to buy them. The mint treats its customers rather poorly by in large.

 

I’ll still buy stuff from the mint when it’s to my advantage as a collector, but to me the mint is only one step ahead of the worst dealers who advertise in “Coin World.”

 

[CoinCurious]

I usually purchase 2 annual proof sets a year. I always buy the silver commemoratives. And in cases that I believe the coins will increase in value quickly I purchase as much as I can. The 2006 20th anniversary silver eagle sets I purchased 10 sets with that thought in mind, that worked out well. But I also purchased 15 sets of the Presidential Proof sets, that one hasnt worked out yet . I purchased 15 of the 2007 W unc silver eagle, this one hasnt seen any great price jump but if I sold them all today atleast I would get my money back. I got all excited about the 2007 Jefferson Spouse gold coins. My thoughts were being it had a historical reverse, it could be winner. I only purchased 1 unc and 1 proof. It didnt go crazy like I had hoped. But if I sell it today I should still make a $50 profit over the mint price. I will definately continue purchasing from the U.S. mint. I wont buy everything they offer but if I think it will have an upside I will buy.

[Conder101]

Last time I purchased from the mint was in 1975.

[shirohniichan]

Last time I purchased from the mint was in 1975.

 

I used to love to buy medals from the Mint. I got a big catalog when visiting the Old Mint in San Francisco back in the 1970's, and I thought it was great I could buy modern restrikes of historical medals. Unfortunately, I didn't buy many, and most aren't available any more. I stopped buying them because I got caught up in the coin speculation hooplah of 1980/81 (I figured I should buy things I could make money on instead of what I liked-- that sure was a bad decision).

 

How cool it was to be able to buy a restrike of the 1836 medal commemorating the first steam press!

[BillJones]

The modern medals that the mint sells now and sold back in the 1970s and '80s are a good news - bad news situation.

 

The good news was that they are fairly cheap. They were also quite often made from the same dies as the old 19th century medals. That resulted in overdates and other neat stuff that you could still see on the medals if you knew where to look.

 

The bad news is that these medals have the “yellow bronze” finish, which can’t hold a candle to the classic mahogany finish that the 19th century medals have. If you have even seen the original medals, you would not be as impressed with the modern ones. And back in the old days you could buy the older medals for short dollars. Relative to coins, those medals are still inexpensive, but now it’s a few hundred dollars instead of less than a hundred.

 

BTW I have a modern copy of the first steam press medal somewhere in my mass of material. If you would like to buy it, send me a PM.

 

[freeman1979z-migration]

Hey guys this seems like a good post to ask this question, seems like everyone is pretty much just shooting the bull. Anyways, I'm going freaky on the new presidential coins if they do nothing oh well just something I'm doing and enjoying. However, I just ordered and received a silver presidential proof set from the mint. These coins have some really bad yellow spotting on them. I was wondering if this is considered an error, or if they are just junk? I'm thinking that the yellow spotting isn't technically an error but more of a goof up in the process. But wouldn't that be considered an error. I'm so lost, any help or posts on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

The Newbie

 

P.S. Dont worry BillJones it wasn't purely the presidential silver proof set it was actually the complete 2007 silver proof set. It's just the presidential coins that have the spotting.

[EZ_E]

Freeman, since the spots deters the eye-appeal of the coins, they are much less desirable than a spot-free example. They are not considered errors,

[BillJones]

Hi Freeman,

 

The alloy that is used for the Presidential and the Sacagawea dollars is very prone to spotting and tarnishing. A significant number of the Presidential dollar Proof sets have come through with spotting, and many collectors have been complaining about it. It is a quality issue, and yes, it renders the coins less valuable.

 

If it wasn’t for the fact that the Presidential dollars are not going to amount to much in terms of value, I’d consider retuning the set. That, of course, costs money and might not be worth it. Sadly the mint may have palmed off one of the Presidential sets on you that someone else returned.

[bsshog40]

Welcome Freemen and all responding are correct. I don't know what it is about those darned ole yellow spots, but they are popular on the golden dollars.