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22 Gold ANA JFKs up on EBay from Silvertowne...

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I'm really kind of curious why they just didn't make these as commemoratives having the double date and all.

 

i wonder myself why they didn't make these in 2013 for the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's death..

the 2014 date coin makes it a 50th anniversary to the first Kennedy coin..?? so a commemorative struck to commemorate the beginning of a coin series??

 

 

Not the first time the US Mint has issued a coin to commemorate a coin series. The 1996-W Roosevelt Dime was issued in Mint Sets that year for the 50th anniversary of the series.

 

sorry, i find the idea of issuing a coin to commemorate a coin series plain stupid. i could understand having a small design change on the 50th anniversary, but not that..

 

by the way, I'm hoping these 2014 halves are the last of the series. and possibly the end of this denomination all together

 

I agree with you. When was the last time you received one in change? When was the last time you were able to use one in a drink machine? They don't circulate, and producing them is absolutely wasteful. Unfortunately, political parties and political interest groups will raise a fuss if these coins are discontinued (in much the same way that might happen should the Lincoln Cent be discontinued).

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I'm really kind of curious why they just didn't make these as commemoratives having the double date and all.

 

i wonder myself why they didn't make these in 2013 for the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's death..

the 2014 date coin makes it a 50th anniversary to the first Kennedy coin..?? so a commemorative struck to commemorate the beginning of a coin series??

 

 

Not the first time the US Mint has issued a coin to commemorate a coin series. The 1996-W Roosevelt Dime was issued in Mint Sets that year for the 50th anniversary of the series.

 

sorry, i find the idea of issuing a coin to commemorate a coin series plain stupid. i could understand having a small design change on the 50th anniversary, but not that..

 

by the way, I'm hoping these 2014 halves are the last of the series. and possibly the end of this denomination all together

 

I agree with you. When was the last time you received one in change? When was the last time you were able to use one in a drink machine? They don't circulate, and producing them is absolutely wasteful. Unfortunately, political parties and political interest groups will raise a fuss if these coins are discontinued (in much the same way that might happen should the Lincoln Cent be discontinued).

 

But I wouldn't be able to hunt boxes of half dollars from the bank anymore. I like the extra cash I make from those silver coins I find in the boxes.

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But I wouldn't be able to hunt boxes of half dollars from the bank anymore. I like the extra cash I make from those silver coins I find in the boxes.

 

I meant that the Mint shouldn't produce anymore, not that it should destroy the existing supply. If anything, I would think it would keep newer pieces from infiltrating the rolls as much (and this assumes that the newer half dollars are actually released through the Federal Reserve System - that could be a false assumption as I really don't keep up on the modern circulation issues.)

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Whats pitiful also is that these kennedys aren't even a full ounce of gold and the mint price raises up on them when gold raises. $1,277.50 now.

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I don't know how much Leon has to do with Silvertowne these days, but many years ago I had some dealings with him and I don't have anything negative to say about him at all.

 

Paul

 

As you probably know Leon was very sick for a quite awhile. I've done a ton of bullion business with them in the past without a hiccup. Mostly with me as a seller.

 

MJ

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OK...Looks like I was wrong:

 

"An entrepreneurial, self-funding organization within the federal government, the United States Mint offers exciting career opportunities."

 

The U.S. Mint Public Enterprise Fund

 

"Pursuant to Public Law 104-52, the Public Enterprise Fund (PEF) was established to account for all revenues and expenses related to production and sale of numismatic products and circulating coinage and protection activities. Expenses accounted for in this fund include the cost of metals used in circulating coin production, the cost of non-Treasury metals (platinum, cupro-nickel, and zinc) used in numismatic coin production, fabrication and transportation-in costs for metals used in circulating coinage and numismatic products, and costs of transporting circulating coinage between Mint production facilities and Federal Reserve banks. Other costs/expenses accounted for in this fund include costs related to research and development and purchases of equipment, as well as capital improvements. P.L. 104-52 states that any amount in the PEF that is determined to be in excess of the amount required by the PEF shall be transferred to the Treasury."

 

-United States Mint 1999 Annual Report, Notes to the Financial Statements for Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 1999

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I don't know how much Leon has to do with Silvertowne these days, but many years ago I had some dealings with him and I don't have anything negative to say about him at all.

 

Paul

 

As you probably know Leon was very sick for a quite awhile. I've done a ton of bullion business with them in the past without a hiccup. Mostly with me as a seller.

 

MJ

 

 

 

 

I have dealt with Silvertowne on a dozen or so occasions via their Proxibid auction venue, as a buyer, and have been satisfied with all phases of the process.

 

They do, however, tend to give generous estimates and grade evaluations on raw coins and currency.

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I'm really kind of curious why they just didn't make these as commemoratives having the double date and all.

 

i wonder myself why they didn't make these in 2013 for the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's death..

the 2014 date coin makes it a 50th anniversary to the first Kennedy coin..?? so a commemorative struck to commemorate the beginning of a coin series??

 

 

Not the first time the US Mint has issued a coin to commemorate a coin series. The 1996-W Roosevelt Dime was issued in Mint Sets that year for the 50th anniversary of the series.

 

sorry, i find the idea of issuing a coin to commemorate a coin series plain stupid. i could understand having a small design change on the 50th anniversary, but not that..

 

by the way, I'm hoping these 2014 halves are the last of the series. and possibly the end of this denomination all together

 

I agree with you. When was the last time you received one in change? When was the last time you were able to use one in a drink machine? They don't circulate, and producing them is absolutely wasteful. Unfortunately, political parties and political interest groups will raise a fuss if these coins are discontinued (in much the same way that might happen should the Lincoln Cent be discontinued).

 

We have a few cash registers at work and we hate getting the halves and $2 bills. No one wants to take them back in change, and there are no slots in the drawer for them. we need to collect all the halves in a small box and go and deposit them once every couple of months (we don't usually deposit any change).

 

We had a customer that used to come by and insist on buying all our $2 bills for $3 each (I tried to explain him they're not worth more than face value but he made me promise him that I keep all of them for him. He INSISTED on paying $3 each, said he wants us to make some profit too. He's since moved, though)

 

With the halves and $2 bills, also please stop makings the dollar coins!

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I don't know how much Leon has to do with Silvertowne these days,

Since Leon sold the business to his son several years ago he has been less and less involved. (And it has shown,,Silvertowne used to be a much more collector friendly company.) I believe he now has only a very minor role in the business and probably little to do with management decisions.

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I don't know how much Leon has to do with Silvertowne these days,

Since Leon sold the business to his son several years ago he has been less and less involved. (And it has shown,,Silvertowne used to be a much more collector friendly company.) I believe he now has only a very minor role in the business and probably little to do with management decisions.

 

When you see coin dealers like Silvertowne buying coins from the mint then melting them down, you know that they care less about collectors and more about money

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I don't know how much Leon has to do with Silvertowne these days,

Since Leon sold the business to his son several years ago he has been less and less involved. (And it has shown,,Silvertowne used to be a much more collector friendly company.) I believe he now has only a very minor role in the business and probably little to do with management decisions.

 

When you see coin dealers like Silvertowne buying coins from the mint then melting them down, you know that they care less about collectors and more about money

 

Melting coins is not necessarily synonymous with not caring about collectors. Likewise, when collectors buy coins, it's not always about collecting, rather than about trying to make money.

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I don't know how much Leon has to do with Silvertowne these days,

Since Leon sold the business to his son several years ago he has been less and less involved. (And it has shown,,Silvertowne used to be a much more collector friendly company.) I believe he now has only a very minor role in the business and probably little to do with management decisions.

 

When you see coin dealers like Silvertowne buying coins from the mint then melting them down, you know that they care less about collectors and more about money

 

Melting coins is not necessarily synonymous with not caring about collectors. Likewise, when collectors buy coins, it's not always about collecting, rather than about trying to make money.

 

I understand that melting coins is not synonymous with not caring about collectors, it is just frustrating that they are only in it for big bucks and when these big companies can't make the big bucks, they destroy a significant portion of the mintage of coins, like what they did with some of the first spouse gold coins.

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The Coin Vault

94 East Union City Pike

Winchester, Indiana

 

SilverTowne Showroom

120 E. Union City Pike

Winchester, IN 47394

(Across a small road from the high school.)

 

Founded in 1949 by Leon Hendrickson, SilverTowne is one of the country’s largest dealers in rare coins, modern coins and precious metals. It has operated as Silver Towne with Silver Towne Marketing Group handling their sales. In 1997, they changed their name and corporate identity to The Coin Vault and the Coin Vault Marketing Group and SilverTowne became a Limited Partnership.

 

Dunn & Bradstreet report estimated revenue of $ 259,639,754.

 

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I understand that melting coins is not synonymous with not caring about collectors, it is just frustrating that they are only in it for big bucks and when these big companies can't make the big bucks, they destroy a significant portion of the mintage of coins, like what they did with some of the first spouse gold coins.

 

I can't blame dealers for selling coins to the smelter when the collector demand is such that you can't do anything else with them. Dealers could try to make and market sets out of junk silver but the returns would not be worth their time, effort and expense.

 

As for the First Spouse coins, I've said from the beginning that that series was a dumb idea. Many of those women did not do enough from the historical perspective to rate a commemorative coin. Besides those comparative few who do collect that series might reap the benefits some day if it ever does become popular. Low mintage plus lots of melted coins equals a low supply. The trouble is right now there are more coins than collectors who want them.

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I understand that melting coins is not synonymous with not caring about collectors, it is just frustrating that they are only in it for big bucks and when these big companies can't make the big bucks, they destroy a significant portion of the mintage of coins, like what they did with some of the first spouse gold coins.

 

I can't blame dealers for selling coins to the smelter when the collector demand is such that you can't do anything else with them. Dealers could try to make and market sets out of junk silver but the returns would not be worth their time, effort and expense.

 

As for the First Spouse coins, I've said from the beginning that that series was a dumb idea. Many of those women did not do enough from the historical perspective to rate a commemorative coin. Besides those comparative few who do collect that series might reap the benefits some day if it ever does become popular. Low mintage plus lots of melted coins equals a low supply. The trouble is right now there are more coins than collectors who want them.

 

I think the first spouse coins are a dumb idea also. Big coin dealers shouldn't be buying up vast quantities of coins to try to make a market out of coins that aren't going to attract too many collectors and coins which many think were a bad idea to begin with. That's where I think Silvertowne messed up.

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When you see coin dealers like Silvertowne buying coins from the mint then melting them down, you know that they care less about collectors and more about money

You've bought hundreds possibly thousands of first spouse coins and you have hundreds of thousands of dollars tied up in them. The price of gold has gone up and the gold in these coins would now provide a return allowing you to almost double your money. Now like I said you have hundreds or even thousands of coins and a few dozen collectors that want them. Selling them to collectors will take decades and you money will be tied up all that time. Even most dealers don't want to buy the coins unless they can get them back of the melt value. But if you melt them you can sell the bullion immediately at almost spot price and not only get your money back but a very hefty profit as well.

 

So what do you do? Take decades to get your money back and possibly lose money if the price of gold goes down, or melt them, lock in your profit, and get your money right away?

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When you see coin dealers like Silvertowne buying coins from the mint then melting them down, you know that they care less about collectors and more about money

You've bought hundreds possibly thousands of first spouse coins and you have hundreds of thousands of dollars tied up in them. The price of gold has gone up and the gold in these coins would now provide a return allowing you to almost double your money. Now like I said you have hundreds or even thousands of coins and a few dozen collectors that want them. Selling them to collectors will take decades and you money will be tied up all that time. Even most dealers don't want to buy the coins unless they can get them back of the melt value. But if you melt them you can sell the bullion immediately at almost spot price and not only get your money back but a very hefty profit as well.

 

So what do you do? Take decades to get your money back and possibly lose money if the price of gold goes down, or melt them, lock in your profit, and get your money right away?

 

I understand your point and I believe that from a profit standpoint that the meltings made perfect sense. But as I said in a previous post, dealers shouldn't even be trying to create a market in coins that many see as a bad idea and a waste of gold. In other words, dealers should stay as far away from these coins as they can and shouldn't be buying vast quantities of these coins.

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When you see coin dealers like Silvertowne buying coins from the mint then melting them down, you know that they care less about collectors and more about money

You've bought hundreds possibly thousands of first spouse coins and you have hundreds of thousands of dollars tied up in them. The price of gold has gone up and the gold in these coins would now provide a return allowing you to almost double your money. Now like I said you have hundreds or even thousands of coins and a few dozen collectors that want them. Selling them to collectors will take decades and you money will be tied up all that time. Even most dealers don't want to buy the coins unless they can get them back of the melt value. But if you melt them you can sell the bullion immediately at almost spot price and not only get your money back but a very hefty profit as well.

 

So what do you do? Take decades to get your money back and possibly lose money if the price of gold goes down, or melt them, lock in your profit, and get your money right away?

 

But this begs the question of why the coins even need to be melted. They could be sold as is as bullion rounds, and already carry a government guarantee of precious metal content. Destroying them serves no real purpose other than to artificially decrease the supply to increase prices long term.

 

Edited: Correct me if I am wrong, but these are .9999 gold, correct? So it isn't like .900 fine gold and silver coins, where having them purified into ingots would make them more liquid on the market.

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Large gold buyers do not want coins - too much handling. They want good delivery bars.

 

Exactly.

 

Really big gold buyers don't want coins because they have to be hand counted. You can't put them in a coin counter because if you chip off any of the gold in the process you lose value. Bars with a stated weight and purity are what they want.

 

Having said that, I think gold bars are boring, and they are welcome to them. ;)

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Some bullion stackers are strange, they want bars, or coins that are strictly "bullion". There are also buyers who want to use the gold for other things, jewelry, manufacturing etc and they want bars.

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Interesting chat with a gold buyer @ WfoM, he indicated that POURED bars are the safest, since the lighter weight metals will float to the top during cooling and be easier to detect.

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Some bullion stackers are strange, they want bars, or coins that are strictly "bullion". There are also buyers who want to use the gold for other things, jewelry, manufacturing etc and they want bars.

 

I'm not much of a stacker having only a small stash of gold, but I prefer real bullion coins also. They are more liquid and easier to sell.

 

Also, though I wouldn't buy them anymore, it isn't unusual to have to pay a premium and maybe a big one for low mintage but low demand numismatic coins, including those outside the US which have been recommended by a few posters both here and PCGS in the past. I don't believe hardly any of these modern world gold are going anywhere.

 

As for the First Spouse coins, I don't believe they are going to go anywhere in my lifetime either. I understand that the downside is limited at this time but given the cost of completing the series, I believe the lopsided majority of real collectors (as opposed to speculators) can find much better uses for the money. Once the series has been fully issued, $40K to $50K at today's spot for THAT is one heck of a lot of money for such numismatically dubious material.

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