2011 UNC ASE

[Dudley the 1st]

The U.S. Mint hasn't opened the Availability for these . How can a Dealer be permitted to offer them for sale , before the Mint ? I'm fairly certain there is some legal prohibitions against doing this .

[cpm9ball]

Dealers have been doing this for years! They must have borrowed a page from the new car dealers.

 

Chris

[pendragon1998]

Why should there be a law against that?

[Dudley the 1st]

This one totally escapes me.

[bsshog40]

The mint doesn't sell the regular minted SAE's. The Uncir. Eagles are sold to bulk distributors by the mint for re-sale to the public.

[jtryka]

Yeah, I have like a roll and a half of these and I've sold a few to people on this board, there's nothing wrong with that.

[Brian D]

The Mint sells the ASE uncirculated w mint mark, right now the date has yet to be determined. Bullion ASE you buy from other dealers other then the mint

[Dudley the 1st]

The issue we are speaking about , is a U.S. Mint Trademark product for one. I'm fairly certain that no one is breaking any policy regulations as exists for the Authorized Dealers . What I find extremely curious , is that the mint has given up their 1st offering right to secondary market dealers . It's just sort of backwards if you think about it . If one were to purchase say one of these for say $1.00 or even $2.00 over spot , with S & H at roughly $ 12.95 , the only winner here is that authorized dealer , if the mint is going to offer them direct at some later date . Which from all current indications, that may not be the case , and the only means of obtaining one , would be in the secondary market at significant cost's . It's a loose- loose scenario for both the MINT and the Collector Community .

 

That said, it's really of no consequence to me personally , as I have no interest in the UNC Version , rather only the Proof Strikes .

[jtryka]

Dudley, this is the way it's been done since the program started in 1986. The only unc versions that are sold to collectors from the Mint are the ones that have a special finish and a W mintmark (all the ones currently on sale from dealers have no mintmark though they were minted at West Point). And let me through a few more "loose-loose" facts that may blow your mind:

 

The mint only sells to 5 (maybe it's 6 now, I don't keep track) authorized distributors, that's all.

 

The mint charges spot +$2 per coin for every silver eagle sold to those distributors (this used to be $1.50 until last year I think).

 

Each distributor adds their own markup to those coins that they sell to large national/regional dealers.

 

Each of those dealers adds their own markup to the coins which are then sold to you and me.

 

Yes, it kinda sucks, but on a percentage basis this is probably the best it's ever been. I bought my silver eagles for $35.50 each when silver was maybe $31, so a $4.50 premium or 15%. I remember back in the 1990s when silver was under $4 per ounce, I still had to pay $6 per ASE, that it a 50% or greater markup, though it was only $2. So look at the glass half full my friend!

[Conder101]

There are 11 silver distributors now.

 

Those distributors have to purchase a MINUMUM of 50,000 oz at a time and like jtryka said they pay $2 and oz over spot for thm. Now what happens if they order a shipment and then silver drops fifty cent or a dollar an oz? That distributor is now out at least 25 to 50 thousand dollars.that's the risk they take. They also have to handle all the headache of handling all the small orders. If the Mint was selling the bullion coins directly to the public they would probably cost collectors a lot more than they do from the distributors. (Think about this, the only real difference between the bullion coins they sell to the distributors and the "Unc" coins they sell directly is a W mintmark and about $10 per coin.

[Dudley the 1st]

Yes , I was confused. Hard to keep track on all this and that. The issue I'm speaking about is the 2011 UNC W mint marked ASE . Not the Bullion version, without the Mint Mark . Now, i'm at least a little more clearer about " who's on first " .

[bsshog40]

The 2011 W's are not being sold as of yet. Hopefully they will but depending on blanks, proofs may be the only ones available again this year.