SilverTowne Melts Thousands of Gold First Spouse & Commems

One must keep in mind there is a huge difference between the bullion market and coin collecting just as there is a huge difference between a coin collector and investor. A coin collector sees the beauty and rarity of the coin and an investor sees the gold or silver lying before him. We all have different tastes and reasons to be in this hobby. In my mind the important issue is whether or not I/WE have the right to do as we please with that which we own? The last thing I want to see in this industry/hobby is more restrictions.
I see rare old coins with holes drilled in them and just cringe wondering why in the world anyone would do such a thing? But then I realize to the individual back then, it was just a coin, and he/she definitely was as NOT a collector. And, like it or not the meltling and destruction of coins through the years has helped created rarities and higher prices as population counts go down.
If SilverTowne must melt to stay solvent and that will keep a coin dealer open, well thats a good thing. And, like it or not, we are not exactly over run with coin shops in this area. While it may not benefit us here and now future coin collectors or holders of many coins will benefit from low populations. After all supply and demand sets the stage for this hobby doesn't it?

 

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"Ladybird Johnson passed away months ago."

Right but Elizabeth Ford or Nancy Reagan have not. Also there is the chance one of the living Presidents left passes and the First Lady survives to see her coin. Carter or the first Bush perhaps.

 

they could have just bought a bunch of gold bars and melted them instead.

i swear that company must be run by a retarded 5 year old. no offense to retarded 5 year olds.

 

Exactly. Well said.

Wesley, I think CentDime was quoting an old article. While it is true Lady Bird died since the article was written the gist of the article remains true - that a living First Lady can appear on a First Spouse coin as long as her husband (the former President) died at least 2 years before the scheduled release of his Presidential Dollar. If a former President does not meet that qualification (dead 2 years before release) neither of them appear on the coins (the Presidential Dollars and First Spouse $10).

My recollection of these series was that both series would end when a former President did not meet the "2-year" requirement, meaning he and all his successors and their wives would not appear on the coins. I have read a few things that now suggest that these Presidents and First Spouses can be skipped over so their successors can appear on the coins as long as they (the successors) meet the qualifications. So Ronald and Nancy Reagan could appear on the coins even if Jimmy Carter lived beyond August 2014. I guess Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter would get their coins out of order after Jimmy qualifies.

If this is true it could become very confusing because some of the later coins would be released out of sequence (i.e., not in the order the Presidents served). If the Mint is hoping people learn some Presidential history through these coins they may be disappointed when some people think one President served after another because his coin was released later.

This is a good example where a simple plan can fall apart when people start tinkering with it without considering the ramifications of their changes. It was a good idea while it lasted.

 

Remember, it's the info about the presidents term that is put on the coin, not the release date. If one were to actually find these coins commingled in circulation, it would actually be much easier to arrange the coins based on the order the presidents served, not the release date.

 

So you don't think anyone could be confused by finding, for example, a 2016 Reagan dollar and a 2018 Carter dollar?

 

If the date remains as inconspicuous as it is today, no.

If when they move it to the face of the coin, there may be a possibility, but let's hope they are reading this and if they do move it, that they continue to keep it inconspicuous.

 

I don't agree with what some others have reported on the release order of the Presidential ldollar coins, and the First Spouse coins. I re-read what the mint release said about the coins, and to me it looks like they will not release them out of order. If the president or spouse has not passed away who is next to be released, they will hold off on any releases until they do pass away, then continue the series.

 

Is there an end to these series or will they continue into infinity? When the series were first announced I thought there was an end - when the first former President did not meet the "2-year" qualification.

 

"The program's end

Even though it would take about 11 years to honor all the Presidents (George W. Bush is the 43rd President and the act allows for a coin for each of Grover Cleveland's two non-consecutive terms), the series may not run that long. The act specifies that in order for a President to be honored, the former President must have been dead for at least two years prior to issue; the series will end when all the then-eligible Presidents have been honored. [8] If a President does not meet the requirements at the time he would be honored with a coin, then he would be skipped. The next President who served after him meeting the requirements will then be honored. Once the program has terminated, continuation of the series for non-honored Presidents will require another Act of Congress. [9]

If Jimmy Carter lives until 2014, he will be skipped and Ronald Reagan will be the next honored. If all currently living Presidents survive to within two years of Reagan's coin, then his coin will end the program.

8. 31 U.S.C. § 5112(n)(2)(E): “ No coin issued under this subsection may bear the image of a living former or current President, or of any deceased former President during the 2-year period following the date of the death of that President.
9. 31 U.S.C. § 5113(n)(8): “ The issuance of coins under this subsection shall terminate when each President has been so honored, subject to paragraph (2)(E), and may not be resumed except by an Act of Congress. "

Then there is always the chance they change the legislation. As usual anything is possible.

 

Not if the melted numbers are fiction. It easy to make a statement and let everyone believe what they read.

 

None taken. :goofer:

 

< Plus, yes, you cannot be alive and honored on a coin. When is the last time you saw a coin (or commemorative) put out by the US Mint, in the last, say....50 years, of a person who is still alive? >

I believe that the 1995 Special Olympics Commem Coin had Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Really Like the coin and I
want to get MS/DCAM 70 versions of it.

 

When I said that the numbers back it up I meant that it is likely that they bought these for about $450 aech and the gold content has risen way beyond that (therefore it would be profitable to melt them). that would be a $50 profit per coin and we are talking about 4 to 5 thousand coins- that is well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit!!!:hammer:

If they sat on the coins they would be tying up that money and no one in that biz likes to tie up money.

 

Sounds good to me... Sign me up! Maybe I can then buy my beach dream house!.... If I don't go broke first. Like 50cent said, "Get rich, or die tryin'!"

And for all you old timers out there, 50 cent is a rap artist, not a half dollar! :mouth::hail:

 

Sure it would make sense to sell with gold up, but the gold Spouses were limited to 10 per household and the idea that they acquired 5,000 - 7,000 from the secondary market is unlikely.

 

We won't see a Hillary spouse coin unless Bill gets his own coin which means either that Jimmy Carter, George HW Bush and Bill would have to be dead by 2015. We wouldn't see a Bill spouse coin unless Hillary qualified for a presidential coin which means she and at least one other past president other than Carter would have to be dead by 2015.

 

The law says the president must be deceased at least 2 years before he can be on a coin but the law dosen't set the same restriction on the first lady. A survivng first lady of a qualifing president would be on a coin.

 

The legislation states that the program will end when we run out of eligible presidents. As of now, the program will definitely go through Reagan in 2016.

At any point after the end of 2016, if there are no eligible ex-presidents, the program will end and would not be resumed in the future (unless Congress authorizes an extension), even if another President becomes eligible later. In order for Bill to get a coin in 2017, Poppy (George HW) Bush would have to be dead in early 2015 and Bill would have to be dead in the spring of 2015. If Bill isn't dead by then, they'll skip him when his number comes up. If Poppy Bush isn't dead by early 2015, the program would end in 2016.

 

Jimmy Carter sent a message that he is alive and well.