Anyone think the mint is going to have trouble Purchasing Silver for this years coins?

dlimb2

Do you think the silver coins will be cut back?

BillJones

No. The prices are for the silver sets are WAY over melt, and if the silver price catches up, the mint will just raise the price to collectors.

This is U.S. government, man, not a mon & pop operation. The government collects more revenue in a second that you will collect in your whole life.

dlimb2

No doubt about that.

dlimb2

But they may cut back on the number of cons minted in silver.

ksteelheader

But they may cut back on the number of cons minted in silver. ...Sorry, I would not count on this happening! Silver is NOT going to jump that far up in price!!! JMO....Ken

XpipedreamR

I thought the Chinese were dumping huge quantities of silver into the market.

clackamas

There is so much margin in the coins that the mint sells that I don't believe it will hinder them at all.

PhillyJoe

I would think next year's silver needs and price may have already been agreed upon and contracted. The current increase in the silver price may have a nominal effect on the Mint.

Back at the "old" Franklin Mint, they had a Silver Accounting Department that bought and sold the silver. If they were doing a 100 birds of the world silver round, say in 1975, they would make one purchase at the beginning of the program with delivery dates for each year while the series was active - some lasted eight years or more. The price was negotiated at the beginning because the "other " Accounting department wanted to know how much money they were going to make. Sometimes they would borrow or trade from other programs depending on the attrition rates.

Joe C.
Manager, Internal Audit (1982-1983)
The Franklin Mint

dlimb2

PhillyJoe, thank you ...from one who has been there...I like the Franklin Mints old sets from the 70's...there are some great pieces out there...I bought one a few years back and the dealer was calling them JUNK METAL...kinda made me mad...I bought the set.

abuell

<< <i>But they may cut back on the number of cons minted in silver. >>



Boy, if that isn't a Freudian slip then I don't know what is!

291fifth

The mint's markup on silver coins is extremely high. Do you think it costs them $37 to mint the First Flight Proof Dollar? It's great to be a monopoly.

dlimb2

No it does not...but it does cost them in Man hours and labor...and with silver going up...who knows....you would be surprised what those coins cost them to make....NUTTEN is cheap anymore.

quarterjack

I would venture a guess of $20 profit for every silver proof set sold. Just a SWAG.
I feel they should make it public knowledge of their profit margins on each item, i think everyone would be surprized including yours truely.

Dave

silverandvinyl

No way is this going to happen.What could happen is this,"The mint could say there is a shortage of SILVER so they can get a higher price for their over rated products".It blows my mind when I see what they charge for the NEW Jeffersons.Here is another thing that drives me nuts about the US.Mint.When we return coins for being damaged how do we know if we are getting the returned coins.The only way we can tell is if all the members of this board marks the coins in a certain way were our members can tell if they were returned to the USmint.If we let each member of this board know what kind of mark they leave wecan tell what's going on.