US Mint silver price hike not killing off medal sales
HalfDime
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Many thought that the price hike of silver products would kill off sales, but the US Mint must be laughing, as sales of the Presidential medals remained almost the same as before.
"Released March 19 at a price of $164, the 1-ounce .999 fine silver medal honoring the 28th U.S. President opened with sales of 10,525. That debut falls slightly below the prior Nov. 17 William H. Taft medal, which began at 10,596, though it carried a significantly lower introductory price of $90.
Earlier Presidential silver medals issued last year featured Theodore Roosevelt, Benjamin Harrison, and William McKinley, posting opening totals of 11,115, 12,471, and 10,207, respectively. The Harrison figure is somewhat overstated, as its first reported total was delayed by two weeks."
So the price was raised from $90 to $164, and sales remain almost the same. Maybe the market will have a delayed reaction and the next one will come in much lower once buyers see that the premiums they paid have disappeared from the Woodrow Wilson medals.
Comments
That's interesting, but I suppose we shouldn't be surprised. There's a small group of avid collectors and they apparently want completeness.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
I can understand keeping up with it. Somes its better now then later...
If you are collecting a series, you do not stop in the middle due to a price hike, do you? So you've collected the first 27 and the next 18 will cost more, and probably a lot more before it's finished, who could just stop and walk away?
After this series perhaps medal sales will dry up.
It might take a couple cycles before some say enough. It will also be interesting to see how things continue if silver drops back to $30 and prices remain the same. And as others have said, the pull to complete a set is a powerful force.
Next week's sales report will likely see this Medal in the negative by thousands of them, which is a somewhat normal cycle with these when first released.
It happens (and I would guess it’s not a small percentage that quit).
There was a foreign series that I stopped collecting when one of the newer releases had a higher price (this was before the increase in spot prices so that was not the direct reason for the increase). I ended up selling most of the coins from that series and only keeping the first coin.
Woodrow Wilson was a beloved president though. We’ll have to see what happens with other, less popular presidents
I put my subscription on hold after the price increase. I may or may not continue to pursue the series.
Sorry, he wasn't a "beloved president." He was quite arrogant and racist.
That beside the point, there are more historic Wilson items one can collect, like his 1913 inaugural medal. It’s more expensive than the mint piece, and not made of silver, but it is more highly regarded.
The 1917 medal is much scarcer and expensive. This is the "unfinished type."
My first medals cost me $40 ea. After the mint raised prices, I quit buying them.
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