US Mint and the Big Guy

Green18,
Yep, hopefully I will get lucky on the replacement set I think they are or are not sending. The silly people can't seem to get their stories coordinated. argh!

P.S. didn't know I was stirring up a hornet's nest with this one... teehee.

jk

 

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Oh thank you thank you thank you Green18!
I am thinking this is where I saw some of the information.
Discount... indeed... it is a rip-off of our everyday hard working American!
Twenty, one hundred, two hundred and fifty... yes, there should be a limit for the BIG guys. Why is it always that the wealthy have such privileges? Give the average person a chance!
jk
(Careful, might fall of my soap box)

 

Aw shucks Jeankay.....tweren't nuthin'......

 

Somewhat agree with you Peter... but, like I said, the BIG guys get theirs before we get ours... that sort of smells of 'first run' privileges to me.

jk

 

Oh no Ziggy... you must have gotten the ones I sent back, especially if you found cat hair in them!
Can't keep that critter out of 'his' room when I am in here working on my coins.

jk

 

There may be some truth to this, I do not know. But, hasn't anyone ever wondered how HSN (Mike Mezack), and Robert Chambers and crew at ShopNBC almost always seem to have a nice quantity of new releases, and already graded by third parties, before most of the public has even received their coins raw? Perhaps they get a better deal at the mint than the public. Remember of the old Shop at Home channel how Chambers and the gang would have stacks of Monster boxes a day or two after the mint started selling them to the supposed "distributors". I could believe it if they got a better deal on price than the average shmuck.

 

Just a few things here.

For starters Peter's third statement. Couldn't agree more. Modern bullion is boring but whatever floats your boat.

Now Doug. Yes, anyone can buy most mint products except the unc silver eagles. All 14 of those "special" dealers get them from the mint. I'm sure this makes it easier for the mint.
They still make money and have an easier time shipping in bulk lots.
Silver eagles are valued higher because of this.

Hogwash! It's still just a stinking ounce of silver to me. Control the supply and the price goes up. At the shop you can buy a silver round for $1 over spot.
If we need 500 silver eagles WE pay $1.55 over spot. Your cost? $3 over spot generally.

Now walk in to SELL a mixture of rounds and silver eagles and guess what? 9 out of 10 times we pay the same. We're buying bullion no matter how you slice it.

Hey, I know the mint and companies have to make money. This is why they are in business. We're in business at the shop and make more money reselling "walk ins" than we do having to order them.

Like so many other aspects of "investing in coins" it can be a real wake up when you decide to sell.

Done with my rant now.

clembo

 

United States Mint Bulk Purchase Program

I beleive this is what you're asking for...

The United States Mint offers a Bulk Purchase Program for registered purchasers. Under the current terms and conditions of this program a five percent discount will be applied to all purchases of $5,000.00 or more of qualifying products. Additionally, a shipping and handling charge of 1% for domestic orders and 2% for international orders will be assessed on each order processed.

http://www.usmint.gov/consumer/index.cfm?action=busguide&sub=bulkorder

 

Actually I don't mind getting discounts for bulk purchases. But anyone can do it with food and other items... like at discount and club membership stores.
My problem with the bulk purchasing from the US Mint is that it is quite obvious the big spenders get preferential treatment and earlier mint runs than we little folk.

Now, if the mint were to change the tactic and give the big guys the leftovers... like they do to the little guy... then I wouldn't be so irritated at their commercial endeavors to keep the mint running. I still do not like the idea of the mint selling so much of our precious metals to businesses outside the US. I am wondering if we still have a healthy reserve of precious metal as in years gone by.

jeankay

 

Yeh, GD, I was once the little guy, and because of my hubby's successful job and website, I am a big guy who is considered a special person in many little guys eyes and minds. We quit the 'food clubs' a long time ago when all our kids moved out, and only buy in bulk what we have difficulty finding what we need in the stores on a regular basis.

I can still be a little guy someday when our income fades away into a non-inflation proof retirement income.

As far as the mint goes... if we little big guys get lousy runs of proof coins something is terribly wrong and there is no incentive to buy them even one at a time.

You are quite right about our gold and silver and other precious metals like copper, platinum, etc. Because of the new technology a company south of San Francisco has a great business reclaiming gold from old computers and monitors. They have a much lower overhead than the mining companies, but get as much for their bullion as the market will allow.

It hasn't been a terribly long time since the government deregulated the price of gold. After that it got so pricey that most of us could not even afford a wedding band.
And remember, if Marshall Law were ever declared for the US we would all be in jeopardy of losing our precious metal by the government having the power to confiscate it.

I know I stirred up a hornet's nest with the questions. Yet I think it is worth it because it makes us think and helps us to learn more about the processes that are required to get the product for which we are very hungry.

jeankay

 

Scary thought Jeankay. Let's hope that never happens. I usually associate martial law with third world (emerging) countries. I like to think that we are more enlightened here in the USA.....Thomas Jefferson....Declaration of Independence.....Bill of rights.....we live in the greatest country on earth.

 

It's very common for large buyers to get price breaks in many, many areas of commerce, not just the Mint. I suppose there are many reasons for this.

 

A pity if people have been getting sorry quality coins.

Recently, I did 120 of 'em, and the lowest grades were 2 PR68 DCAMs. All others were PR69s and PR70s. That's very high quality.

I am not treated any different from anyone else.

 

Martial law ? Scary ? I'm more worried about getting hit by a meteorite.

 

My objection to the Mint's discount program is that you must have been a full time dealer for five years before you can even register for the program. Those first five years are usually the toughest for a new small business. They're struggling to establish themselves and this just adds to their struggle to compete against previously established businesses. The average joe coin collector is completely eliminated from the picture, even if he wants to "purchase in bulk" (defined as a $5000 order).

This bulk program selectively rewards the elite and excludes the "little guy".

 

Mint sets go on sale 7/30. Just checked the mint web site (I subscibe to this issue) and see that I have an order number but the sets have been back-ordered to 8/12. Seems like when I first subscribed to this and other issues I'd get the sets a few days after they were released. Now it appears I'll be waiting longer. The big guys again?

 

Aha!
I just got my second clad Mint Proof set. Admitting it is better than the one I sent back, but still not a chance any of the coins could go MS69 unless I send it to a crooked TPG (won't mention names because I don't want to start that again).
I will keep these for my albums anyway.
The Presidential golden dollars still do not have the golden finish cladding on the third side (edge). Guess they will be considered mint error coins in the future?

Thanks everyone for the lively discussion about the Mint and its shortcomings..
Now we can go on to another lively discussion about something else.
jeankay