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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Inspector43, post: 21314366, member: 89213&quot;][USER=102022]@masterswimmer[/USER] Thank you for opening this topic for discussion. You say that you are &quot;...seriously becoming very disenfranchised...&quot; I am there already. I made my first purchase directly from the US Mint in 1959. Things went well until the market got flooded with what I call ballast. In the 20th Century you could collect one each of the coins intended for circulation for under $3 a year. Naturally there was a premium for mint sets and proof sets. I won&#039;t get too detailed here, but so many new products were added. It not only became difficult and expensive to acquire the coins but you needed a spreadsheet to track release dates and all the variations being offered.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is an opinion thread and my opinion is that marketing on late night TV, Social Media and the US Mint has distorted the reality of the product. In 1999 the State Quarter Program hit the hobby hard. It was successful, but the majority of general coin collectors were happy to see it coming to an end. Well, the US Mint and associated markets couldn&#039;t stand that. So, the ATB series came out. That ended my contributions to the US Mint. Now the American Women series jumps in.</p><p><br /></p><p>Look at the Red Book or any other listing of US coins. Look at not only the subject quarters but all the variations. In order to have a complete set you need at least 25 of each. That means 125 quarters per year since 1999. Add to those figures the Silver and Reverse Proof coins. I am only talking about coins intended for circulation and the variations thereof. Consider ASE and Modern Commemoratives and there is a serious increase in options and cost. The mint has gone the way of the USPS and I have quit them too. For effect I have included a chart of USPS stamp issues since 1847. The first two lines cover about 50 years each. The others are by decade. Someone should do this with US Coins intended for circulation. </p><p><br /></p><p>USPS Stamp Issues</p><p><br /></p><p>1847 to 1899 293</p><p>1900 to 1949 693</p><p>1950 to 1959 152</p><p>1960 to 1969 247</p><p>1970 to 1979 408</p><p>1980 to 1989 643</p><p>1990 to 1999 931</p><p>2000 to 2009 1065</p><p><br /></p><p>Collecting is too expensive and no fun anymore.</p><p><br /></p><p>I hope this reply is not too winded.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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