Since 2002, been buying "yearly" mint products from the USMint but

Bochiman

I haven't bought anything from them this year in that category (proof sets, mint sets, silver proof sets, Sac dollar coins, Kennedy halves, etc).

I keep telling myself that I will "get them soon", but somehow, "soon" keeps escaping.

Weird thing is, I still like the albums, I still look at coins with my son, I still like collecting (even moderns though the focus is on 1/2 cents right now).

It's just that the USMint has alienated me somewhat...with their poor quality, their not so great customer service, their constantly higher prices, their still too expansive amount of similar products, etc.
Kind of the same thing around the SAEs as well. I used to get a roll, or two, and give some away to YNs and friends, and put 3-4 in albums, etc. Last year or two, I get maybe 1, or 2, due to the price and the fact that, a new SAE looks like millions and millions of them all, maybe just with a different date (NT SAEs are a different beast and I still like when I can find those).

Not sure if anyone else feels that same or not. I just felt like posting the above because it is already almost November and I am debating whether or not to push myself to order or if I will maybe regret not buying them from the mint this year if I don't get them.......

LindeDad

I cut my buying of mint products by about 95% in 2009 haven't looked back.

BTW try selling some of the ones you got in years past and it will tell you why not to get more.

lcoopie

Becomes kind of bulky

Bochiman

<< <i>Becomes kind of bulky

>>



Yeah

Reason I have kept it up is to keep them all updated for my son (born in 2002.....what a coincidence, eh? ), rather than him maybe going backwards at some future date and saying "I wish Dad had kept up the yearly sets cuz now they aren't easy to find nice ones for good prices". Though, with the volume the mint does, I wonder if that is just me being me, and not wanting to recognize the truth......

I just think it is neat to have original purchase, new, items to look through when one wants......

Swampboy

<< <i>I just think it is neat to have original purchase, new, items to look through when one wants...... >>



I agree with this.


We've been buying silver proof sets for a certain family member since the '90s and I can't tell you how many pleasant hours have been spent looking at them whenever we visit.

I cut back on ordering sets for myself and I never started to asemble anything like a date set of ASEs although I have a bunch - proofs, mint states, toners and bullion too.
The quality of the 75th SF sets REALLY turned me off so it's safe to say the mint has one less regular customer after this year.

sonoranmonsoon

If they lower the number of product choices, they will increase the base of collectors that will buy from them.......oops...never mind........I was thinking of the tax argument that the politicians have been drumming in my head lately.

pitboss

I stopped buying most everything from the mint in 2010 after I bought 100 of the Proof eagles and had to send them back because of poor quality. I did buy some of the 5 ounce coins but only because I had them sold already and did not even open them.

steelielee

<< <i>I cut my buying of mint products by about 95% in 2009 haven't looked back.

BTW try selling some of the ones you got in years past and it will tell you why not to get more.
>>



Exactly my reason for no longer buying from the mint. Much of the stuff you can plan on spending at face value.

TwoSides2aCoin

In the business there is little choice. If we don't have it in the shop, we lose a sale. If it's in the shop, it usually just sits there collecting dust on a shelf. If it were possible, most of us would only purchase low mintage stuff.

Eagleguy

I've been collecting the proof sets since the statehood quarter program started. When the NP quarters end, I will probably stop. This is also the last year I collect the ASE as well. I will judge the commemoratives as I see them.

JH

RYK

Buy what you like, and don't buy what you don't like. Time and money are limited resources and spending either because you feel committed to a buying program seems wasteful to me. It would be like being a member of a wine of the month club (or book or fruit or whatever) and maintaining a subscription, even though you are not happy with the selections over a period of time.

windwhispersintrees

I bought the 1982 Washington half when it came out, proof sets in 1983, 1984, 1985, and a Silver Eagle in 1986.
Nothing since. Though I purchased because I liked the designs, it would've been nice if they'd actually had appreciated in value.
I guess they're a bit like late 1980s-early 1990s baseball cards.....many made, many saved.