Are coin collectors a significant factor in the U.S. Mint's assessment of how many coins to strike per denomination? I can see the US Mint catering to collectors through special sets and coins, but for general circulation coins, are collectors a factor they consider? Or is the collecting community not much of a factor?
........i think they are mainly concerned with the public having the coins for spending transactions.
No for business strikes they just want to feed the nation. No for business strikes they just want to feed the nation. They don't need to strike coins made for circulation for collectors. Trust me there are plenty - just study the mintage figures. I am consistently amazed at how many 1964 nickels and 1982 Lincoln's I still see in each bunches of change - we are talking many, many tractor trailer loads - I mean a bunch!!!!!!
I believe the mint produces circulating coins to meet public demand and that is all. They didn't even bother to sharpen Lincoln's image on the cent for his 200th birthday! That would have been a consideration for collectors. They design their web page to interest collectors, but their goal is like any business: profit. I don't have a problem with that, but they really don't limit production enough on commems to justify some of the prices. Then there's the novelty items like fifty state quarter spoons. I have no comment on what those were intended for!
There was a time back in the sixties that they blamed us collectors for the coin shortage....totally unfounded.
