Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;jaceravone, post: 1687304, member: 9474&quot;]According to a quick search for a definition, I came up with this....&quot;<span style="color: #000000"><font face="sans-serif">Bullion refers to precious metals in bulk form which are regularly traded on </font></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity_markets" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity_markets" rel="nofollow">commodity markets</a><span style="color: #000000"><font face="sans-serif">. The value of bullion is typically determined by the value of its precious metals content, which is defined by its purity and </font></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass" rel="nofollow">mass</a><span style="color: #000000"><font face="sans-serif">.&quot;</font></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><font face="sans-serif"><br /></font></span></p><p>So the fact that this coin is made from silver does not mean that it is solely &quot;bullion&quot;.&nbsp; These are collectible coins or shall we say numismatic coins.&nbsp; This is why the mint has a bullion version and a collectors version.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p><font face="sans-serif"><span style="color: #000000">Now lets look what constitutes a collector silver eagle.&nbsp; First, there is the silver content.&nbsp; We cannot use today&#039;s pm price as the silver for this coin was surely purchased back when silver was much higher.&nbsp; But for arguments sake, lets say that cost was $28.&nbsp; So based on the current ask price per coin of $75 this leaves $47 to play with.&nbsp; Let&#039;s look at additional production costs.&nbsp; Unlike bullion coins, there is an additional expenditure to produce these specialized dies.&nbsp; What that cost is, I don&#039;t know, but it is there and it gets passed to the customer.&nbsp; There is nothing unreasonable about this fee.&nbsp; If a product costs more to produce, then the end price is going to be more than the basic product.&nbsp; Then there is a marketing cost.&nbsp; Since these coins are made for collectors, the mint is doing an extraordinary amount of marketing that you do not see with bullion coins.&nbsp; Whether you, as a collector agree with this, the Mint is a business and is not non-for-profit.&nbsp; So this marketing cost gets passed to the customer.&nbsp; Then there is all the packaging costs.&nbsp; There is a cost for the actual packing material - case, capsule, coa, etc.&nbsp; Once again, don&#039;t know how much that is, but it has to get passed to the customer.&nbsp; Lastly, there is the additional labor costs to do all this stuff.&nbsp; Someone has to pay the die makers, marketing people, packing people, etc.&nbsp; This cost gets passed to you the consumer.&nbsp; So once all that is factored into the price, then there is the dreaded profit margin! Yikes! God forbid the Mint actually makes a buck or two off the collector.&nbsp; </span></font></p><p><font face="sans-serif"><span style="color: #000000"><br /></span></font></p><p>So in the end is all that above worth $75?&nbsp; I am a business man.&nbsp; I own my own business.&nbsp; I know what it takes to make it or break it.&nbsp; I guess I take this a little more personal than most people because I hear these comments all the time with the product I produce.&nbsp; People say I cheat them and rob them and it hurts because if you all knew how fine that profit margin was you would understand.&nbsp; I often tell my customers that if they think they could build a better product easier and for cheaper, please be my guest.&nbsp; Of course most come back in disbelief because they then realized what it takes.&nbsp; I&#039;ve even had one fine lady scream at me until she was blue in the face...literally! Telling me that when her and her husband ran their business back in 1970 that these costs weren&#039;t so high!!! Yes! She was comparing my business in 2010 (when this happened) to her business in 1970.&nbsp; After a little explaining what the actual costs were, she became a loyal customer.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>So gripe all you want to gripe, $75 per coin is, in my opinion not bad for a finely crafted American Silver Eagle.&nbsp; If you still think this is unreasonable, I urge you to take a look at what our friends at the Canadian Mint are charging for their silver collectible coins, the Royal Mint in Britain for their coins and the Australian mint for their coins to name a few.&nbsp; We don&#039;t have it so bad.&nbsp; It could be worse![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in