Mornin' people. Seems one has to make hard decisions pertaining to what direction they want to go off in regard to collecting and affordability. Case in point is the First Spouse program currently underway at the US Mint. Many of us would like to collect the series, but then have to decide if the cost factor involved is really worth it. Especially if it draws your hard earned funds from another area of the hobby that you're concentrating on. An excellent alternative to collecting the gold spouse coins is the medal series that is offered by the mint. They are struck in bronze and look every bit as nice as the gold issues only they come at a very affordable price. If you're a fan of the series, like I am, you have a "pile" of spouse medals sitting in a box still residing in their original mint packaging of mylar. I've been stymied in my attempts to properly display them.....till now. I recently discovered Whitman makes an album for these medals. "Whitman Classic Presidential First Spouse Album # 2477". It too can be had at a reasonable price if you surf the "bay" correctly. Don't be a dummy like me and pick up the first one you see there. Just thought you spouse aficionados might want to know......
The medals look very nice in that album! It would be nice if they came out with a new album that fixes the obvious problems. The 2007 set sold for $12.95 new, but sells for over $50 on eBay now. That's a much better percentage return than the gold coins. If you can get one of the Adams "mule" coins at a reasonable price, you should jump at it! They're down from their high of around $1000 each...as more have been discovered. I read there may have been as many as 2700 of these "mule" medals released. That's still not very many and would be a nice addition to anyone's collection if you can get one at a reasonable price. I would think $100-$200 is reasonable for anyone commited to collecting the series. I suspect the prices will go back up as the remaining "mule" medals make their way into the hands of collectors that are less willing to part with them.
Well, got the album today and the issue of one hole for two Tyler's has not been resolved. Who was the rocket scientist who designed this album and would it have been so expensive that they couldn't justify adding another hole? :headbang:
