Does anybody know why the American Silver Eagle takes so long to be released? All of the other major world bullion coins, other than the Libertad, are released prior to their dated year. The ASE, however, is the slowest in that it is not released until January of its dated year. I was just curious as to what takes so long and why they could not be released sooner. This becomes an issue for me because I like to give them as Christmas gifts and it seems kind of lame to give, for example, a 2014 Silver Eagle as a Christmas gift when there is only less than a week left in the year.
1st world problems... "It is a big problem for me that I want my silver coins dated 2015 before 2015 but have to wait."
I don't see how it's lame receiving a 2014 dated piece of silver in 2014. I would question why other countries release their silver bullion the year before the date on the coins. A coin dated 2015 should be released in 2015 because it should be minted in 2015.
Lots of 2015 Eagles are already minted. Why not release them in 2014? Mint's policy or the legislation - same reason you don't see 2015 quarters in 2014.
I agree that I thinks its really lame that the other mints release their coins early. WTF is the point of a date on a coin when you have no idea if the coin was released before that? I think the Libertads lose sales due to their perpetual tardiness, but I thought it was a time honored tradition to look forward to the new coins coming out each year, and to me the year starts in January.
Why are 2015 model year cars available in the Fall of 2014? They even start building them in late Spring/early Summer! Rob
Same reason, people will pay to be "first", and manufacturers and mints will bend rules to be able to sell them as "firsts". Years ago you could not get a new model until after the new year, then marketing geniuses took over and bastardized the meaning, same is happening with modern coins.
If you look back, you'll see the auto industry started doing that when technology began advancing faster than production. So, to keep page, they began building new models with the newer technology as it came available, often within the same year as last best technology. I imagine within our lifetimes, we'll see car dealers doing what Whitman does with the Red Book....we'll see a 2035 model come out in 2025, as well as the 34 and 33 model. Sounds lame with cars...and coins.
I don't really mind the wait. It's almost like waiting for Xmas to open your gifts I have a pre-order in with APMEX, along with a couple of other coins, and the anticipated ship date is 1/23 so will be waiting for a few more weeks.
