Lower Silver Prices Should Equal Lower Unc P 5oz’er Prices

Since the mint is so quick to raise prices when silver goes up, shouldn’t we be asking them when they’re going to lower prices, now that silver appears to have settled in the mid $30’s? I for one will be calling them to ask if they’re going to lower prices for the next unc P 5oz’er.

 

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Great idea, but I would not bet on them lowering prices...

RickieB

 

In theory that makes sense, but it will probably depend upon how well the Yellowstone coins sell. If they sell well, they will most likely see no need to lower the price. It is my understanding these are not a bullion issue; they are a collector's issue and, as such, don't have to be tied to the price of silver, as there is a numismatic value component. The bullion issues for Gettysburg and Glacier on dealer sites like Provident Metals and Gainesville Coins, on the other hand, are much more tied to the price of silver.

I wouldn't hold my breath on the price of these being lowered.

 

Until they post a silver price chart like they have for gold products, I do not see them reducing the price of their silver products. On the other hand, if spot silver goes up they will certainly increase prices. TC

 

Would be curious as to what kind of answer you receive. Let us know.

 

Customer service will say "We have not been notified of any change to it's price", and that will be the end of the conversation. I don't want to be negative, but you will not get to talk to anyone who would actually be involved with that decision. You might get a supervisor, but but in so many words, she will tell you the same thing.

 

Why shouldn't this product fit right in with the other numismatics sold by the mint? By that I mean, decidedly overpriced and likely money losers for at least the first few years of potential resale due to that excessive pricing...par for the course really. Buy because you *want* the coin to have and to hold for a long time period or just list it on the 'bay for the uninformed/lazy to drop even more in the very short term. I guess I"m a pessimist today.

 

Don't silver proof sets get repriced?

 

Yes, but only priced higher. I have never seen a silver product from the US Mint get reduced in price. TC

 

That's probably true, but at least you can register a complaint and tell them you're going to complain to your representatives about mint gouging.

You know, they limit what the bullion versions can be sold for and I don't believe the sky is the limit for mint products.

 

The Mint priced the Hot Springs issue when silver was in the low $40s (sometime between April 10-12). They didn't raise the Hot Springs coin price as silver rose to $48+ by release day on April 28. On the flip side, silver is now down $5-$6 from when they originally priced these coins, so why should we expect a price drop when they didn't increase the price on the way up?

Similarly, the Mint really doesn't suspend silver sales until the premium over spot gets very close to 0, which I think is fair. I bought some 2010 and 2011 silver proof sets just before sales were suspended when the prices were just a couple of dollars over the silver content. If you want the pricing to be more dynamic, you'll have to be prepared for more price increases as well as decreases. You can't get the best of both worlds.

 

Good post. Its just like gas, half the people argue the gas stations shouldn't raise their prices so quick because they paid less when its going up, the other half wants them to lower prices immediately because that is the new market price.

Both are stuck in the middle, and just trying to avoid large inventory losses.

 

I don't know, doesn't the mint reprice the bullion versions of these 5oz'ers (and 1oz. Eagles) more often? Don't they keep the bullion version closer to the market value of silver?. These unc versions can't cost that much more to make.

 

I'm no expert on how the Mint's operations work, but my opinion is this: the Mint does reprice silver bullion sales (SAEs and the 5 oz. ATBs) according to market price. But remember that the Mint only sells bullion to its Authorized Purchaser network.

The numismatic products are sold directly to retail buyers like us. For numismatic products, their repricing is much more cumbersome. The gold products follow a published repricing policy. For silver, no policy exists. From what I read, when they want to change the prices of silver products they have to register the new price with the Federal Register. This process is cumbersome and can take days/weeks. Last time silver prices rose they suspended sales of the silver proof sets and instead of repricing them, the Mint just waited until prices settled back down to the <$40 level before putting the items back up for sale.

That said, this system seems pretty terrible. At the very least, I think they'll have to come up with a silver pricing policy. Its rise in price and demand certainly warrants a clearer policy on Mint pricing for numismatic silver. At the moment it feels pretty arbitrary since they haven't articulated a clear strategy/formula.

 

Here's a link to an article that says the mint plans on putting the unc versions on their PM pricing grid.

http://www.coinworld.com/articles/sales-brisk-for-hot-springs-5-ounce-bullion/

 

This must be the efforts of the new mint director. That's a good start in the right direction. I can't believe Moy would come up with something useful like this.

 

Maybe they'll give us a partial refund on Yellowstone.:too-funny:

 

So, if these uncs are on the pricing grid, when and how are they repriced?