One of my favorite jokes: "Back in 2000, Steve Jobs, Johnny Cash and Bob Hope were still alive. But now we have no Jobs, no Cash, and no Hope." Anyway tomorrow California's Innovation dollar goes on sale, featuring Steve Jobs (1955-2011). I do want one; partly for who it honors, partly because I like the design, and partly because it's a 1776-2026 coin and can't get enough of those (I mean that literally; I can't seem to get many!). But bad timing on the cashflow, and it's hard to stomach paying $61 for 25 of them (plus shipping). Plus it will almost certainly sell out before I get paid. I know technically it's a worse deal, but I'll pay $4 for one of them from some guy on eBay I guess. I still might get the Innovation dollar proof or reverse proof set whenever they come out. Those pretty much never sell out; I'm not worried.
There is nothing wrong with waiting as I wouldn't think these would go up much in the aftermarket (especially after the initial hype goes away). And if you only want one and not a full roll, paying a bit more for a single example is better than spending a bigger overall total for extra coins that you don't need.
There's just something about having an entire roll of something... even if it's more than I want or need. But there's only so much I'm willing to pay for that, and speculation is driving the prices beyond that point. Innovation dollars have been a weird love/hate thing for me (or more accurately a like/indifferent thing); some I like and want, some I just don't care about, and why I've not kept up collecting everything in the series in general, and instead just pick and choose individual ones I'm interested enough in wanting. I paid way more than I should for a roll each of P&D Liberty dimes (the Mint sold out of theirs before I could even log on, and I resorted to getting some from the secondary market) and not really wanting to do that for coins that are currently being hyped more than they deserve to be. Mint prices are getting insane (or at least moderately eccentric lol) and it's raising the threshold for which of their products I feel is worth it. The problem with Innovation dollars is that since they're not being made for circulation the initial price on them is high to begin with. Sure technically you can find them in circulation, but that's pretty rare (and it's a major cashflow hit to search through dollar coins to find them). I've occasionally been tempted to try to collect the Native American dollars since there's less interest in those and thus they tend to be a little cheaper. Maybe someday when other sets are finished or close to it.
There are too many of these "1776 - 2026" coins which the mint is selling for high prices which are not going to the public. As a collector who saw how things were done in 1976, this stuff sticks in my craw. I recently bought a Dan Carr creation which has a Draped Bust Dollar design on the obverse with the date “1776 – 2026 and a Golbrecht Dollar eagle, flying among the stars, on the reverse. It was stuck on a 40% Eisenhower Dollar planchet. It might seem like a silly buy, but it’s more pleasing than some of the overpriced, unfairly distributed stuff the mint is selling.
