Everyone loves proofs and W burnished coins but I really wonder what is happening with the bullion coins. The 2006 1 oz platinum bullion coin has a mintage of 6,000. Are these things getting melted down? Or, a better question might be, if there were only 500 left in 20 years would there even be 501 people wanting one?
"I'll split the atom! I am the fifth dimension! I am the eighth wonder of the world!" -Gef the talking mongoose.
Many platinum eagles have been melted in the past, when platinum prices were much higher, but they all carry a premium at the moment so it's doubtful that much melting is going on presently.
Current demand for the bullion coins appears robust, with 8500 of the new 2014 platinum eagles already ordered.
I was a big collector of platinum 2006-2008. All bought directly from the mint. I sold it all except for PCGS 69/70s 1/10 ounce in PF and MS from 2006-2008.
Right now I am only interested in the 2013 one ounce platinum that is on backorder from the mint, and will probably sellout soon at a 5800 mintage. I placed an order last week and don't know if I will get it. I would have kept all of my PCGS MS and PF 1/4 and 1/2 ounces but had to sell for financial reasons last year.
I personally don't think you will see any great premium gains in my lifetime in the series, since it is now becoming common of the mint producing very low mintage collector bullion in the spouse gold and the one ounce MS gold W collector bullion. Of course the spouse gold will go away in 2016 and I believe the low mintages will go away along with it.
Platinum has a vey low collector following for now also, so it can be bought for low premiums for now, but that window of opportunity could change if the mint stops producing low mintage bullion in other areas like the recent $5 MS Generals Gold Commemorative last year because of lack of design appeal.
I remember when the mint came out with the low mintage 2006s. These skyrocketed in price in the first year because the mint rarely produced low mintage coins and I believe this drove the price increases. Since then low mintage bullion has become common with the mint and the low mintage novelty has faded away with the series.
Don't get me wrong, I still love the platiumums but don't see much of a great premium increase in my lifetime. I personally don't see much harm financially in collecting them unless platinum falls back to the $900 an ounce levels which it did briefly in 09 from its highs in the 1700s in just a few short months.
1 troy oz China Panda Platinum and more Terribly tough to photograph with the iPhone camera. Here's the best I came up with after a few tries: from top to bottom, left to right: a) 1987 New York coin show panda in platinum b) 1988 Basel coin show panda with platinum die struck in gold error (no actual platinum medals were struck) c) 1987 proof panda platinum d) 1988 proof panda platinum e) 1989 proof panda platinum f) 1990 proof panda platinum
I used to be in love with the Platinum series until the mintages started going way up. The Proof 1 oz coins were selling like common bullion pieces for the last couple years. Now that the pure bullion pieces are comming back maybe the mintages of the Proofs will head downward?
I did surprise myself by buying the 2013 Proof, I hadn't purchased a plat since 2008 ! And to my surprise the 2013's have sold out and the mintage numbers are looking like around 5700 which is not really all that bad. The design pulled me in.
I used to be excited about the Plats as well. I was buying multiples, but I cut back to 1 each after 2008. I wouldn't have been able to keep up the pace, but I still miss the fractionals. I think that when the Mint eliminated fractionals, they eliminated a lot of collector demand for the whole series. That, and the economy of course.
Reading through this thread, I see numerous former Plat collectors who've drifted away and I tend to agree with pf70collector that the collector base is fairly small now, but also that it is quite possibly a window of opportunity. When I track Plat sales & pricing on ebay, I see that premiums are way down on the formerly low-mintage keys and semi-keys and I see many of the common dates selling for reasonable premiums over bullion. Someday, that trend might well turn around - you just never know when.
The kicker, in my opinion is that when I thumb through all of the listings, not just the auction listings but all of them - I see sky-high ask prices for many of the dates in 70 grades. I don't know if any of these coins ever sell, so I see a major divergence between the bid & ask on the more significant coins. Some 70s still sell for what I consider to be "normal" premiums in the real world, but many of these same 70's are listed at prohibitively high levels by dealers on ebay and other online sites.
I've also found that the earlier dates aren't as easy as they are common. I take this to mean that some of them are gone forever. It might also be that they are sitting somewhere in an investment portfolio. Either way, they aren't in collections.
So, I've kept going with my Plat collection and I still like the Plats very much, and I've been buying some of the coins I need lately but it's getting tougher to find "the right coin" now. But that's what makes collecting interesting in the first place. Someday my Plat collection will be 100% complete. I think that it's a worthwhile endeavor, just like any other good longterm proposition.
Q: Are You Printing Money? Bernanke: Not Literally
I always wanted one of those, because that's what this neck o' the woods looks like. (We're pretty close to the Okefenokee Swamp, and I've seen both gators and bald eagles around here.) Plus my wife and I were married in '99.
But I've never had a US platinum coin. In fact, the only platinum coin I've ever owned was a small Aussie kangaroo once.
The new proofs being 1 oz only killed it for me. A complete set of coins would mean getting all backdates in 1 oz as well. That's 20 ounces of the stuff! And I know for a fact that most coin shops will offer you melt regardless of the date.
"I'll split the atom! I am the fifth dimension! I am the eighth wonder of the world!" -Gef the talking mongoose.
I know for a fact that most coin shops will offer you melt regardless of the date.
That simple fact should drive the prices for PR-70 First Strike coins down, and should make the raw and PR-69 coins much more justifiable (if you're inclined to collect Plats).
Q: Are You Printing Money? Bernanke: Not Literally
I find it curious that new 1 ounce proof issues sell out 10,000 coins in under 1 hour while far rarer examples of both 1 ounce and fractionals from 2008 and earlier show muted action.
This with a $300 premium over spot.
For collectors the keys will remain in that 2008 and earlier time period.......most likely the 2008 issues in particular.
With the fractional issues now closed for 8 years I am seeing some interest.
I recently sold on Ebay a raw 2007-W proof 1/4 oz. with no OGP for $360 and a 1/10 oz. for $160.
It likely helped that I offered to provide U.S. Mint invoices showing I was original buyer.
After the 4th I'll be auctioning with no reserve a number of raw platinum issues from 2005-2008.
Will be interesting to see what they bring................
(Before someone asks these fractionals had no OGP because they came from 4 coin sets where the 1 oz. and 1/2 oz. were scrapped during the 2008 price spike to $2,000+. I am haunted to think I might have scrapped a frosted freedom without realizing it.)
The fractionals I think are the way to go here. They are more affordable to collect and probably have a wider collecting base over the 1 oz Plats. The newer 1 Oz plats will just keep bringing more collectors back to the fractionals.
The way I got started collecting plats was picking up a kilo silver coin from a gent who was selling his collection to buy a house. He pulled out two 1/4 oz fractionals and I bought them for $25 over spot. I had never seen them before, Spot was in the $1,200 range back then. I picked them up for $325 each.
I went from a pure bullion silver gold collector and became a real coin collector.
Originally posted by: 2manycoins2fewfunds I find it curious that new 1 ounce proof issues sell out 10,000 coins in under 1 hour while far rarer examples of both 1 ounce and fractionals from 2008 and earlier show muted action.
This with a $300 premium over spot.
For collectors the keys will remain in that 2008 and earlier time period.......most likely the 2008 issues in particular.
I have been thinking the same thing. By chance I got busy at work both times and missed out on the last two 1 ozers ('15 and '16). I do however have the earlier issues, and have been waiting for them to see some love.
I always wanted one of those, because that's what this neck o' the woods looks like. (We're pretty close to the Okefenokee Swamp, and I've seen both gators and bald eagles around here.)
This is my favorite of the set, the only Federal US legal tender with a crocodilian on it!
I have the 1/10 oz, but I should get the bigger ones from this date too.
Comments
Current demand for the bullion coins appears robust, with 8500 of the new 2014 platinum eagles already ordered.
Link
My Adolph A. Weinman signature
I knew it would happen.
Right now I am only interested in the 2013 one ounce platinum that is on backorder from the mint, and will probably sellout soon at a 5800 mintage. I placed an order last week and don't know if I will get it. I would have kept all of my PCGS MS and PF 1/4 and 1/2 ounces but had to sell for financial reasons last year.
I personally don't think you will see any great premium gains in my lifetime in the series, since it is now becoming common of the mint producing very low mintage collector bullion in the spouse gold and the one ounce MS gold W collector bullion. Of course the spouse gold will go away in 2016 and I believe the low mintages will go away along with it.
Platinum has a vey low collector following for now also, so it can be bought for low premiums for now, but that window of opportunity could change if the mint stops producing low mintage bullion in other areas like the recent $5 MS Generals Gold Commemorative last year because of lack of design appeal.
I remember when the mint came out with the low mintage 2006s. These skyrocketed in price in the first year because the mint rarely produced low mintage coins and I believe this drove the price increases. Since then low mintage bullion has become common with the mint and the low mintage novelty has faded away with the series.
Don't get me wrong, I still love the platiumums but don't see much of a great premium increase in my lifetime. I personally don't see much harm financially in collecting them unless platinum falls back to the $900 an ounce levels which it did briefly in 09 from its highs in the 1700s in just a few short months.
Box of 20
Terribly tough to photograph with the iPhone camera. Here's the best I came up with after a few tries:
from top to bottom, left to right:
a) 1987 New York coin show panda in platinum
b) 1988 Basel coin show panda with platinum die struck in gold error (no actual platinum medals were struck)
c) 1987 proof panda platinum
d) 1988 proof panda platinum
e) 1989 proof panda platinum
f) 1990 proof panda platinum
bullion pieces for the last couple years. Now that the pure bullion pieces are comming back maybe the mintages of the Proofs will
head downward?
I did surprise myself by buying the 2013 Proof, I hadn't purchased a plat since 2008 ! And to my surprise the 2013's have sold out and
the mintage numbers are looking like around 5700 which is not really all that bad. The design pulled me in.
Reading through this thread, I see numerous former Plat collectors who've drifted away and I tend to agree with pf70collector that the collector base is fairly small now, but also that it is quite possibly a window of opportunity. When I track Plat sales & pricing on ebay, I see that premiums are way down on the formerly low-mintage keys and semi-keys and I see many of the common dates selling for reasonable premiums over bullion. Someday, that trend might well turn around - you just never know when.
The kicker, in my opinion is that when I thumb through all of the listings, not just the auction listings but all of them - I see sky-high ask prices for many of the dates in 70 grades. I don't know if any of these coins ever sell, so I see a major divergence between the bid & ask on the more significant coins. Some 70s still sell for what I consider to be "normal" premiums in the real world, but many of these same 70's are listed at prohibitively high levels by dealers on ebay and other online sites.
I've also found that the earlier dates aren't as easy as they are common. I take this to mean that some of them are gone forever. It might also be that they are sitting somewhere in an investment portfolio. Either way, they aren't in collections.
So, I've kept going with my Plat collection and I still like the Plats very much, and I've been buying some of the coins I need lately but it's getting tougher to find "the right coin" now. But that's what makes collecting interesting in the first place. Someday my Plat collection will be 100% complete. I think that it's a worthwhile endeavor, just like any other good longterm proposition.
I knew it would happen.
I always wanted one of those, because that's what this neck o' the woods looks like. (We're pretty close to the Okefenokee Swamp, and I've seen both gators and bald eagles around here.) Plus my wife and I were married in '99.
But I've never had a US platinum coin. In fact, the only platinum coin I've ever owned was a small Aussie kangaroo once.
That simple fact should drive the prices for PR-70 First Strike coins down, and should make the raw and PR-69 coins much more justifiable (if you're inclined to collect Plats).
I knew it would happen.
This with a $300 premium over spot.
For collectors the keys will remain in that 2008 and earlier time period.......most likely the 2008 issues in particular.
With the fractional issues now closed for 8 years I am seeing some interest.
I recently sold on Ebay a raw 2007-W proof 1/4 oz. with no OGP for $360 and a 1/10 oz. for $160.
It likely helped that I offered to provide U.S. Mint invoices showing I was original buyer.
After the 4th I'll be auctioning with no reserve a number of raw platinum issues from 2005-2008.
Will be interesting to see what they bring................
(Before someone asks these fractionals had no OGP because they came from 4 coin sets where the 1 oz. and 1/2 oz. were scrapped during the 2008 price spike to $2,000+. I am haunted to think I might have scrapped a frosted freedom without realizing it.)
The way I got started collecting plats was picking up a kilo silver coin from a gent who was selling his collection to buy a house. He pulled out two 1/4 oz fractionals and I bought them for $25 over spot. I had never seen them before, Spot was in the $1,200 range back then. I picked them up for $325 each.
I went from a pure bullion silver gold collector and became a real coin collector.
I find it curious that new 1 ounce proof issues sell out 10,000 coins in under 1 hour while far rarer examples of both 1 ounce and fractionals from 2008 and earlier show muted action.
This with a $300 premium over spot.
For collectors the keys will remain in that 2008 and earlier time period.......most likely the 2008 issues in particular.
I have been thinking the same thing. By chance I got busy at work both times and missed out on the last two 1 ozers ('15 and '16). I do however have the earlier issues, and have been waiting for them to see some love.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
I always wanted one of those, because that's what this neck o' the woods looks like. (We're pretty close to the Okefenokee Swamp, and I've seen both gators and bald eagles around here.)
This is my favorite of the set, the only Federal US legal tender with a crocodilian on it!
I have the 1/10 oz, but I should get the bigger ones from this date too.
Don't dig Cros and Socks.
My US Mint Commemorative Medal Set