1. Is the mint allowed to strike a coin with a year on it other than the year that it actually is? If so, is it only allowed in advance? (i.e. a 2013 in December of 2012) Or could they also back date a coin if necessary? (create more 2012s in January of 2013) 2. Do large dealers get a bulk discount from the mint on non-bullion items? Or do they pay the same prices that individuals pay? If you're curious where these questions are coming from, the first is because my 2012 Limited Edition Silver set just had the backorder date changed for the second time. I would guess maybe the issue is getting the packaging, but if they ran out of silver dimes or something I was wondering if they could make more. The second is just an observation of some ebay sellers who sell new products at a very small markup over the mint price. After ebay fees, paypal fees, and shipping costs I question how much profit they could be making. Thank you!
It depends on what the coin is. The way the laws are written, for some coins it is forbidden. And for other coins, they can. Example: they (the mint) began minting 2013 coins in the latter part of 2012. And they have been known to back-date coins as well. Example: coins dated 1964 were minted in 1965 and 1966. Yes, but it's not just large dealers that can get the discount, you can too. But only if your order is big enough. http://www.usmint.gov/bulk/
