Subscription available Gold Spouse

I think this is the latest on the coins for now:

"There will be a mintage limit of 40,000 across both product options and a household limit of five for each option. The United States Mint has decided not to offer four-coin sets of these products, either for order or by subscription."

So they dropped it to five for each option and sounds like no subscription.

 

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I think that this is a great decision and wish it was permanent. We (the US Mint) catalog was starting to look like the Canadian version of producing so much, it was and is getting absurd.

But, I also think that they don't care and the this probably will be picked up next year, and production of everything else IS the main factor.

We don't even have a Proof set yet?!

 

I too had a subscription and was disappointed when the program was canceled but this is in no way unethical; bad business YES, but unethical, hardly. The Mint offered a product and took pre-orders, they then decided not to make the product and canceled the orders. This happens all the time in retail, it's really not a big deal as no money changed hands. Now if they had accepted payment and then canceled the program, that would have been unethical!

 

The only possible alternative to there having been a sellout by subscription orders is that the Mint was lying to customers by telling them there was a sellout.

 

you could complain to the ANA so they can take up the matter with the mint

 

That is just the problem unless you mean the box. the product (coins) are still going to be made they are just reneging on their commitment to supply irrespective of the price as stated int he terms and conditions and that is unethical.

 

so??? is the 4-coin set still being offered? just not on the subscription? or has the 4-coin set been cancelled all together... also whats with this 'box' concerning the set everyone is talking about -- i really feel i am missing some pieces

 

I totally disagree. I recieved a CONFIRMATION EMAIL and I may have made serious business decions based on that confirmation. It is always unethical to break a promise (especially if people are basing their actions on that promise).

 

Daggarjon,

The Mint offered 2 different subscriptions fro the spouse gold coins on their web page, 1 for the 4 coin unc and 1 for the 4 coin proof. As a bonus, the proof's came with a wooden box to all the 40+ spouse coins scheduled to be released. Then after a few day the mint decided not to issue the 4 coins sets for '07 and canceled all the subscriptions. Although we don't know why, the assumption on this board is because the subscriptions reached the production figures thus creating a sell-out before they were released. This got everyones panties in bunch.

I however think that the real reason is because they are so far behind this year that they don't have enough time to get all four spouse coins in proof and unc minted by the issued release date of June 19. Instead they'll just focus an Martha Washington and get the rest out later in the year.

 

Your CONFIRMATION EMAIL confirmed that they received your order. It was not a contract or a promise. No money changed hands and the product (the 4 coin set in the 4 coin box) is no longer being made so your order got canceled. Again, BAD BUSINESS but not "unethical". I too had a subscription which got canceled, but I've gotten over it.

 

Have to love the irony... the Mint projected low mintage numbers because the coins were perceived to be unpopular, and suddenly the low projections caused an increase in demand because of the perceived potential rarity. However if the Mint ups the production to meet the increased demand, the demand will drop because the coins won't be as rare anymore. I suspect the Mint has problems like this all the time with certain commemoratives. I don't envy the Mint director's job trying to sort out Catch 22's like this, lol...

 

ND86 - once again you pop in to keep us informed with the 'correct' story. I thank you!!! and look forward to any added segments you may add ....

Troodon ... your too funny.. i was thinking the same thing

 

I think that's a problem right there. Every other issue I've purchased from the mint has been announced well in advance so people could plan for it. I happen to have been one of those "plugged in", largely through participation in this forum. However, it doesn't seem right to simply start selling an issue without any advance notice, given that the customers have come to expect a schedule and some time to make plans.

Why not simply void the orders of the violators (and consider banning them from future mint purchases)? Why must those of us who followed the rules be penalized?

Finally, and this is what really made me angry, the mint sales staff took the position yesterday that my subscription was cancelled on line, and therefore it must have been cancelled by me, even though I know I hadn't cancelled it. This was before there was any indication that the entire series was being cancelled by the mint. They left me with the impression that I was going to be frozen out of the series with absolutely no recourse to correct the problem. I still don't know if they were in the dark about it, or if they were instructed to keep quiet. However, the fact that 3 different people told me to call back "tomorrow" but couldn't explain what was going to be different "tomorrow" leads me to suspect that they knew what was going on. All they had to do was explain the situation.

 

It seems to me that they could solve the problem rather simply by making the First Spouse coins to demand rather than a fixed mintage. That would solve the entire problem with the speculators. Is it too late to make that change?

 

So to stop the "speculators" the Mint decides to punish all honest collectors who subscribed to a single set. Doesn't seem very fair to me. Why not just limit the subscriptions to ONE per household (does any collector really need more than one set?) and reinstate all the subscriptions. This way you stop the speculators from creating false demand and still supply collectors, YOUR CUSTOMERS, with the product you offered. That would be a fair solution IMHO.

Offering a product, accepting orders, and then canceling the product is just bad business and and many on this board have said, unethical! Would anyone else here be interested in a class action suit against the Mint for false advertising?

 

they wouldnt STOP the speculators... them speculators know how to navigate through the system.. they have each of their employees order one, each of their family mebers order 1, it has no end.. so 1 person could end up buying dozens ... they are smart and crafty. I am aslo sure, they are alot smarter then me, and have ways to do it that i cannot even imagine... so in the end.. its people like you and me and dreamer who want a set, but lose out because we cant order 1 on order day, and then lose out -- then we have to pay higher prices in the after market just to own one....

In this example, yes there were small numbers of us honest collectors who had their orders canclled. Look at the bigger picture - most of the orders were from order violators.... the best thing the mint could have done was cancell the whole thing... you will still be able to get the sets, just not through the subscription .. maybe next year on that one???

 

WRONG .... We cannot get the sets, they are not making them for '07, single coins only. That is what FALSE ADVERTISING and illegal. They already offered and took orders for the 4 coins sets. all I'm asking is that they honer what they offered.

And since all these "speculators" are so smart, you really don't think that they'll have all their employees, mothers, fathers, brother, sisters, aunts and uncles hitting the Mint website at noon on June 19th. In the end, the "speculators" will still get their coins and us honest get screwed! It's a good thing the Mint isn't privatly owned or we'd all be buying coins from oversees.

 

no, you can still get the 4-coin set. maybe not in a purdy box, but if you get the 4 individual coins... and without the 4-coin sets in the purdy box, their will be more to go around for the single coins. And with the coins being offered at different times (mostly) it will be harder for the speculators to corner the market, making it easier for us honest collector to get our coins.

 

The right to cancel is a fine print and irregular caveat, the exercise of which does constitute unethical behavour (similar unethical fine print caveats are ruining the mortgage business).:hammer: