Product Fatigue: The Rise in the Number of U.S. Mint Products Since 1990

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The Project

The end of the year always generates retrospective articles, in which we look back over the course of the 12 calendar months for patterns, insights, and other useful information. Since the phrase “product fatigue” has appeared so often this fall, I decided to look farther back than the year 2016 (which in any case still has a full month left). I wasn’t aiming for a complex analysis; I simply wanted to see where the Mint’s product offerings escalated to what some regard as unmanageable levels—and just how much the volume of products from the Mint has changed.

Since the Mint’s online catalog goes no further back than the beginning of 2015, I relied largely on A Guide Book of United States Coins (the Red Book), supplemented by the Mint’s annual reports. My survey initially went back to 2001, which was the date of the earliest annual report on the Mint’s website. That wouldn’t capture the full effect of the 50 State Quarters Program, which commenced in 1999; but starting with 1998  would leave out the effect of the addition of silver Proofs to the annual clad Proofs, which commenced in 1992. Since that brought me nearly to the beginning of a decade, I decided I may as well key in the data going back to 1990.

Neither of my resources included everything I needed, so I had to make up my own criteria for what to count as a “Mint product.” (The digest version, if you want to skip the next couple of paragraphs, is this: if it’s something people collect, it counts.) The Red Book excludes items like Congratulations Sets and Happy Birthday Sets, which are nice gift items but don’t in themselves have numismatic value. Those, I left out. On the other hand, the Red Book doesn’t list items like the Presidential Dollar Coin Covers, which are included in many collectors’ plans and budgets. I decided to include those, along with items like the P-D-S Uncirculated sets for each of the America the Beautiful quarters. I omitted the individual Mint medals on the grounds that they’re a separate specialty, but I included the Presidential $1 and First Spouse medal sets, which overlap with numismatic collectibles.

Bullion coins were a tough choice; I finally decided to include them just to spare myself the headache of dealing with the Burnished coins. The main bullion offerings change relatively little from year to year, I reasoned; they might change the numbers on the graph but they wouldn’t change its shape.

As for the circulating denominations, I decided to treat each date and mintmark as one item, in the way a collector might purchase them for a folder or album, although singles can be purchased in many ways (and not all of them from the Mint). Regarding boxes, rolls, and bags, I was stumped again. Are these items “collected,” per se, or are they simply bulk purchases? I was spared the decision by a lack of data prior to 2015, and was able to toss these items out.

In a few cases, I had to resort to ebay. For example, I couldn’t recall whether the Mint had issued Presidential Dollar Coin Covers from the beginning, or started those mid-program (which seemed plausible, since the business-strike S-Mint quarter wasn’t introduced until the third year of the ATB program). I went to ebay, found a few covers from the first couple years of the program, and figured it was reasonable to count such covers for every president. One curious product from the 2002 Mint report couldn’t be verified: a “1999–2001 United States Mint Proof Set Collection (29 coins),” of which 14,453 had been sold as of the printing of the 2002 report. I have no idea what that was and couldn’t find any online, but I decided to fly on the wild side and include it in my spreadsheet.

The Results

In a nutshell:

number-of-collectible-mint-products-per-calendar-year

The first spike, in 1992, captures the addition of silver Proof dimes, quarters, and halves, and the sets that went with them, along with a few extra commemoratives. The next big spike, in 1995, was produced by a raft of centennial Olympic commemoratives. Subtract those 32 Uncirculated and Proof coins, and you get a perfectly unremarkable 45 products that year.

The Platinum Eagle program provided a bump in 1997, but the next really big thing came along in 1999: the 50 State Quarters Program, which expanded the number of quarter-dollar releases per year from 4 to 20 (not including sets).

The numbers climbed relatively slowly through the early 2000s, first cracking 80 in 2005. The Mint’s offerings of Proof American Eagle coins was picking up steam; the Eagle and Buffalo programs would undergo changes during the Financial Crisis, but the net effect on the sheer number of Mint products would be negligible. This was due largely to the 2007 introduction of the Presidential $1 coins and the First Spouse 1/2-ounce gold coins: each year, four presidents with two business-strike coins and one Proof coin each, plus four (and in some years, five) First Spouse gold bullion coins and a matching number of gold Proofs, plus associated sets and covers, all of which boosted the total number of Mint products to 121 in 2007.

Which brings us up to the record-setting year of 2008, when the short-lived fractional American Buffalo gold coins helped the number of individual collectible Mint products to reach 131.

In 2009, the number remained high at 125, which included the large Lincoln Bicentennial Cents program. In 2010, despite the addition of 10 new ATB five-ounce silver coin products, the number declined to 108. An expansion in Silver Eagle formats and mintmarks, plus a relatively large offering of commemorative coins (U.S. Army and Medal of Honor), helped bump the number back up to 119 the next year. The addition of Uncirculated S-Mint ATB quarters in 2012 contributed to another boost (to 123), and in 2013, the array of 5-Star Generals commemoratives contributed to an almost-all-time high of 129.

Since then, although the number of products per year has seemed large, it’s actually begun to decline a bit: in 2014, 123; and in 2015 and 2016, 118 each year.

The Outlook

Collectors are already expecting a significant drop in the number of products for calendar year 2017. The Presidential $1 and First Spouse series concluded this year with Ronald and Nancy Reagan; just removing those items from the 2016 lineup brings the number down to the upper 80s. (The number I get is 87, but the Mint’s details for the coming months are still sketchy.) As for the next few years, a new administration in the White House may bring about a further tightening and focusing of objectives and programs, not to mention a different economic and regulatory climate.

Meanwhile, Mint News Blog welcomes a more thorough look at the Mint’s catalog offerings. My own was fairly simple; a more vigorous study might examine the amount of money needed to keep up with the Mint’s offerings from year to year. It might shed more light on the markup on products like the Limited Edition Silver Proof Set, or might look at the trends for different types of collectors. Comments and corrections are always welcome.   ❑


This post was updated at 9:30 a.m. on November 29 to remove an erroneous mention of ATB quarters in the discussion of the 2007 product numbers. The America the Beautiful program did not roll out until 2010. Thanks to Erik H for making the catch.



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Comments

  1. Dustyroads says

    Interestingly Diana, you could essentially invert your chart and change the title to mintage levels per year.
    I guess the Mint is making it work as long PM’s are not in a free fall.

  2. Big L says

    Give credit where credit is due: Excellent, clearly presented analysis.
    I wonder how the Mint’s profits have varied with the number of collectibles. If profits rise with an increase in the number of collectibles, we may see more collectibles legislated by the next Congress and signed into law by the incoming President — and vice versa.

  3. Mint News Blog says

    By the way, if anyone can shed some light on the “1999–2001 United States Mint Proof Set Collection (29 coins),” I’m very curious to know what that was.

    — Diana

  4. Dustyroads says

    Remembering back to President Obama’s first few years in office, there clearly was a learning curve he encountered with his speech and it’s impact on financial markets. He even commented not long ago in an interview about it and the lessons learned. I am concerned that the President elect may never cap language which could impact markets in a negative way. However, I can imagine stronger markets and some possible good deals from the Mint in 2017 if PM prices do in deed progressively trend downward over the next year. Lets hope the POTUS can control himself. This will be a new game for him, one unlike his “I did it my way” success story as a developer.

  5. Dustyroads says

    Diana, Could the 29 coins your looking for be the total number of coins in the sets from `99 to `01? There are 9 coins each in the `99 and `00 sets, and an additional dollar coin in the `01 set bringing the total number of coins to 29.

  6. says

    2001-S Proof Set

    Each set contained ten coins: One example each of the Lincoln Cent, Jefferson Nickel, Roosevelt Dime (Copper-Nickel Clad), Kennedy Half Dollar (Copper-Nickel Clad), Sacagawea “Golden” Dollar, New York Quarter (Copper-Nickel Clad), North Carolina Quarter (Copper-Nickel Clad), Rhode Island Quarter (Copper-Nickel Clad), Vermont Quarter (Copper-Nickel Clad) and Kentucky Quarter (Copper-Nickel Clad).

    About the sets: All coins in the 2001-S Proof Set were intended to have a Cameo or Deep Cameo Finish. Mintage limits for the 2001-S Proof Set were initially capped at 2.3 million, with a cut-off date of May 31, 2001. Later, the caps were lifted, but sales still fell short of the goal. On May 15, 2002, the Mint announced that “unsold remaining inventory” consisting of 1999-S, 2000-S, and 2001-S Proof Sets would be offered in a three-set combination beginning on May 29, 2002. The price was $94.95 for the three-set combination (or $79.95 if more than 100 combinations were ordered). No limits were placed on individual orders but total orders were limited to the available quantities of 150,000 three-set combinations. Almost immediately thereafter, the Mint announced that sales of the three-set combination would cease because of unspecified damage the sets suffered while in storage. All of the remaining sets were to have been destroyed.

    Mintage: 2,294,909 sets

    Original packaging: The 2001-S Proof Set comes in two cases. One case contains the Cent, Nickel, Dime, and Half Dollar; the other case contains the year’s five 50 States Quarters. The coins are inserted into holes in a cardboard holder with a blue-colored flag design (to distinguish it from the red-colored flag design of the Silver Proof Sets), then sealed inside a two-piece, clear plastic case. The cases and certificates of authenticity were inserted into a colorful, card-stock box with the head of the Statue of Liberty printed on the left side.

  7. maddogdday says

    Here are two pictures of the WLH I had posted about yesterday on behalf of my son with the polished mirror like area on the obverse. Unfortunately it does not photograph well, but can be seen as a circular darkened area on the first photo in which the 4th right hand large ray protruding from the sun points to. In the second photo it can be seen as a circular shiny spot. Please let me know your comments on how this could have developed. Would this be a fault in the eyes of a collector or TPG to grade, or potentially an error that would enhance collector value? My son and I are trying to decide whether to return the coin or not. All help is greatly appreciated.

    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v735/jeffsstamps/WLH1.jpg

    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v735/jeffsstamps/WLH2.jpg

    Kind regards,

    Jeff

  8. data dave says

    @2cents – How did you happen to have this information on the 2001-s proof set and the 3 set combo? I am amazed that someone could remember this far back!

  9. Mint News Blog says

    @2cents, I’m with @data dave in being amazed that you remember this. In any case, it’s great information and much appreciated!

  10. cagcrisp says

    Gold PM fix $1,186.55.

    At this point in time, the daily averages are Not a problem, It’s ALL going to come down to Wednesday’s PM fix.

    IF Wednesday’s PM fix is $1,200.00 or above, NO decrease.

    Virtually every day the spread has reached within $10 of $1,200.00…

    …SO… A decrease is No sure thing at this point…

  11. Mint News Blog says

    Thanks, @Dustyroads! If I hadn’t been too lazy, I guess I could have counted the Proofs for those three years and partially answered my own question. 😉

  12. joe#2 says

    Maddogdday… On the edge of that coin ( first pic) is that a black spot between the
    R & T in LIBERTY?

  13. Numismatrix says

    Jeff: WLH “defect”

    I suspect that it is either a planchet defect or a strike through of some sort.

    You could take it in to a trusted brick & mortar coin shop and have them look at it.
    IMHO – In terms of numismatic value there is “probably” no upside since people
    would look for artifacts like doubled die, mintmark overlay, etc. You may also
    consider sending an e-mail to Ken Potter and Fred Weinberg with the photos and
    seek their opinion. They are both very good people and well known in the community.

  14. A. R. Gentum says

    Product fatigue…? Not even close when you consider all the ” collectibles” Canada is pumping and dumping ad nauseam on the market . Australia is a close second.

    The U.S. mint has to produce useless commemorative coins at the whim of Congress. Several silver versions of aforementioned can be had at “junk silver” melt value.

    Of course there have been some winners; Jackie Robinson ’97 and Baseball Hall of Fame ’14 I’m talking $5 gold pieces. The biggest loser has to be the ’01 Capitol Visitor Center, LMAO.

    The absolute worst coin ever conceived/produced has to be the IKE. Terrible likeness of Eisenhower and a flying chicken on the reverse. Can you imagine buying a brown Ike back in the day for $10 in 1971 money? Today worth about $5.50, huh? Good investment….

    In the end, buy the good stuff and skip the mint’s cheesy offerings.

  15. joe#2 says

    We need D.T. to get the right people in our Mint to stop doing sloppy jobs on our coins.
    Why should that WLH have a black spot that Jeff posted on the edge of that coin between the R & T in LIBERTY??? Insane..

  16. Numismatrix says

    On Topic :

    I always purchase the annual Mint sets and the Silver Proof sets, and
    just select other offerings as interest me. For example the three-
    coin March of Dimes set is a must have, since it combined a set of
    regular issue dimes with a commemorative dollar. I also like the
    special / coin-medal/stamp sets, dating back to the Buffalo, Lewis/Clark,
    and the now Native American (my favorite) /Presidential issues.

    IMHO – the more (affordable) coins and sets the US Mint offers the
    happier I am to choose !

  17. Numismatrix says

    Jeff: WLH “defect”

    Another possibility is manual (hand) work on the die pair which
    has been seen for example on some Presidential dollar reverses.

  18. Louis Golino, Author says

    Great article, but my view has always been just focus on the coins and series that interest you and don’t feel like you need to get everything. The Mint issues many products for the revenue and in order to have items that suit different budgets and tastes. Now if it reaches a point where a mint is making more stuff than it can handle and quality suffers, as has happened in recent years, then that is a problem. But be careful if you wish for a pairing back based on what happened in 2008, when the Mint felt there was too much stuff and got rid of the best ones- the fractional Bufs, platinum, gold burnished, etc .

  19. Goat says

    @ achmed;
    Adolph A. Weinman’s initial’s . All this time I thought it was “W” only, not “AW” . Gave me a reason to look thru my Mighty Scope.
    Slight fin on obv. and rev. not as pronounced as the Mercury Dime Centennial .

  20. Louis Golino, Author says

    A lot will depend on whether there is a new dollar program as far as overall # of products.

    My personal gripe/disappointment is we gear the gold and plat products other than bullion and $5 commem so heavily towards the big, 1 oz. coins that many can’t afford. I know those have been the big sellers and that is why the Mint did that, but what they failed to understand is the 2008 fractionals sold in low numbers because there were so many diff. items coming out and PM’s were going crazy. People who bought plat early in the year saw their coins go down by more than 50%, which turned people off. But if done right, fractionals would be successful.
    Look at the Royal Mint’s gold beasts. They started with 1 oz and 1/4 oz., and now they are going to do a 1/10th oz., which is the right direction.

  21. cagcrisp says

    Gold offerings by the Mint will continue to go Smaller and Silver offerings will get Larger…

    That’s my prediction…

  22. fmtransmitter says

    When were there no proof sets and “special mint sets” were produced? I think it was 3 years. Like the article BTW…I’m not out til I see pumping of offerings on a consistant basis.

  23. Louis Golino, Author says

    CC- I hope so, but there is no evidence of that yet. We are so far behind on big silver coins- no 5 oz ASE, no kilos, etc. And like I said no small gold except commem and bullion. I know I sound like a broken record but these are all things other mints have been doing for years.

  24. Ikaika says

    @ Louis

    “But if done right, fractionals would be successful. Look at the Royal Mint’s gold beasts. They started with 1 oz and 1/4 oz., and now they are going to do a 1/10th oz., which is the right direction.”

    Great point Louis. In addition, I would say the design of these coins are really appealing. Nothing like buying a beautiful gold coin at bullion prices. You can’t beat that. Both collectors and investors win.
    Cheers!

  25. data dave says

    I think the mint will eventually have to sell some bullion like coins directly to the public. They can still go through the APs for the eagles if they want or just charge a little more on their website. There is no reason they cannot update prices continuously and handle returns the same as the big bullion dealers. Some people would prefer to buy from the mint directly and it would drive more website traffic.

    I’m not sure they can compete against the APs though, based on what they have done the past few years.

  26. KEITHSTER says

    That’s always been My mantra on the mints survey” more products less mintage” Seems to give us a better shot at hot and some like it hot! Glad to hear were starting to see a little rim on the new one as there should be some out there but bet this one will be the odd duck out? After all the dime trouble bet they woke up the QC guy or gal and bought them a loupe for them tiered eyes or found out how to stay away from the finns on this one? No unc. rolls at the bank yet but the gal said to check back their weekly order is not in yet said I would! Well Good Luck All :>”>;>*>

  27. cagcrisp says

    16XA 2016 WALKING LIBERTY 24K GOLD .5OZ 48,976 + 2,020
    16XB 2016 MERCURY DIME 24K GOLD .1OZ 116,096 –
    16XC 2016 STANDING LIBERTY 24K GOLD .25OZ 83,016 + 667

  28. cagcrisp says

    16CA 2016 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE GOLD PROOF 4,509 + 61
    16CB 2016 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE GOLD UNC 3,456 + 33
    16CC 2016 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE SILVER PROOF 57,155 + 953
    16CD 2016 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE SILVER UNC 19,461 + 173
    16CE 2016 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CLAD PROOF 36,582 + 495
    16CF 2016 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CLAD UNC 17,610 + 178
    16CG 2016 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE 3-COIN SET 13,619 +172

    16CH 2016 MARK TWAIN GOLD PROOF 12,611 + 53
    16CJ 2016 MARK TWAIN GOLD UNC 5,416 + 11
    16CK 2016 MARK TWAIN SILVER PROOF 74,775 + 570
    16CL 2016 MARK TWAIN SILVER UNC 25,193 +195

  29. cagcrisp says

    16EA 2016 AM EAGLE SILVER PROOF 1 OZ 473,193 +12,140

    16EB 2016 AM EAGLE GOLD PROOF 1 OZ 19,938 + 171
    16EC 2016 AM EAGLE GOLD PROOF 1/2 OZ 4,893 +73
    16ED 2016 AM EAGLE GOLD PROOF 1/4 OZ 7,135 (1)
    16EE 2016 AM EAGLE GOLD PROOF 1/10 OZ 19,578 + 470
    16EF 2016 AM EAGLE GOLD PROOF 4-COIN SET 14,620 (132)
    16EH 2016 AM EAGLE GOLD UNC 1 OZ 6,074 +65

    16EJ 2016 AM EAGLE PLATINUM PROOF 1 OZ 9,151 –

    16EL 2016 AM BUFFALO GOLD PROOF 1 OZ 20,988 + 263

  30. cagcrisp says

    16AK 2016 ATB SILVER UNC 5 OZ – CMBRLND 18,550 +74
    16AL 2016 ATB SILVER UNC 5 OZ – HARP FRY 17,928 +121
    16AM 2016 ATB SILVER UNC 5 OZ – ROOSEVLT 18,658 + 352

  31. cagcrisp says

    16SA 2016 FS GOLD PROOF 1/2 OZ – NIXON 2,331 + 8
    16SB 2016 FS GOLD UNC 1/2 OZ – NIXON 1,389 + 9
    16SC 2016 FS GOLD PROOF 1/2 OZ – FORD 2,060 +12
    16SD 2016 FS GOLD UNC 1/2 OZ – FORD 1,329 + 9
    16SE 2016 FS GOLD PROOF 1/2 OZ – REAGAN 3,045 + 28
    16SF 2016 FS GOLD UNC 1/2 OZ – REAGAN 1,634 + 13

    JQ1 2015 FS GOLD PROOF 1/2 OZ – TRUMAN 2,557 –
    JQ2 2015 FS GOLD UNC 1/2 OZ – TRUMAN 1,788 –
    JQ4 2015 FS GOLD UNC 1/2 OZ – EISENHWR 1,882 + 4
    JQ6 2015 FS GOLD UNC 1/2 OZ – KENNEDY 6,344 + 19
    JQ7 2015 FS GOLD PROOF 1/2 OZ – JOHNSON 2,573 + 1
    JQ8 2015 FS GOLD UNC 1/2 OZ – JOHNSON 1,693 + 2

  32. IPS_STUFF says

    @cagcrisp,
    just my opinion, with your weekly update on figures, you need to provide some personal commentary and insight.
    – any surprises
    – any sell outs

    and again appreciate the time this takes
    Thank you
    ips_stuff

  33. NcCoinCollector says

    2oz , 5oz and kilo sized Gold Buffalo, ASE and AGE along with UHR versions would be welcome.

  34. Scott says

    It think the problem is as much “Price Fatigue” as “Product Fatigue” since the majority of U.S. Mint products are so overpriced and there’s no longer a subscription discount.

  35. So Krates says

    No comments on the release of the Congratulation Set? Pay $1 more for the lack of a box…what a deal!

  36. earthling says

    I get so bored at work I waste too much time looking at all sorts of Dealer Sites, Mint Sites, etc. Last week I found a 1 Kg Silver Something at the Canadian Mint – mintage limit 500- I was all over it. Luckily for me the ordering process got too involved and I just said THWI.

    Later on I did a little calculating and saw this big rock of a piece was around $1999 over bullion value. Not good – especially since the thing was not very attractive at all.

    The ways I try to burn off cash. Got to find another dependent – but this time no Druggies… no smokers… or crazies … or posers of any kind.

  37. cagcrisp says

    Here are some comments on the above Mint Sales Numbers…

    In line with what I had expected though SLQ was a bit stronger,

    TR P will CU/SO by Saturday evening,

    FS.., how dismal can it get.

    Lov’n that Buff #!

    And anxious to see what happens to the WLH with the price drop in 21 hours…

    Signed KCSO…

  38. cagcrisp says

    For my part I am amazed that so many people would be purchasing ANY Gold products with a Potential Gold Price Decrease coming tomorrow.

    IF it doesn’t happen you can always purchase tomorrow …

  39. earthling says

    Are 1 Kg Silver Bars available from any Bullion Seller in the USA ? I found an Indian Dealer but given the price was in rupees , I’ll assume they were in India.

    I think a big Pamp Suisse Silver 1 kg bar would be so cool. And cheaper than a 1 oz bar of Rhodium.

  40. Xena says

    Hi Louis. Do you know when the 1/4 oz gold Griffin is going to be released? I haven’t seen it yet.

  41. maddogdday says

    @Joe #2,

    Thank you for your comments on the WLH. The black mark on the edge is just a piece of black felt on the capsule and not a spot on the coin.

    @Numismatrix,

    Thank you as well for your help and comments. I will see if my son wants to email Mr. Ken Potter and Mr. Fred Weinberg to see if they might have more info on the anomaly.

  42. fmtransmitter says

    earthling says
    NOVEMBER 29, 2016 AT 6:04 PM

    Are 1 Kg Silver Bars available from any Bullion Seller in the USA ?

    Of course there are dealers that will sell you those large of bars..

  43. So Krates says

    earthling – Yeah, the kilo is a great bar size for stacking. I have some older Johnson Matthey kilo bars and they just lay so nice together. Here is a decent selection:

    http://www.apmex.com/category/25660/kilo-32-15-oz-silver-bars

    A little while back, Johnson Matthey sold it’s bullion division to Asahi which seems to produce the identical bars in many sizes with the only difference being the hallmark. Seems like they may be a good value as they are much cheaper without the JM name.

    Sometimes you can also do pretty well on the kilo coins from Perth. Some recent years of Koalas and Kookaburras are close in price per oz. to bullion ATBs

  44. So Krates says

    @ maddogdday – I agree that it looks like a planchet defect but hard to say without a close inspection. Keep us posted.

  45. Dustyroads says

    cagcrisp says: “Signed KCSO…”

    At least checked in with someone, I was beginning to wonder about that guy.

  46. GoldFishin says

    @Maddog..aka Jeff- I believe what you are seeing is a nice halo effect that has presented itself in the striking process created by a combination of heat, pressure, metal flow that is linked to the adjacent raised details of Ms. Liberty. My coin also has a similar darkened area in the same place, BUT I didn’t get the nice halo/cartwheel effect that you did with yours.
    I don’t believe that it would be considered an error, nor do I believe that it was from a defective planchet. I think it is just a unique anomaly that I would consider an enhancement to your coin. I wish mine had turned out that way! Enjoy!

  47. earthling says

    Darn me and my aimless wandering. A 100 oz bar is so much bigger than a 1000 gram ( 1 kilogram ) bar.

    Those 100 oz bars look like bricks. Got to get one soon.

  48. GoldFishin says

    @Maddog, aka Jeff- Just got my WLH coin back out to give it another look see. IF I turn the obverse of my coin to where the Y is pointing due South I get the same halo effect in the exact proportions that yours has, with the edge of the luster just touching that ray of the sun. It is definitely just from the striking process. Mine was easily visible under 5X and you can clearly see it with the naked eye also, but only IF I give it a quarter turn clockwise. Nice…

  49. Patrick Herlihy says

    The rise is because mint products are the only money maker our government has. Everything else they do causes national debt

  50. Jerry Diekmann says

    Excellent artlcle, Diana – all that research must have taken a long time. One point – the Mint didn’t begin ATB “S” mint quarters until the third year of the program in 2012.

  51. gatortreke says

    A followup to the Black Friday\Cyber Monday deals. J. M. Bullion has been offering this for a while, not sure how long it will last:

    The J. M. Bullion Starter Pack – 10 1 oz. 0.999 Sunshine Minting Silver rounds at spot,housed in a tube and velvet pouch, limit 1 per household. Order includes free shipping.

    I’ve never bought rounds before but this seemed a no brainer so I ordered the set and have to say I’m pleased. The rounds look nicer in person than they appear in the advertisement.

    FTR, I am in no way affiliated with J. M. Bullion nor do I work in the P.M. business in any fashion, just passing on something I’ve seen.

  52. Mike in NY says

    I finally received my 2 WLH’s today. One is perfect but the other seems to have a mark on the right side of Liberty on the obverse. It is a relatively thick mark about 1/4″ long with a slight curve. It almost looks like a mark from felt tip marker. It does not appear to be a scratch or abrasion.

    I have never returned anything to the US Mint but, in the case, it looks like I will have to as the mark is so distracting. I’m wondering if I can return just the one or if I have to return both WLH’s. It’s very frustrating to have to wait so long, almost 2 weeks, and then receive an obviously defective coin – so much for QC at the mint.

  53. cal g. says

    @ A. R. Gentum: Easy on the Ikes Bro…my Mom used to put those in our Christmas stockings, and, were so cool to hold and look at. It also was the first coin I discovered clashed remnants on, not knowing what I was seeing, which led to a encounter, and, ongoing mentoring with numismatics by Rob Ezerman, Co-Author of the Eisenhower Collector’s book,(Lulu Press), and the http://www.ikegroup.info fame(Rob has since retired from the coin world), and, a new chapter in my life collecting varieties and errors. Even David Q. Bowers eventually got hooked with Ikes, after interviewing Rob for the Whitman Dollar Book.
    Also, the 50th anniversary of the 1971 Inaugural coin is in 4 short years, and, I’m sure a special 3 coin gold and/or silver set will be made, perhaps with a reverse proof to add some spice. And, Eisenhower was truly one of the last great Presidents, a man’s man who many looked up to, and, lived by honest principles seemingly forgotten in today’s crooked world.
    Please, easy on the Ikesters…keep beating up Susan B Anthony dollars, a much more deserving “BIGLY” ugly strike.

  54. cagcrisp says

    (Technically speaking it all comes down to whether there is a “perceived ” OPEC deal today and Currently the futures appears that there Will be a deal)…

  55. cagcrisp says

    Yesterday no deal , Today a deal. Tomorrow who knows before someone breaks said perceived deal…

  56. cagcrisp says

    @KCSO “TR P will CU/SO by Saturday evening,”

    Good Call.

    CURRENTLY 97 in stock. Once these are Gone, they’re Gone…

  57. earthling says

    “CURRENTLY 97 in stock. Once these are Gone, they’re Gone…”

    I just took a look – now there’s 98. Did they sell out in a few minutes and now they’ve restocked … that fast? I wouldn’t put anything past them. After all, this IS the hopium dealer better know as the US MINT.

  58. data dave says

    So I ordered a few things from APMEX on Black Friday and today I get an email from them saying the ordered was delayed. But to make it up to me they are giving me $10 off on the next $100 order. I’m not pumping AMPEX, just giving an example of what the Mint could do if it screws up an order (like no COA, delayed shipping, etc.) The Mint used to be a monopoly but not anymore. A lot of good choices out there for me to get my coin fix.

  59. data dave says

    I agree the TR P pucks are almost gone. Looks like they decided to make 19K of each this year, and at least 3 of the 5 will sell out with sales in the high 18Ks.

  60. cagcrisp says

    So Krates says

    November 27, 2016 at 9:41 am

    Meet the new boss
    Same as the old boss

    I don’t know how many caught this, or understood this, however, all I would add would be :

    Meet the new boss on Steroids…

  61. Mike in NY says

    Looks like I won’t have to go to the trouble of returning one of my WLH’s. I opened the capsule, wiped the mark with a cloth glove and removed whatever was there. I suspect it was some sort of oil or grease.

    The WLH’s are beautiful but I am disappointed in the smaller size. The size difference compared to the originals seems much more noticeable for the half.

  62. cagcrisp says

    @Mike in NY, “The WLH’s are beautiful but I am disappointed in the smaller size. The size difference compared to the originals seems much more noticeable for the half.”

    I Agree Completely.

    Much more noticeable than the dime or the quarter…

  63. IPS_STUFF says

    Don’t think the PM fix on gold will be of any concern. The concern should be buying at all as we are at about day 25 of prices dropping on PM’s
    Why add any US MINT PM products at this time? or jus t any PM’s at this time?

  64. cagcrisp says

    Gold PM fix $1,178.10

    There WILL be a Gold price Decrease this afternoon.

    As IPS_STUFF says “Why add any US MINT PM products at this time? or jus t any PM’s at this time?”

    Buyer beware…

  65. Larry says

    @ IPS_STUFF, when is the time to buy PM’s? When the market is going up? Unless you have a crystal ball, nobody really knows the right time to buy. It goes against most folks emotions, but when the market is going down is the time to buy. If you knew the bottom of the market that would be the best time to buy, but who knows that?

  66. IPS_STUFF says

    Larry,

    What I am saying is, with approximately 3 weeks of nothing but down, it would not be smart to start buying until the current move is done. The bottom was not two weeks ago, the bottom was not last week.

    I am saying wait until it is up for 2 or 3 days at least before jumping in on a 10% drop in the price of gold in three weeks. I believe the price of gold is near were it was in periods of 2014. One could have waited 2 plus years.

  67. So Krates says

    Wonder how bobo feels about the new GS alumnus/Hollywood producer as Secretary of Treasury nominee. 😉

    Cagcrisp, would you consider this a streroidal appointee?

  68. cagcrisp says

    @ So Krates, “Wonder how bobo feels about the new GS alumnus/Hollywood producer as Secretary of Treasury nominee.”

    I think we both know the answer to that.

    Instead of Draining the Swamp, there has been a few Feet added to the Swamp…(So Far)…

    I’ve said all along, you have to be careful what you wish for …

  69. data dave says

    People are remarkably able to change their behavior based on their circumstances. If these appointees don’t do the job, then they will hear “You’re Fired!”. It would be easier to stop tidal flooding in Florida than to drain the swamp. I wonder what Trump’s view is on the penny, nickel and dollar coin? The $100 bill. Gold ? Haven’t read much in these areas because the media enjoys covering the circus more.

  70. So Krates says

    Mike in NY says, “I opened the capsule, wiped the mark with a cloth glove and removed whatever was there. I suspect it was some sort of oil or grease.”

    Even the gentlest of wipes with the softest of materials can leave hairline scratches. Proof coins are unforgiving, but there’s a slight chance you may have gotten away unscathed on your golden half. Best bet for oil or grease removal would we a quick dip in 100% acetone.

  71. says

    Gold was $1062.25 on 12/31/15…so it is still up over $100 ytd.

    Silver was $13.82.

    I agree with Larry…..when do you Buy?

    I think you should buy pm’s like stocks…a little each month…i.e. dollar cost averaging

  72. JWS says

    The Post Office did the same with stamps in the 70’s and 80’s. It basically killed the hobby of stamp collecting.

  73. Jerry Diekmann says

    JWS – Yes the Post Office killed the philately hobby with too many stamps, too many designs, too many honorees, too many sizes, too many denominations. The Canadian and Australian Mints have done the same thing, and now the US Mint seems to be following in their footsteps. The number of coins issued by Canada is ridiculous – you would have to have a fortune to buy one of each every year. I guess you could say the same about the US Mint now that it has become gold-happy. I buy less from the Mint every year now. The ATB quarters are a case of too much – go back to one design per year.

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