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Should all coin and bullion products from various mints bear mint mark?
Perhaps reserving philadelphia as sole exception for historical reasons??
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Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
It seems plausible that they would prefer higher priced coins to be ones that they sell and market for a higher price, not ones they needed a branch mint to assist in producing due to limited capacity at other facilities.
I can see why the Mint would want to do this from a "collectibles management" perspective; however, something important is lost from a history and date/mm collection perspective. This is why I think the Mint has effectively killed the key date coin in recent years by withholding mintmarks from certain coins (W-mint circulation coins, S-mint ASEs, etc.).
<< <i>I think the main reason the Mint appears to have stopped using mintmarks for smaller issues is that the Mint does not want to create key date coins based on mintage. >>
Why would the mint not want to create key dates? Key dates are taken out of circulation which is basicly free money for the govt. --Jerry
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<< <i>I think the main reason the Mint appears to have stopped using mintmarks for smaller issues is that the Mint does not want to create key date coins based on mintage. >>
Why would the mint not want to create key dates? Key dates are taken out of circulation which is basicly free money for the govt. --Jerry >>
The Mint's primary responsibility for circulation coins and regular issue bullion coins is to mint coins that are needed for commerce. Coins that are immediately taken out of circulation frustrate this purpose. When a branch mint is required to assist in production in a non-routine way, it is usually because existing plant cannot make enough coins needed for commerce, not because they want extras to line their pockets. This is the stated reason for the lack of mintmarks from 1965-68.
Secondly, key dates are initially available at the same price as non-key dates. If a key date becomes known, and they are all taken out of circulation within a year, not only has the Mint not achieved it's commerce objective, they missed out on higher prices they could have charged if they priced the key date for collectors only and it may depress demand / prices for higher priced product they purposely created to sell to collectors.
Collector desire for key date coins frustrate the Mint's goals in several ways which is why I think they now go out of their way to prevent their creation.
And as for Pres $1 & Sac $1 edge lettering........ let them keep all the slogans, etc on the edge, but PLEASE return the date & mintmark to the obverse so we can store/display them as before!
Just my thoughts......................
- - Dave