RIP...US Mint

+1

I'm not a modern collector but I would go for some mint offerings if they were appealing to me. They simply aren't.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Is this a coin ... or a subway token?

I'm not sure.

Look at those teeth? Tell me this doesn't look like an 8th grade art students drawing. If it didn't say Reagan on it, I wouldn't know who it was!

 

I bought mint products in the 1980's, but when I sold some in the 1990's, that cured me. Besides I like coins with historical context concurrent with the time of their design or minting. Not much of that in newly minted coins.

Cal

 

There used to be more artistry and inspiration in our coin designs. (OK maybe the washington quarter is a bit played out after nearly 100 years, but it was a nice overall design).



I think the whole "Dead Presidents" theme was where out US coinage went wrong. I liked it so much more when designs were allegorical representations of liberty. And of course the whole American Indian theme was cool as a change of pace.

 

The First Spouse series is a case study in what to do wrong ...

1. Pick an uninteresting subject matter (sorry but with few exceptions being the wife of a president is just not that interesting or important ... Seriously, Malania???)

2. Make the coins ugly. It's amazing to me that someone at the U.S.Mint thought putting an "i like mamie" button in the reverse (with a hand no less!) was a good idea. It's almost laughable. I dont think they could have made the coin uglier if they tried.

3. Make them out of gold so no typical collector could afford the set. What would it take? $30,000 to compile a set (with 25 oz of gold content) Who wants to spend that on ugly uninspired moderns?

4. The mintages fell every year and ended up less than 3,000 a year I believe. Even being a "rarity", nobody wants them. Why? Nobody collects them. I think 95% of the people that bought them were flippers hoping to make a killing by stumbling into the lower mintage issue. Trouble is there are few if any set builders out there.

 

Oh if we could just go back to the glory days of U.S. Coinage!

 

My direct from the mint purchases have remained exactly the same since 1961...

0

 

Add to the above comments on product, the fact there are fewer people with disposable income. Coin shops express their concern over the drop in collectors the past few years. All can be fixed with a good old jump in the economy.

 

https://catalog.usmint.gov/product-schedule/
None of the coins/sets listed here are even remotely desirable.

I'd say the US joins the league of the extraordinary "coin issuing countries" :-D
Tuvalu
Cook Islands
Niue
USA (new member)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

+1

 

It would be nice but it's never going to happen and the CCAC is the problem. See the comments of Donald Scarinci a senior member of the panel below in regards to classic designs. I used to have another article saved that I can't find right now that quoted another member of the committee or perhaps it was the same one but they were also disparaging the classic designs/designers.


And yes those artists may be dead but their designs live on as they are timeless and great works of art. Yet the CCAC would rather shove forced designs down collectors throats without even trying to choose designs that would perhaps go down as modern classics.

 

"Let's get over" Weinman and Saint-Gaudens. I hope the Mint gets to eat their "contemporary" Liberty.

Chow down, guys.

 

When I was 11 years old I bought my first US Mint Issue. A 1968-S Proof Set. I was excited by the new S Mint Mark which had been absent for 13 years and the return of mirror proofs (absent for 4 years). I remember thinking at the time, boy i bet this will be worth alot someday (LOL). Fast forward 50 years and I would be surprised if I could sell it for 1/2 what I paid. I'll be darned if I can remember the purchase price tho ... and the half is 40% silver (which helps a bit).

 

Judging by the "let's get over" arrogance, I am reconsidering the idea of making my only annual Mint purchase -- the ASE proof.

Our wallets are our only weapon.

 

I collect ancient coins, but if the US ditched the whole dead presidents on coins thing, or started to produce interesting commemoratives, I'd consider buying from the Mint. But so far all commemoratives are butt ugly (very few exceptions in the past few decades). What a shame.

As far as coins for circulation, it's been almost 70 years of dull, uninspiring, and worn out designs. And sadly they keep the same designs for many decades so after a while you are just collecting dozens and dozens of copies with the same design. I see why people get exited about microscopic varieties in a letter on the legend, etc., because there is literally nothing else to get exited about.

 

I like the AtB and State quarters, also the Native American $1. When we are in the US I try to get the proof ASE and have all the bullion ASE. Maybe US coins have a sense of the exotic for me and are at least somewhat cheaper than the Royal Mint recent offerings.

 

In 1968 they raised the price of proof sets to $5. Current value $9.
I bought a set in 1988 for $8. Current value $8. When I went to sell it
to my LCS he offered me $5 (which is fair) and I declined. The quarter
has toned. The S on the dime does not look completely full. The cent is very nice.

 

It gets pretty expensive after awhile considering that you have to pay for both a regular Proof set and a silver Proof set to get all the coins you need and end up with over lapping issues that are duplicates. Similar to cable TV. You only need and want certain channels but get a lot of what you don't want and need and still have to pay for all of it. And it tells a story that the Mint still has issues from 2011 for sale. These should have been destroyed. And lackluster sales in general of Mint & Proof sets show a decline in interest. If I were to continue my purchases it would be on the secondary market after a couple of years had passed. Taking a look at these items for sale in private ads in Numismatic News tells me I am shelling out a lot of money for most that go way down in price after they have been around for awhile. Remember the high price of the 1999 Silver Proof set which got up to around $300.00 at one point? I sold the only one I had ordered for that amount and went without them in my albums. Later I purchased it back for $85.00 and completed my set. I think the same will eventually happen with the 2012 coins which are now way to high in price considering their mintages. I feel much better with a hose in my hand when starting a fire, I'm in control.

 

I know it's business but a lot of dealers go to shows just to make big deals with other dealers......not the collector.

 

Yes it was innovative for them, (though Australia had already issued a curved coin) but since then a LOT of the proposed commemoratives have called for curved coins. "Well the curved baseball coins sold so well, so lets issue more curved coins!"

It wasn't the best design choice, but it was far from the worst one.

Amen