for those fans of the mint's direct ship....................

[halfpint]

 

...program they just added 4 more prez bucks to the program.

 

http://mintnewsblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/fillmore-pierce-buchanan-lincoln-added.html

[shirohniichan]

Why do I get the feeling the Mint is going to get a lot more Lincolns than Fillmores into circulation?

[halfpint]

 

...i guess it is a good way to get them into circulation. the banks aren't very

 

co-operative to many collectors or the public either, for that matter.

[shirohniichan]

I have a Haiawatha Belt buck as a pocket piece I've had since last year (purchased through the Mint's Direct-Ship Program) that has worn down to a nice EF45 or so.

 

Maybe if I get a box of Fillmore bucks and squirrel away a roll, I'll have a "rare" modern coin that had only 15-or-so-million that made their way into circulation from the original 36,960,000 Denver mintage.

 

For the rarest of the Prez Bucks, check out the Buchanan Philly mintage-- only 36,540,000 struck!!!

 

I can imagine spending them and getting reactions like, "Who in the heck is Millard Fillmore? Is this real money?!"

[halfpint]

 

...many times when i spend any small buck, i get funny looks. sometimes the

 

clerk calls or walks toward the manager to get the green light on accepting

 

them. sometimes the manager is puzzled and starts a conversation with

 

me. i gladly educate him or her and in some cases i think i detect an actual

 

interest in them becoming a collector. it's a good feeling.

[mtnstyne]

I have a Haiawatha Belt buck as a pocket piece I've had since last year (purchased through the Mint's Direct-Ship Program) that has worn down to a nice EF45 or so.

 

Maybe if I get a box of Fillmore bucks and squirrel away a roll, I'll have a "rare" modern coin that had only 15-or-so-million that made their way into circulation from the original 36,960,000 Denver mintage.

 

For the rarest of the Prez Bucks, check out the Buchanan Philly mintage-- only 36,540,000 struck!!!

 

I can imagine spending them and getting reactions like, "Who in the heck is Millard Fillmore? Is this real money?!"

 

got that reaction at Walmart with a pocket full of presidential dollars...had to convince the girl they were real

[Conder101]

I wonder what the Fed thinks of the direct ship program? They stopped ordering President dollars about a year ago except to fill those orders from banks that still order a box or so of each new issue for their customers. Yet their reserve holdings of unwanted dollars continue to grow from all the direct ship dollars that keep flowing back from the banks. Last I knew, at their normal drawdown rate the Fed has somewhere between a 13 and 16 year supply in their reserves.

[DC Dawg]

I wonder what the Fed thinks of the direct ship program? They stopped ordering President dollars about a year ago except to fill those orders from banks that still order a box or so of each new issue for their customers. Yet their reserve holdings of unwanted dollars continue to grow from all the direct ship dollars that keep flowing back from the banks. Last I knew, at their normal drawdown rate the Fed has somewhere between a 13 and 16 year supply in their reserves.

And how is this different from all of the Morgan and Peace dollars that was hoarded? At least sometime in the future, the GSA can sell these coins while the rest of the US coinage is struck on aluminum and tin!

 

Scott

[Conder101]

The Morgan and peace were for the most part deliberately held in the vaults because they were used to back paper currency (silver certificates) which DID circulate. So they did fulfill their purpose. The President and NA dollars are intended to circulate in their own right and they are failing at that by remaining in the vaults. once the programs end they will eventually leave the vaults but it will take a LONG time. Look at the SBA dollars. Minted for circulation for two years they pretty much all went to the vaults. Then they slowly trickled out of the vaults at a rate of five million coins a month for the next 19 years until in 1999 they had to strike more because the vaults were going to be empty before the Sac dollars could be struck.

 

Currently the Fed has a 16 years supply on hand and the vaults are increasing at a rate of three years supply each year.

[shirohniichan]

Yet their reserve holdings of unwanted dollars continue to grow from all the direct ship dollars that keep flowing back from the banks.

 

Is this because direct ship dollars are being deposited by the new box or roll, or is it because the banks are pulling circulating dollars from their deposits and sending them to the Federal Reserve?

[Conder101]

For awhile they were being dumped back on the bank by the box by people who were ordering large quantities and on creditcards then dumping the coins and paying off the cards. That let them rack up frequent flyer miles or cash back rewards at no cost.

 

But the mint cracked down on that now it is just collectors and dealers who buy them and search for errors and high grade pieces. Then the coins are either spent or dumped at the banks and then the banks send the dumped coins plus whatever they get in from other deposits back to the Fed.

[shirohniichan]

I haven't even spent half of the NA Bucks I ordered last year, and I imagine it will take me even longer to spend all the Fillmores should I order them. If I were to buy Lincolns I bet they'd have a better chance of being pocketed by non-collectors as curiosities.

[shirohniichan]

Oh man-- I missed Millard Fillmore!

 

I guess I'll have to settle for James Buchanan.

[halfpint]

 

...speaking of direct ship. i called the mint last week and asked if they have plans

 

of making the 2011 NA bucks available. the employee told me they probably will

 

make them accessible but not until, probably, after the 28th of march. they told

 

me to watch for it on their site. so there ya go.