Mint purchases

Do you buy things from the U.S. Mint? If so, what? Have you been happy with your purchases? Problems?

 

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I used to buy both mint sets to keep up my collection, but it is like throwing good money at a losing cause. I'm not trying to make a profit here, but it doesn't seem intelligent to pay almost triple the cost or more for coins that probably will depreciate over the next ten years. Unless everybody doesn't buy them and they become a rarity. I want to support the US Mint because I like some of the things they do, but for now, I will unsubscribe from all of my subsciptions until I see something that looks good. I just haven't found anything that really pops out right now. Maybe the flowing hair medal, but for $104, maybe not. I think that I will go back to the basics and upgrade some of my mercs and IHCs. I really do hope the US Mint will put out some interesting products in the future.

 

I stopped buying a couple of years ago. I used to buy Mint and Proof sets. The price of buying keeps going up and you can’t recover your costs so I stopped. It’s cheaper to buy what I need for my albums and folders than buy from the mint.

 

I was a devout US Mint customer for just about 50 years. I cut the cord about 5 years ago. I do like a few of their offerings, but I refuse to pay the extortionary prices they command.

I still have everything I've ever bought from them starting in the very late '60's thru 2019. When I do an inventory of the proof sets, mint sets, bicentennial sets, ASE's, commemorative sets, etc. I'm in the red on almost everything. Specifically everything bought in the 1970's, '80's, '90's, '00's, and '10's.

No, I won't be returning as a customer. And I am the mentor and guiding light for my grandchildren, the next generation of collectors, and I'm advising them not to purchase from the Mint either. So hopefully the trend to falling sales continues so they see the error in their ways.

 

The mint will never see the error of their ways. They will see the decline in sales and raise their prices to make up for the lost revenue.

 

I purchased the 2023 Morgan Peace dollar coins all by subscription, and I am very happy with them. The 6 2021 Morgan and Peace dollar series I got in MS 70 aftermarket. When I saw the new mintage amounts for the 2023 series I didn't think they would have the value of the 2021s.I think the 2023 set I could sell for more than what I paid. Since I don't sell I still like to know I can get my money back if I would sell.

The 2024 Greatest Generation coins I bought from the mint and I am very happy with them also. I have never looked to see what they sell for aftermarket, but I probably could sell for a little more than I paid. Also back in 2009 I purchased a Lincoln coin and chronicle set. I've never sold any coin, but I the Lincoln chronicles is about double what I paid.

I can't remember anything else I've bought. It seems the annual proof, silver proof, and circulation sets are the ones that take the biggest "hits" on price. There are numerous people here that were annual set buyers for years, but have quit doing it.

 

Not only will they raise their prices, but they will continue to create rarities to keep the prices up, such as the gold eagles marked with V75 in 2020, only making 1945 of them. Of course, if collectors stop buying ordinary sets, that creates rarities, which, in theory, spurs sales the next year. They can't lose. They make money either way.

 

Very true

 

I've cut way back, I'm down to ASE's for my grandchildren and maybe if I see something I like.

 

Good and bad. I am not a regular US mint buyer but here's my recent purchases.

• Bought the 2021 Peace dollar. Totally satisfied with the purchase.
• When they issued the George Bush dollars I bought a roll of "P" and "D" dollars. The Philly mint dollars looked like they were strewn about a concrete floor before they were rolled up.
• Several years back they issued proof sets with a West Point mint cent. My cent had a large imperfection on it. That cent was the reason I bought the set.

 

Given the high prices the mint charges these days, every Proof coin should be virtually perfect. The 2024 silver set I received had a mark on the half dollar and a toning spot on the cent.

I guess I got a bargain. I bought the set before the mint raised the price to $150.

 

I have never bought anything (or dealt directly with it) from the U.S. Mint, which is not to say I don't have a plethora of Mint specimens. However, they are only ones I specifically wanted, and for the most part, that I saw in hand or had previous experience with the seller. My newest addition was about 8 yrs ago.

That said, I am very happy with my Mint specimens & have had only one coin (to my present knowledge), a half, to develop white spots.

Btw Mike, I really like your avatar!

 

I started my collection of coins when my father passed. I didn't know he collected coins. They weren't much to look at and only a few looked collectable, but I kept them anyway. After looking at them for a couple of years, I started looking at them and started a real coin collection, although it has take a decade to learn what and how to collect. Anyway, I got curious about my coins and somehow, found cointalk.
I subscribed to a magazine and learned a lot from them. The Cointalk webpages on the computer really got me hooked. I have some coins that I got from ebay and other webpages, but I didn't really anything that tickled my fancy.
I know a great many collectors don't like the Mint, due to their prices. At first, I didn't know what to buy and bought several things that I shouldn't have, then the prices started soaring up and I had to be more selective in my Mint purchases. The do have several coins and coin collections that I like. I have been more selective and my purchases have become fewer, but I still like their offerings and I spend about $3 - $5 grand a year with them. My wife and I are retired with good incomes and we own 2 homes and 4 vehicles without debt. Like I said, I still buy from the Mint, but I have found that there are other coin stores that I spend some time in.

 

The big disappointment for me with the mint, besides the rising prices, is the poor quality. I’m not saying that everything should be PR or MS-70, but the coins should be presentable.

There two gold coins were not cheap, but they were badly made. I have long admired the Draped Bust design, but the this coin was ugly junk. I sold it for melt when the price of bullion increased. I did not want a coin with the mumps.




And here was the Ultra High Relief St. Gaudens coin the mint sent me. Die polisted ugly! This is crap the mint sends out at higher prices. Now the prices are even higher. I got a 2024 silver Proof set with a mark on the half dollar and a spot on the cent. Subpar to say the least.

 

I sold my UHR back a few years ago at FUN.....used the proceeds as seed money to augment my classic commems. I just wasn't pleased with the coin. The thick nature turned me off as it diminished the size of the coin in diameter. Major disappointment for me. Jeffersons Liberty I still have. I think she's enticingly beautiful, and no 'mumps' in my example.

 

Big mistake. You could have sold it for a fortune on eBay or Etsy as the only one with the mumps!

 

Dream on. The coin was a piece of crap. No one wanted nice examples of this coin. Pieces that were less were bullion.

 

This was said tongue-in-cheek. On the other hand, there are lots of things that sell for ridiculous prices on those sites that are obvious junk. There have been numerous examples highlighted on CT from time to time.

 

No tongue-in-cheek at all. I hated the looks of that coin, and it would have brought no premium on any site.

Here is a bad Proof coin I did send back, which I should have kept to sell to an error collector.

 

I quit buying from the US mint several years ago. After 40 something years it was time to stop with anything modern. I love what I have but don't wish to add to it.