Deliberate Rarities: Thoughts?

So, I may have to stand corrected on some of this stuff. But, it is true that the mint stopped selling rolls of dollars to the general client in 2012. I stopped getting them. They may have started up again and I didn't know it. But, I don't get all the stuff I used to get because of this greed the dealers have. Actually, the greed the general public has. It is not about collecting coins anymore. It is about scoring the big hit and telling the world that I got one and you didn't. This is my opinion and I will stick with it. While you are at it, look at the way S mint quarters for circulation goes.

 

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Exactly. The "rarities" and bonus W's have boosted sales so they will continue. I consider them contrived, boring and expensive so I don't play. As I said upstream, 99% of these will still be available in MS-69 or MS-70 slabs decades from now to anyone who wants one.

 

I checked the Mint sales records and it does look like they didn't sell rolls in 2012 and 2013. They did start selling them again in 2014, 2015, and 2016.

 

That's when I quit and never looked back. I should have looked. I have 19 great grand kids I was making sets for. Really ticked me off. Thanks for the research.

 

I don't personally care when it comes to gold coins. I got triggered in 1995 over that silver eagle only in the gold 4 coin set which I couldn't afford at the time, and from that point just realized there's going to be some things that aren't meant for me. And ERP S mint silver eagle, I gave it a shot I can afford to try and buy it if I got lucky, a limited edition gold coin... nope. I could probably afford to do it, but I don't collect gold and it really has no appeal to me.

I don't collect palladium or platinum either. I'm not knocking it if it's what you collect, but we all gotta draw our lines somewhere. They could make 5 pieces of a palladium whatever and I won't be a buyer.

I have no problem with them making artificial rarities. Mostly because we need some sort of something in the hobby to generate interest. Yeah, maybe I miss on something I want, that's ok in my opinion. The hobby in general needs a lot more buzz and generating interest and if these things work, I'm for it. As far as this gold coin, I don't think there are many American Gold Eagle completist's to begin with so maybe just about 2000 give's people something to chase and desire that might be worth more than spot.

I hunt the W quarters, I got lucky and bought the 2019 ERP S SAE. My joy in collecting is really building my cent, nickel, dime, and quarter sets from circulation that I've been working on off and on for the last 35 years. That's what makes me happy with my collection, not what it's worth or how rare something may be but everyone is different. I have bought coins before still do but it doesn't give me the satisfaction that opening rolls of coins from the bank and popping coins into the little holes in the with an folders gives me.

Even that ERP 2019S SAE, still sitting in its mailing package and unopened, tossed in a drawer and forgotten 6 months later, meanwhile I'm Jones'in for the banks to go back to normal so I can hunt regularly again.

 

Me too. Most of my sets are made up of circulated coins with good eye appeal - working coins.

 

Yes. 35 years and a constant work in progress. Some don't look so good because ive only ever found one or none better, but some on the other hand are really nice although I'd be hard pressed for any of them to qualify as MS63 or higher all AU or lower really, but that's ok to me. I don't think I'll ever be finished and that's OK by me also

 

I have been collecting for 72 years and fortunately, for both me and my 19 great grand kids, as I found better coins and upgraded I kept the others for hand-me-downs. Some of those children are really getting in to the collecting spirit.

 

There's no "thrill of the search" for the End of WWII Gold Coins as they are being offered for sale whenever they decide to release them. If the US Mint ever thought of doing the right thing they would hold a lottery conducted by an outside party. Even if they were to sell 19,450 they'd sell out in ten minutes.

 

No, if the mint wanted to do the right thing, they would provide these coins to all who want to buy them for a reasonable period. Whatever number were sold over that time would be the mintage. If there are production limits, then set a number like 50 to 100 thousand. Lotteries, long lines and jammed telephone lines with cut-offs after 10 minutes are not fair to all us who are citizens and taxpayers.

In short “deliberate rarities” suck. Small mintage that occur because of limited demand during the ordering period, which happened the Jackie Robinson and fractional Buffalo gold coins are the only fair way for low mintage “rarities” to occur.

 

They do suck. I'll never understand. The mint wanted to create excitement and they did but at the cost of ticking off many collectors. I feel it was a mistake for the mint to go that direction. They should produce enough to alloy anyone to buy if they wish. If folks don't buy the coin and it becomes a rarity, that's really cool.

 

While I completely agree, keep in mind it's not the mint's mission to do the right thing by the hobby, it's their mission to keep buyers coming back with money in hand. They don't make money melting down excess Jackie Robinson coins but they do when they sell out a contrived rarity for a price calculated to produce a profit.

There's obviously a market for these contrived things or they wouldn't sell out in 10 minutes and fetch ridiculous prices in the secondary market. They've created a buzz in a segment of the hobby and those people keep coming back for the next offering. We see it here at CT. We traditional collectors don't get, don't like it, and don't participate but it's not going away, nor are the collector's who participate, I believe.

 

The Mint is a manufacturing facility that is charged with being profitable. Hyping limited edition sales and things like special packaging that can be made profitable helps their bottom line enough that they continue to do it. In that respect, they are no different than any other manufacturer of limited edition stuff that people will line up for. Is some of the stuff cool? Yes. Do I spend minimal effort to play the game in hopes of making a few quick bucks? Yes. Do I consider these products an essential part of my collection? No. Of course, I did put a type set of classic commemoratives together, and one could argue that there's no difference between the issuance of some of those and some of today's "get rich quick" coins. Limited mintage, hard to get, and it was known that certain people would be the ones to make money off them. Maybe 25 years from now, when the 95-W ASE and Jackie Robinson $5 are the same age as the late '30s commems were at the dawn of the TPGs, the hype and hard feelings will have worn off these coins and people will want to collect them for what they are. And maybe they'll realize that the classic commems are so much cooler and those will finally come out of the toilet.

 

And then they would suffer the slings and arrows of all the upset buyers "because they wrecked the aftermarket!" when the prices plummet from the Mints high prices once sales end. Everyone who wanted one has it so there is no one to sell to. Net result the prices go through the floor and everyone that bought takes a bath. The Mint can't win. No matter what they do, in the eyes of the collectors they are in the wrong.

 

With the Mint it's either feast or famine. From time I started as a collector in 1960 until 1975, there were only two totally new coins, the Kennedy Half Dollar and the Eisenhower Dollar. There was the clad coinage, but for most collectors, it wasn’t very interesting and the government was forced to issue it because silver could not be used in coinage. It was not issued to please collectors, in fact quite the opposite at first.

Then in 1975-6, there was the Bicentennial coinage which was a legitimate celebration. Then in 1982, there was the Washington Half Dollar, which looked innocent enough.

Then dam broke and we started to be flooded with commemorative coins starting with the 1984 LA Olympics. It cost hundreds, then thousands and now tens of thousands of dollars to keep up with what the mint was issuing.

The only solution to this foolishness is for the collector to “Just say NO!!!” which is what I’m doing. One silver Proof set a year, and that’s it. No price gouging worries from dealers and flippers who corner the market. Just ignore them. You don’t need the trash.

 

I'm with you. I quit. I have every silver and clad coin from 1984 through 2018. Then I quit because too much stuff was being released and it made my head spin. I can complain but it doesn't do any good. I will get the basic coins but nothing else.

 

The last coin I bought directly from the US Mint was the 2016 Gold Standing Liberty Quarter! I paid $485 for that 1/4 ounce beauty, no regrets at all but I'm certainly not going to buy one of these privy marked chingadera's at all!

 

Hey could y’all maybe tell me what my dimes worth

 

Welcome to CT Michael. You should always start a new thread in the "What's it Worth?" forum for questions like this.

As far as your dime goes, it's just badly damaged and worth 10 cents. The damage happened after it left the mint so it's not an error coin.