I heard a story a while back of the mint switching from 90% silver blanks to 99% for all silver coins minted. Anyone know anything about it????
I've never heard or read such a story. ASEs are produced on 0.999 fine silver planchets while all other US silver coinage products are on 0.900 fine silver planchets, which matches the historical content of silver in US coins.
Would the Mint then charge more because of the higher silver content? I suspect so....even though they're saving money.
Yes, they would adjust prices accordingly. They're not saving enough money to eat the cost of 10% of the silver.
I hope that with this change, the price of the Silver Proof Sets don't begin to get "pricing" adjustments such as occurs with the SAE's. It will affect overall sales with most folks waiting for the lowest price adjustment before purchasing. I know I got "burned" by the US Mint on the 2011-W SAE coins paying $60.45 each for my 10 coin "subscription". Not a week after I'd received them, the price of the coins from the mints web site dropped $10. The 2012-W's cost a mere $45.00 each. Needless to say, I cancelled my subscription. I'll do the same for the Silver Proof Sets when the time comes.
I wasn't trying nor am trying to "teach" them anything. I was taking control of my spending. With the volatility of the Silver Market and the slowness of government repricing, folks can lose a lot of money if they are not paying attention. I literally lost $100 before the credit card payment was even due. Cancelling the subscription insures that I get their product at a price I feel comfortable with.
i remember reading a while back about how the mint was considering changing the silver proof sets to .999 because it is cheaper then 90% silver. perhaps this is what you're thinking of?
It's not cheaper, per se. It would just cost less to get blanks made from 1 alloy, than it does to get two different alloys. The refiners that are mixing coin silver (.900) are making it only for the US mint, most likely. Most everything else (particularly private mint stuff) is all .999. So if they switched to all .999, and adjusted prices accordingly, their costs would go down.
"Coin silver" a thing of the past......perish the thought.....I'll pay the price for the traditional issue.
You may be willing to do so, but the mint may be under orders to cut costs....and in that case, tradition be damned....
