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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;fatima, post: 1008560, member: 22143&quot;]It would be my guess the Dept of the Treasury has no interest in people being able to own gold &amp; silver coins issued by the US government and only does so because it was legislated on them by the US Congress.&nbsp; &nbsp; (which continues to claim the ultimate authority over what the Mint does)&nbsp; However this is speculation on my part.&nbsp; There is no technical reason why the Mint could not do direct bullion sales as they manage quite well to handle the volumes of direct sales of circulating coins.&nbsp;&nbsp; In fact, until last year when people had learned to game the system, they were selling circulating $ coins at face value w/free shipping.&nbsp; So there must be another reason.&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>One advantage to dealer sales, that I don&#039;t think that has been mentioned here, is it is the dealer which absorbs the hedge on the metal in the production chain while completed coins await retail sale.&nbsp; In other words, if the min. quantity to order from the Mint is 25,000 coins, then it is the dealer who takes the risk on the rise/fall of the price of the metal while these coins sit in his warehouse until sold to the public.&nbsp; The dealer also has the flexibility to change the premium to encourage sales in a falling market whereas the Mint would not.&nbsp; (remember on bullion, the mint is only allowed to charge pm price +production cost)&nbsp;&nbsp; This method of production allows the Mint to order and produce in batches, known as build to plan, which gives them some flexibility with their production equipment. labor, and ordering from their suppliers. </p><p><br /></p><p>Theoretically, the Mint should be able to distribute these coins through the Federal Reserve system, but this opens the can or worms of lawful money vs legal tender and it&#039;s also my guess the Treasury and the Federal Reserve simply don&#039;t won&#039;t to go anywhere near there.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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