US Mint Auctioning Coins

Noted.

 

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John
Just look at mintages for 1964 across the board....
Cents combined 5,296,296,400
Nickels " " " 2,811,969,160
Dimes. " " " 2,286,877,180
Quarters " " " 1,264,526,113
Highest mintages ever.....one must think that the 65,66,67 the sms as well the government fix was in
Again as its like they knew what was coming....and over produced .
I had bags of 64 nickels that not one had steps period more less full steps.
March of 1964 was the release of the Kennedy half....banks were out the 1st day they recived their allotments.
But come 1965...compare the mintages...then 66 and 67....
I do believe that the mint didn't want coin hoarding.... just like 1865 and 66 when silver coins were now coined in Nickel copper....plus add the fact that two members of the house had huge interests in Nickel and copper mines. Go figure right?
Plus the government wanted to phase out silver in or on our money.... when $1 silver certificate were called in for a silver dollar...or a small 1oz. bag of silver grains.
When Roosevelt called in the gold.... many didn't want to turn it in as if a $5 gold piece didn't weight correctly and was lite you were paid the amount of gold ....more or less spot weight....dad spoke many times people upset as their gold face was $5 but only received $4.57 gold was fixed at $35 @ oz and silver under $5 @ oz.
I am a firm believer that going off the silver standard ,and repealing the blue laws....were two major items or events that began the dollar to sink...and loose its buying power....
One only needs to google a inflation calculator and run the years 1963-1969. And see first hand the downward trend. Then the 1970's when the Saudi's were enlighten just how much American's loved their cars! ...and would pay anything to drive....so 1972 gas is under a buck but @70 cents a gallon,and a man made shortage....we were on even odd days to buy gas.
And a 1970 toyota used ...was worth more than Chevy or Ford.
History...didn't live durring this time google is your friend.....lots of information to understand the hows and why's.

 

Internet bidding is now open.

https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/a...-35th-anniversary-auction-lots-1-700?limit=36

700 lots available. Each was struck at the transition ceremony and has a provenance ... you can bid on the first new design AGE struck, or the last old design struck, etc.

I bet it generates some cash. None from me, but it will come.

 

51 years here, but that stat doesn't count since it was my only mint purchase ever.

As such, this stuff cracks me up. Tired of making a limited number and then pissing people off because your purchasing website is garbage and only big players can buy them? Make a limited number and then auction them so that only big players can buy them! That'll fix it!

Heck, if this auction method works out, maybe next they'll only make 10 of something.

 

I heard they are going to strike one 2026 Nickel (you know, the 250th centennial thingy) at a time. Pausing between each strike to commemorate the event of striking a 2026 Nickel (you know, the 250th centennial thingy).

 

Semiquincentennial

 

You and I may not see eye to eye on quite a few things...however you have nailed it on the head. OMG!
I Couldn't have stated it better.... its not only mintages....its quality and quanty issue.
The re make a few years back of 3 iconic American coin designs in gold to my eye was a complete failure. They took 3 designs and made them look like play money..... unbelievable, unreal,as to take 3 designs that were perfect and not even copy...but to make then look like something your grand kid has in their play store toy.
The re design of the ASE imho looks like crap! The orginal 1986 strike looks a thousand times better.
Yes I understand that this is my opinion....but I have read,as well heard other collectors state the same...so its not just sour grapes here.....its a vinyard of sour grapes....who now like you and I say we're done with the mint....and its a damn shame....when an American collector is willing to make a purchase from the RCM or Perth...over their own country....wow! WOW! That really sez something.

One would think or believe that 100 years after a design was minted that they could show improvement, not bring them down. Now I understand that there are those whom approve...and that's your choice or liking.... but I bet 75% of collectors don't...... as 9 out of 10....that I have spoken to on this agree 100%!

 

We are probably going to end up with more stuff than we want for the 250th anniversary. Could the coin set be something like 1996 Atlanta Olympics set, which contained 16 coins and was quite expensive?

 

I have no issues with anyone choice of collecting.... but lets face it modern coinage will never hold the values that coins minted before the 1950's Yes exceptions to the rule..with key coins ,low mintage specimens, rare ddo's and varieties. I decided last fall...that my Franklin proofs were done! Yup needed 2 to complete 1950-63 ....but doing my homework I realized that buying those 2...cost wouldn't be a smart idea ....as the 1950 and 51 dates are pricy in any condition....yet resale wasnt great and I be better off selling the 52 and 53 using the proceeds to buy other series that I needed and held more interest was the better decision.
I kept the short set 54-63 as again unless something very special really werent going to net enough to make it worthwhile.
Which is really ashame ....but what is the real shame having individuals who have an interest in the hobby...be cheated by the inflated after market prices...and then realise that they are underwater in the coin value wise....
Yes its true coins collecting isnt an investment, but it shouldn't be a loss not months after a purchase.
Yes I understand it what the market bears....but no one wants to be caught with the hot potato....no one wants a defeatist feeling that they loss money....
Lastly no matter if we ...you and me agree....one thing I do believe is none of us wants to see our hobby go the way of stamps... we may not agree on a lot...but the one thing that unites us is our the fact this is the hobby that we share passion...and I believe thats the common ground that should unite us to preserve the hobby.

 

This seems problematic to me on a lot of fronts, and honestly, I would have previously assumed that it would have been illegal.

The government's revenue should come through taxes and specific types of services (Postal, Sanitation, etc). Getting into the business of something like minting and auctioning off collectables is a pretty big deviation from this general rule. Opening the door to going down these types of roads is just asking for corrupt practices.

The bigger problem is that an individual, privately owned auction house will be benefitting. Governments working with the private sector must always involve selection through a standardized, publicly advertised, bidding process. Was that done here? If not, then the US Government is just blatantly playing favorites.

Not to say that corruption and favoritism doesn't already exist in our government, I mean, those lobbyists aren't working around the clock for nothing. But still!

 

I dont know about you, but I will take the government auctioning collector coins for revenue 1 billion times out of 1 over rasing my taxes. If you dont want it or dont want to pay the price than don't, it doesnt change your life at all while raising taxes would impact everyone

It doesnt even have anything to do with revenue its not even a drop in the bucket. They're just following suit and acting like a major world mint offering things that are exciting through various methods.

Everyone complained that they werent assured products, well not anyone that wants to get one can get one just be the highest bidder. There's no more fair way to dispense coins than having an auction but now everyone still complains. Cant have it both ways

 

I don't like paying taxes anymore than anyone else, but the fact of the matter is that none of us pay enough taxes. We've all gotten too used to paying too little for the huge benefits that American society provides. The evidence for this is pretty blatant: Our astoundingly high quality of life on the one hand, and our astoundingly huge national deficit on the other.

The impact of the revenue doesn't matter, it's the mechanism that is a problem. When we make exceptions for seemingly small things, then we risk a snowball effect that can turn into something more serious.

Auctions can be considered as some kind of "Fair" in the private world, however, "The person that gets the item is the one that can pay the most" amounts to classism when it comes to the State.

But, this wasn't the point anyway. The fact that the "Profit margin" is based on the desirability of a "Product" and the "Demand" of the citizenry is the problem. Is the Mint a government institution or a for-profit business?

ps: I know the Federal Reserve is a weird amalgamation of private and government, but it is still a government institution.

 

Thats not even close to true. Those of us that pay taxes pay a high amount

The IRS accepts donations if you really believe that and would be interested in how much you donate on top of your requirements. Anyone that wont put more of their own money into it shouldnt be saying others dont pay enough

So you're advocating for Communism?

You might be happier not being involved in collectables because the basic core of all collectables is desirably which include being limited.

Theres plenty of things to buy that you can ignore interesting offerings

 

This. What's next? Auctioning a faster passport renewal to the highest bidder? But we've been going down this road for a very long time with "privatization" sneaking into all areas of government. It's no surprise that a major auction house wants to get their mitts into US Mint releases.

 

Our government is funded by taxes and we currently have a 30 Trillion dollar deficit. That means that we do not pay enough taxes to cover the cost of government programs. Which in turn means that we either need to pay more taxes (cover the costs) or we need to cut government programs (the quality of our society/lives decreases). If this isn't blatant truth, then I must be missing something.

I'm not going to pay more than I'm required to pay, but that doesn't change the reality that we should be required to pay more.

If you think that my opinions on this subject are advocations for Communism then we have some kind of misunderstanding. I'm all for a capitalistic economy, but we don't want our government to operate like a for-profit business.

Collectables represent luxuries and the prices should be dictated by supply and demand. But again, this isn't analogous to how our government should ideally operate.

 

Then you feel youve paid enough and arent underpaying. Anyone that feels they are underpaying would pay more unless they wanted others to carry the load

Maybe they shouldnt be sending 100s of billions around the world for personal gain?

Again you cant have it both ways. Should collectables be priced like that or should the mint sell them for a price and if you miss out you miss out?

Its a minuscule amount of coins being sold in the fairest way possible that has no impact on collectors other than they might want it

 

Only paying what I'm obligated to pay is separate from my opinion about whether I've paid enough. It also has nothing to do with my expectation that others should carry my load. My opinion is that none of us are carrying our fare share. I'm not going to pointlessly make a martyr out of myself just to scream into an empty void.

This would be an example of "Cutting government programs".

I'm not asking for contradictory things here. I'm perfectly fine with the way that the private collectables market operates. I'm just saying that the government shouldn't be in the business of producing luxury goods for the purpose of turning a profit.

 

Funny that you used this example. The last time I went to renew my passport I was told that I, "could expedite the process by paying a fee" (I think it was $50 or so). This also struck me as being problematic, as it is classism plain and simple.

 

It's funny (morbidly) that despite the enormous amount I pay in taxes, anything that I actually need from the federal, state, county, or city governments now has a fee. I picked the passport example on purpose. Every US citizen has a right to a passport (considerations for certain criminals aside of course). What else do we need the State Department for on a daily basis? The fact that they charge more to get it faster speaks volumes, and to me it's directly related to the mint deciding to auction their products. Not a good direction for government to take, but as I said it's been down this slope for a very long time. For the mint probably from the beginning, with all their special coins for connected dealers/collectors throughout their history.