my view each year the mint should only produce these: proof set silver proof set mint uncirculated set commemorative $5.00 gold, $1.00 silver, $0.50 clad for proof & unc. american eagle gold bullion and proof for 1 oz, 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/10 oz and set. american eagle silver bullion and proof for 1 oz. presidential dollar. that's it.
those 2003 nickels are pricey on the secondary market. They are sort of screwing some collectors who bought in good faith.
Is this the reason the mint shows that the 2008 proof ASE is "no longer avail" on the website? I figured it was still plenty early to get some so I went to the website to order and.... Looks like this may be the 1st year that the Grandkids aren't going to get theirs at Xmas time. In keeping with tradition though, I was forced to replace the ASE proof with the Bald Eagle commem proof to give instead.
Only if they can get the Federal Reserve to order it from them. The Mint has no way to "dump" coins into circulation. Oh maybe the government could order some new desks or computers and instead of sending a check in payment ship them a ballistic bag of dollar coins instead. What I wonder about is that they said they will melt down the unsold material. Including the circulation type material? They have always resisted that because they have already posted the seniorage profits into the general fund. Melting them down means taking that money back OUT of the general fund. That's probably hundreds of millions of dollars disappearing with nothing to show for it. Hey I've got an idea! Re-anneal them, run them through the upsetting mlll and send them back through the presses again! Save on planchet costs! Get your William Henry Harrison overstruck on a 2001-D Sac dollar!
Even more interesting is the possibility of the US Mint offering the 2004 United States Mint Uncirculated Coin Set(R). If the US Mint sells the coin sets at the original price of $16.95, that would be less than half of what they currently are worth on the secondary market. I suppose if they have only a few hundred sets left over, it would only cause a blip in the price but if they sell 100,000 sets or more, the value of the 2004 set might drop significantly. Nighthawk
to dispose quickly some of the products. the mint should not not melt it. just let all other coins unsold for general circulation or sell it at cost. just like they did with the prez dollars.
Here is a good summary, from CoinNews, regarding Mint's decision to discontinue the Bullion Coins starting 2009. http://www.coinnews.net/tools/us-mint-collector-bullion-coin-prices-premiums-and-sales-figures/
don't worry we still have bullion for silver, gold and platinum. only silver have one ounce available. the rest are one ounce, 1/2 ounce , 1/4 ounce & 1/10 ounce for gold and platinum. they will be continue maybe forever.
bullion coins mint does not specific bullion coins without (w) mint mark and that they sell directly to the dealers. such as silver one ounce, gold and platinum with all four sizes.