I'm just wondering if others feel the same way I do, or am I just too critical and petty? I arrived home Christmas Eve to find a package from the US Mint had arrived. I was very excited to see the brown box, having waited 10 years to complete the State Quarter annual set, with 2008 being the final year. Seing the red boxes of the Silver Proofs, I picked one up and noticed it's wider than the previous nine years altogether. Are you guys kidding me or what? Nine years I've been waiting, and the last year of the program they stick their fingers in our eyes? US Mint boxes were sold to the public which were to house the 10 year State Quarter CLAD & PROOF annual proof sets and the mint soon sold out. Then you scramble and pay triple and quadruple prices on ebay and like websites, then the mint says oh yeah... here they are again. And it wasn't bad enough that around 2006 or 2007 they had to shift the year on the edge of the boxes off alignment with the rest, but the last year they completely made it so big it won't even fit in the damn box. Last year with the introduction of the pres dollars, they added a separate wrapper which housed the new dollars, and the standard 2 sleeve box. Why didn't they do that this last year? The Silver Eagles are the same story. Most of the times, the changes weren t driven by the coin, but as subtle as the graphics rotated 90 degrees. I realize with the addition of coins each year, boxes can change. Can't they keep a standard so you can at least keep the mint sets together? Or the proofs together? So years in the same set match at least??? One day I'm going to give a big pile of different size boxed coins to my son. I wonder if they still be intelligent enough in the future to wonder... why there is an original US Mint box with one slot empty, separate on the side. Or any of the other sets mutilated. Are these people flying by the seats of their pants? Do they keep graphics files or do they start scratch every year? Who is the embicile in charge of oversight of the State Quarter program? Why does he still have his job??? Of the mint? The truth of the matter is the Treasury, like most other branches of our government have gotten totally out of control. We as a people, don't take pride on anything we build. We are not accountable for our actions. Most don't even have shame. If this crap happened in China, the employee would shoot himself out of shame. Am I too critical? Is it bad to be passionate about something and to expect some kind of quality control? Hot wheel collectors frown, moan and groan if the corner of the box is tattered... of a 99 cent toy car. Coins are capsules of our great nation's history, why should I not feel this way? The current state of our country's affairs is deffinately being captured into our coins. God help us.
Hey Brother, you are preaching to the choir here! Welcome to CT. Sounds like you have been collecting for a while. Stick around, you will find there are some knowlegable and skilled people who frequent this site. And if you are lucky, you may just find that many of us feel the same way you do.
Hear ya Cad but were're dealin' with a government agency. These boys do what they like. I, long ago, stopped getting upset to their antics. How? Couple o' belts o' scotch. Works every time.
What bothers me more is the fact that they feel it is perfectly ok to reissue coins that have been put down years earlier.
You are not too critical, passion is a good thing, and you should feel that way. I don't care what you collect- comic books, action figures, stamps- it doesn't matter. Quality and consistancy count. I'm a "Type A" personality and these things drive me nuts too. I really like the change the mint made to the 2008 $50 Buffalo proof presentation case- much, much nicer- a 1,000% improvement. The '06 and '07 presentations are comparatively cheap and unworthy of a $900 + coin. But...now they are different.
They recently brought back a large number of coins as a sort of clearance sale (some may years old). Some of these coins were selling at a significant premium in he after market.
