I’m pretty shocked to see a few sets of 5 tokens sale for 90 bucks on eBay. A lot are selling in the 60-70 range. My five cost me $24.21, I just might put them up before the frenzy dies down.
They are tokens struck on a brass planchet and with a reeded edge issued by a major US corporation celebrating the 50th anniversary of their flagship product so I'm not surprised they are so popular with average and casual coin collectors. They do have real value equivalent to the cost of a Big Mac at least until the end of the year. It's just a fun thing for many people. The fact that a major grading service is willing to grade and slab them gives them some degree of legitimacy.
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
I said when the topic was first broached on this forum that I thought it was a great thing for the hobby. McDonald's is Americana. I expected sets to be in the $50 range, so I'm a little surprised that they are running at almost twice that for now. I imagine the price will come down in time. But I still think it is great fun.
These are really no different than the store tokens of times past that are highly collectible now. I see no reason to disparage this promotion just because it is 'modern'. Plus, they are brass and not some cheap plastic or cardboard item. I am sure the frenzy will die down, but in sixty to a hundred years, they may be a hot collectible. Cheers, RickO
@nk1nk said:
I’m pretty shocked to see a few sets of 5 tokens sale for 90 bucks on eBay. A lot are selling in the 60-70 range. My five cost me $24.21, I just might put them up before the frenzy dies down.
Don't you need to subtract the "edible" value from your cost basis? Or did you throw that part away?
@BAJJERFAN said:
Don't you need to subtract the "edible" value from your cost basis? Or did you throw that part away?
Exactly the logic i am trying to use on my personal accountant who is disparaging my purchases. The two I ate were meals for sure, but the three in the refrigerator are debatable.
@ms70 said:
Well so far McDonald's has created more coin collecting enthusiasm than the U.S. mint has in at least the last several years.
So sad, but so true.
Comparing apples and oranges. First, the U.S. Mint gives away nothing for free. Hell, the Mint still charges for postage most of the time! Second, the coin collectors here on this forum hardly factor in the people who WANT the free Big Mac and who could care less about the token. This group is probably 75% of the folks who are interested (briefly) in the token.
@ms70 said:
Well so far McDonald's has created more coin collecting enthusiasm than the U.S. mint has in at least the last several years.
So sad, but so true.
Comparing apples and oranges. First, the U.S. Mint gives away nothing for free. Hell, the Mint still charges for postage most of the time! Second, the coin collectors here on this forum hardly factor in the people who WANT the free Big Mac and who could care less about the token. This group is probably 75% of the folks who are interested (briefly) in the token.
But it's those people who will do the work for us and give us circulated examples!
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
@ms70 It will be interesting to see what percentage of redeemed tokens slip back out.
Since the redemption period will be several months long and since the sticker price on a Big Mac is relatively pricey, the MickeyD corp will have a financial interest in 'canceling' the tokens somehow.
And I might add, a sale on eBay is not easy to enforce! EBay will never say, but I'll bet that half of these auctions will never be paid for.
@Kudbegud More apples and oranges. I know that I made a minimum of $300 to $400 on McDonalds Teeny Beanies and still had most of a "free" set when that promotion was over. That was craziness.
@BillDugan1959 said: @Kudbegud More apples and oranges. I know that I made a minimum of $300 to $400 on McDonalds Teeny Beanies and still had most of a "free" set when that promotion was over. That was craziness.
You are right Bill. That was just the promotion that came to mind as generating a huge response.
Then, there was a lot of advertising the Teeny Babies. This time it seems mostly word of mouth with no in-store promotion.
@Kedbegud There had been an earlier Beanie Baby Mania for certain scarce pieces that were released by Ty Corporation in late 1995 and 1996. That helped with what MickeyD's did a bit later. I can remember getting $350 for three of those earlier full-sized ones, and I stopped at a coin shop afterwards and bought several nice silver dollars and still gave my wife a bunch of money when I got home.
IIRC, McDonalds did two separate offerings of Teeny Beanies.
I could NOT get (Same store) another token with my Big Mac at today's (Saturday's) lunch hour and the Manager on Duty told me four distinct lies to my face. Bastages!
Bill
This promotion is the poorest run McD effort ever. Early sales on Ebay, random rules at restaurants, NO promotion. I'm looking for swine with wings 'cuz I never contemplated this chaos.
@Kudbegud I could readily handle somebody saying "we're out of coins, we expect more tomorrow", but this Manager fellow told me that the promotion didn't start until tomorrow (Sunday) and that I was lying about receiving a token yesterday.
I already did the on-line 'rate your store experience', thank you!
@Kudbegud said:
This reminds me of past McD frenzies. Remember the Beanie Babies promotions that drove usually sane people mad? Long lines at every restaurant.
Just look at how many threads and reply's these "coins" have inspired. Nerds are gonna nerd out. Me included.
I found my first pot of gold selling beanie babies on ebay back in the days . And that was before paypal. All transactions were dealt with money orders. In fact I had always believed if it wasn't for beanie babies, ebay wouldn't have became so popular. As for beanie babies, things really started to fly off shelves from every hallmark store the day after Pat SaJak announced that he was searching for one of them on Wheel of fortune.
With these ebay prices on raw Big Mac Tokens, I can only imagine what the prices will be when the Slabbed Tokens hit ebay, especially if they have special labels.
How about placing the token inside the BM. After all, their size and texture is similar to the alleged hamburger patty, and I suspect flavor is at least equal.....
Weird. A lot of folks laughing at the fact that some folks are willing to pay $10 a piece for these.
If I were still in the business, I'd be buying Big Macs and selling the tokens on line for a nice profit.
That's what its all about right?
I decided to change calling the bathroom the John and renamed it the Jim. I feel so much better saying I went to the Jim this morning.
@RogerB said:
How about placing the token inside the BM. After all, their size and texture is similar to the alleged hamburger patty, and I suspect flavor is at least equal.....
I may have to resign from here. I kinda like the taste.
When they first came out, the family ate those things at least once a week.
@ricko said:
These are really no different than the store tokens of times past that are highly collectible now. I see no reason to disparage this promotion just because it is 'modern'. Plus, they are brass and not some cheap plastic or cardboard item. I am sure the frenzy will die down, but in sixty to a hundred years, they may be a hot collectible. Cheers, RickO
Looks like 1998-2008 token is the key. Some I know are having a hard time finding that one and selling for bigger $$$ on fee bay if I had a acc with Ebay i would buy all of them up on buy it now some in the $10.00 range but that is just me dumb Type2.
@Type2 said:
Looks like 1998-2008 token is the key. Some I know are having a hard time finding that one and selling for bigger $$$ on fee bay if I had a acc with Ebay i would buy all of them up on buy it now some in the $10.00 range but that is just me dumb Type2.
I have three of them. If anyone woukld like to trade one for something I need (1988-1998 or 1998-2008) please PM me.
@19Lyds said:
Weird. A lot of folks laughing at the fact that some folks are willing to pay $10 a piece for these.
If I were still in the business, I'd be buying Big Macs and selling the tokens on line for a nice profit.
That's what its all about right?
Big mac at my location is about $5 after tax. Factor in ebay, paypal, and shipping, and you are barely breaking even. I will try to put a set together, but not to profit (unless they just go crazy!)
Comments
Surprised that a burger token would get this much coverage on a US coin forum.
Touché
I’m pretty shocked to see a few sets of 5 tokens sale for 90 bucks on eBay. A lot are selling in the 60-70 range. My five cost me $24.21, I just might put them up before the frenzy dies down.
I just got my first one for $1.08. I have the McDonald's app which had a coupon for any sandwich for $1.00.
They are tokens struck on a brass planchet and with a reeded edge issued by a major US corporation celebrating the 50th anniversary of their flagship product so I'm not surprised they are so popular with average and casual coin collectors. They do have real value equivalent to the cost of a Big Mac at least until the end of the year. It's just a fun thing for many people. The fact that a major grading service is willing to grade and slab them gives them some degree of legitimacy.
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
I said when the topic was first broached on this forum that I thought it was a great thing for the hobby. McDonald's is Americana. I expected sets to be in the $50 range, so I'm a little surprised that they are running at almost twice that for now. I imagine the price will come down in time. But I still think it is great fun.
Let's all remember the pet rock. Peace Roy
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I think the prices are a fad, but the tokens are and will remain collectable.
Well so far McDonald's has created more coin collecting enthusiasm than the U.S. mint has in at least the last several years.
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
These are really no different than the store tokens of times past that are highly collectible now. I see no reason to disparage this promotion just because it is 'modern'. Plus, they are brass and not some cheap plastic or cardboard item. I am sure the frenzy will die down, but in sixty to a hundred years, they may be a hot collectible. Cheers, RickO
Do you suppose a TPG would be willing to label these as First Day of Issue?
$90 isn't worth the health risk of having to eat the 5 Big Mac's just to get these tokens.
Don't you need to subtract the "edible" value from your cost basis? Or did you throw that part away?
So sad, but so true.

Exactly the logic i am trying to use on my personal accountant who is disparaging my purchases. The two I ate were meals for sure, but the three in the refrigerator are debatable.
I stopped getting McDonalds after my dogs decided to just sniff their french fries and walk away instead of eating.
Come on! French fries! At least give your doggie a first bite into a barbeque rib yummy!
Comparing apples and oranges. First, the U.S. Mint gives away nothing for free. Hell, the Mint still charges for postage most of the time! Second, the coin collectors here on this forum hardly factor in the people who WANT the free Big Mac and who could care less about the token. This group is probably 75% of the folks who are interested (briefly) in the token.
But it's those people who will do the work for us and give us circulated examples!
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
@ms70 It will be interesting to see what percentage of redeemed tokens slip back out.
Since the redemption period will be several months long and since the sticker price on a Big Mac is relatively pricey, the MickeyD corp will have a financial interest in 'canceling' the tokens somehow.
And I might add, a sale on eBay is not easy to enforce! EBay will never say, but I'll bet that half of these auctions will never be paid for.
In ten years we will find them in junk bins....Just my opinion.
I'll wait until the Chinese counterfeits of these tokens start coming out.
Member ANA, SPMC, SCNA, FUN, CONECA
I only got one token and found it very difficult to chew
This reminds me of past McD frenzies. Remember the Beanie Babies promotions that drove usually sane people mad? Long lines at every restaurant.
Just look at how many threads and reply's these "coins" have inspired. Nerds are gonna nerd out. Me included.
@Kudbegud More apples and oranges. I know that I made a minimum of $300 to $400 on McDonalds Teeny Beanies and still had most of a "free" set when that promotion was over. That was craziness.
You are right Bill. That was just the promotion that came to mind as generating a huge response.
Then, there was a lot of advertising the Teeny Babies. This time it seems mostly word of mouth with no in-store promotion.
@Kedbegud There had been an earlier Beanie Baby Mania for certain scarce pieces that were released by Ty Corporation in late 1995 and 1996. That helped with what MickeyD's did a bit later. I can remember getting $350 for three of those earlier full-sized ones, and I stopped at a coin shop afterwards and bought several nice silver dollars and still gave my wife a bunch of money when I got home.
IIRC, McDonalds did two separate offerings of Teeny Beanies.
I could NOT get (Same store) another token with my Big Mac at today's (Saturday's) lunch hour and the Manager on Duty told me four distinct lies to my face. Bastages!
Bill
This promotion is the poorest run McD effort ever. Early sales on Ebay, random rules at restaurants, NO promotion. I'm looking for swine with wings 'cuz I never contemplated this chaos.
@Kudbegud I could readily handle somebody saying "we're out of coins, we expect more tomorrow", but this Manager fellow told me that the promotion didn't start until tomorrow (Sunday) and that I was lying about receiving a token yesterday.
I already did the on-line 'rate your store experience', thank you!
I found my first pot of gold selling beanie babies on ebay back in the days . And that was before paypal. All transactions were dealt with money orders. In fact I had always believed if it wasn't for beanie babies, ebay wouldn't have became so popular. As for beanie babies, things really started to fly off shelves from every hallmark store the day after Pat SaJak announced that he was searching for one of them on Wheel of fortune.
Aren't dog Carnivores?
The real question: what is McDonald's doing with the tokens that actually get redeemed for food?
Answering my own question: apparently McDonald's hasn't decided.
My suggestion: put them on eBay to benefit their charity. They'll be less scarce, but they will do more good.
digitaljournal.com/business/mcdonald-s-issues-maccoins-for-50th-anniversary-of-big-mac/article/528586
With these ebay prices on raw Big Mac Tokens, I can only imagine what the prices will be when the Slabbed Tokens hit ebay, especially if they have special labels.
Anyone want to buy some Tulip Bulbs??
One all-metal patty, special package, hype, cheesy, plastic, round – in a crummy cardboard box.
Now sing it.
I kind of wonder if the redeemed tokens wont be sent back to corporate then back to the private mint to be remelted?
My YouTube Channel
How about placing the token inside the BM. After all, their size and texture is similar to the alleged hamburger patty, and I suspect flavor is at least equal.....
Interesting
Makes sense since the dogs KNEW that they were potato's and not protein.
The name is LEE!
Weird. A lot of folks laughing at the fact that some folks are willing to pay $10 a piece for these.
If I were still in the business, I'd be buying Big Macs and selling the tokens on line for a nice profit.
That's what its all about right?
The name is LEE!
I may have to resign from here. I kinda like the taste.
When they first came out, the family ate those things at least once a week.
Nobody grew a tail.
They have to be eaten upside down to grow a tail....
My dog back in 2011 refused to eat Chicken McNuggets.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
I will be very old by then......
Looks like 1998-2008 token is the key. Some I know are having a hard time finding that one and selling for bigger $$$ on fee bay if I had a acc with Ebay i would buy all of them up on buy it now some in the $10.00 range but that is just me dumb Type2.
Hoard the keys.
I have three of them. If anyone woukld like to trade one for something I need (1988-1998 or 1998-2008) please PM me.
This is the stupidest thing I’ve seen in recent memory.
What a great way to drag youngsters into the hobby, and almost immediately have them meet with disappointment.
The future value of these is zero.
Big mac at my location is about $5 after tax. Factor in ebay, paypal, and shipping, and you are barely breaking even. I will try to put a set together, but not to profit (unless they just go crazy!)