RIP...US Mint

I grew up around relatives who were excited about receiving their annual mint sets in the 60s, so I sort of get the attraction. To me, it's just a lot of shiny stuff that I don't find very interesting. But I sincerely don't want to offend anyone by that remark, nor do I see it as a reflection on the health of collecting in general. As far as I'm concerned we're all about equally crazy.

 

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I agree it is not just CoinTalk. Some of the most avid US Mint collectors post on mintnewsblog.com, but comments on that site have diminished significantly in the past year.

 

True, CT is alive and well. This thread is about recent US Mint products not coin collecting in general. I have not seen as much excitement around here for new products like a few years ago.

 

Last thing I bought from the Mint was the baseball coins. Nothing on the radar for this year.

 

I think price has a lot to do with it, at least for the newer collectors. They are a business and do need to make a profit, I know this. I like to collect rolls of coins among many other things. Bank wrapped with the banks name on them generally. I know there I will pay a hefty premium depending on age. Look at the rolls of Kennedy 2017 half dollars. 2 roll set with a circulation value of $20 has a premium of $12.95 not to mention shipping. Someone else here mentioned it also, there is a lot of offering on their sight as well. I saw the Canadian mints sight and didn't know where to start, lol.

 

Beauty, eye, beholder, and all that. The Effigy Mounds design I actually find appealing. Now I do not buy any "collectors only" silver and gold coins, so I won't get this 5 oz piece either. But the state and ATB quarters I find interesting. I also collect the Native American dollar coin series; goes back to the days when I thought that Americans might get used to $1 dollar circulation coins, hehe.

Christian

 

From what I read and hear elsewhere the coin collecting hobby is running into tough times.
Reports from coin shows, even the largest ones, are showing lower attendance.

 

It's hilarious you look at Canadian mint now's there producing tons of off side products with odd mintages...

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Personally me I go for the key purchase s as much as I can

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I just don't find anything the Mint has released in the last 5 years to be very exciting. There certainly have been some "neat" designs released, but nothing that grabbed me by the ears and screamed "YOU NEED THIS".

Much like television and movies today, it seems the mint is just re-hashing old ideas over and over again. The State quarter series, when it started, was something neat. But that wasn't enough, was it. Then came the parks series... they killed it and over did it. There was the presidential dollars... Neat idea... then came the wives. Seriously?

And let's not even get started about the premiums that are charged. Oh my goodness!

I'm just waiting for something eye catching to come out from the Mint before I'll purchase from them again.

 

Shows probably are dying but not because of the hobby is. One reason is that there are just simply to many now, but the biggest reason is the internet. A lot of people don't want to spend a couple thousand or time to go to a show when that money could be used elsewhere and the internet already has a massive inventory that can be searched from home.

I'd rather have that then what the US Mint is currently doing. At least with Canada you can find some things you will like.

 

At one time I purchased five proof sets from the mint once a year. This stopped in 1980 when the financial challenges of raising a family took center stage. So, 1980 was the last time for me ordering from the mint. As an aside, if the mint would cancel their public/private relationships with the big dealers and sell bullion directly to the public, that might peak my interest once again.

 

There's tons to like if your interested

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I agree with both of these statements, but there is a reason.
Shows are up and down. Some days are good, some are not. Dealers would not continue to go to shows if it were a losing proposition.
LCS's are taking a beating because of EBAY and the internet and many B and M stores are closing. But does that mean the hobby is drying up?
No. It's just in a transition. There are more collectors now, but the way they purchase is different than in the past. Probably the 4 highest revenue streams are EBAY, high end auctions like Heritage and others, the US Mint and then coin shows. Which puts LCS 5th, when in the old days, they were probably 1st.
I asked my former LCS if he had any big bills ( $500 etc) and he said: No. They are all on EBay. And this was many many years ago, so this transition has been going on for a while.

 

I won't stop going to LARGE shows because what I'm looking for often can only be found at them.
Since I live close to Baltimore, MD, I make it to the Whitman shows that occur there 3 times a year.

BTW I'll be at the next one Friday, 31 March.

 

I use to buy more than I do now. I buy one business strike and one silver ASE, plus one silver mint set. That's it. All the rest of my purchases are classic coins or exonumia.

 

Exactly. People can quietly collect now from their computer and no one ever knows they exist. Internet sales almost certainly account for the majority if not the vast majority of sales in the hobby now. The vast majority if not all the big boys almost certainly do more online business than in person.

I do think Heritage is probably number one in terms of pure revenue simply because of the super high end items, but eBay absolutely dominates in terms of volume.

 

I'm an older collector so I'm biased towards traditional coinage and not today's plethora of mint issues. I'm sure there is a bias towards modern coins with younger collectors. I like to collect things that one would or would have seen in commerce. I've bought coins from the mint in the past but lost interest; especially when some series I was collecting were discontinued.

 

I really cut back when they did not offer a proof ASE in 2009.... Ruined the set...

 

1. Terrible, uninspired, ameuteuish designs (some look like jr high school drawings)
2. Bad quality control (milkspots,etc)
3. Saturation of market from oversupply (too high mintages)
4. Too many offerings each year (just too many things for sale)
5. Too high initial prices (in most cases you will be buried in it in <5 years)
6. Years of languishing prices on older issues (ever try to sell a proof set from the 1980's to a dealer)