@illini420 said:
Not sure really, but we really don't know the true demand for USA 250 products. All so far have had artificially low limits that have had quick sellouts. Even at inflated prices. Was 190K too much? Is 300K too much? We'll see. Maybe not a 5 minute sellout with the 10 household limit. But once the household limit goes away??? I think the 2026 P&D cents only being available here is still a big deal.
You're right. And it would be, at $33.25. 300K at $124.50? I'll believe it when I see it. I happen to think the Mint is killing the golden goose here in an effort to kill the flip. I think they'd do everyone a favor selling a million at $33.25 instead.
Based on last year, and last year's secondary market, 190K was the right number, and, while I think $124.50 was piggy, it was justified if the goal is to capture secondary market value for the government, rather than pricing at cost plus a reasonable margin, as has traditionally been the case.
300K at $124.50 just seems unjustifiably high, given there is no precious metal content. Remember, a lot of demand comes from people looking for a flip.
If the flip isn't there, demand disappears. At the end of the day, are there really 300K people whose lives won't be complete if they don't possess one of 300K P&D 1776-2026 Lincoln cents at more than $50 each?
If not, people won't take shots, the Mint will be sitting on tens of thousands of unsold sets, FOMO will dissipate, and, with it, secondary market values for the sets will tank. Again, TBD.
I'm thinking about it, but the 110K increase is such a turnoff to me that I'm probably going to cancel all my subscriptions. I was never happy with the pricing, but I really can't justify now at this mintage.
@NJCoin said:
Looks like Hollis wants to keep all the juice for himself. 2025 sets, with a mintage of 190K, are currently going for around $140. Good luck with 300K of these at an issue price of $124.50.
There were around 650,000,000 cents struck at each mint last year, so I'm not sure that's a fair comparison.
The "mintage" was not 190K last year. That was the number of mint sets.
For 2026, the mint set product limit is the mintage.
True. But the quality in the Mint sets is far superior. People were interested because they were the "last" year of issue.
Now they are not. They will be made every year for the sets, but otherwise will not circulate. Does that make them more or less interesting?
Less interesting to me. Huge increase in Mint sets. Huge increase in price. People don't seem to be gobbling up subscriptions right now. Maybe I'm wrong. TBD.
The subscriptions are selling very well. ATS last night was 28,496. Tonight the ATS is 16523, I'd say 12,000 in sales in less than 24 hours is quite strong for the set.
Agreed. But I'll bet lots of people don't realize the Product Limit increased to 300K. Let's wait and see if the subscriptions ever go Unavailable. More importantly, let's see if they sell out 300K at $124.50. Not impossible, but I'll believe it when I see it.
I just don't think 300K zinc NCLT cents are that interesting at more than $50 each, so I have a hard time believing 300K other people will. If demand does not exceed supply, these will be dogs.
With no limits, they haven't sold 300K Mint sets in forever. At prices far below $124.50. I get the fact that cents are now only available in the sets makes the sets more desirable than before, but how much more desirable, and at what price?
After all, there is a limit. Both to demand and to perceived value.
@Manorcourtman said:
The subscriptions are selling very well. ATS last night was 28,496. Tonight the ATS is 16523, I'd say 12,000 in sales in less than 24 hours is quite strong for the set.
earlier it was just over 1,000
did they add more or reduce the sneaky ones back to 10?
@Manorcourtman said:
The subscriptions are selling very well. ATS last night was 28,496. Tonight the ATS is 16523, I'd say 12,000 in sales in less than 24 hours is quite strong for the set.
earlier it was just over 1,000
did they add more or reduce the sneaky ones back to 10?
I was reduced from 30 to 10 again. Probably a mass cut to 10 led to the major increase in ATS.
@Manorcourtman said:
The subscriptions are selling very well. ATS last night was 28,496. Tonight the ATS is 16523, I'd say 12,000 in sales in less than 24 hours is quite strong for the set.
earlier it was just over 1,000
did they add more or reduce the sneaky ones back to 10?
I was reduced from 30 to 10 again. Probably a mass cut to 10 led to the major increase in ATS.
Well , I'm glad to give you folk's my 22 set's..... I will keep my original order of 3 one for myself and one each for my granddaughters.
I’m starting to think that we (the forum) are generating a lot of the demand. 300,000 is a big number of sets and if we all convince ourselves of the scarcity and demand then there might be a lot of sets sitting on eBay. Maybe I’m wrong, but I focused more on silver and gold sets that have some precious metals value (way overpriced ) and not just perceived scarcity.
@Manorcourtman said:
The subscriptions are selling very well. ATS last night was 28,496. Tonight the ATS is 16523, I'd say 12,000 in sales in less than 24 hours is quite strong for the set.
earlier it was just over 1,000
did they add more or reduce the sneaky ones back to 10?
@Manorcourtman said:
The subscriptions are selling very well. ATS last night was 28,496. Tonight the ATS is 16523, I'd say 12,000 in sales in less than 24 hours is quite strong for the set.
earlier it was just over 1,000
did they add more or reduce the sneaky ones back to 10?
24,992
Yeah I saw that! I give up trying to figure what they are doing!!! They just do what they want and don't tell us anyway!
@Mr Lindy said:
They dropped my subs down to 10 again.
Won't bother trying to bump back up to 30 sets.
Tidy unilateral $2,500 savings for me.
Will revisit products and subs daily to spot evolving changes in expanded mintage & HHL & price.
There is no point. With the HHL in place on the product page, it will just bump them down again.
It will be interesting to monitor the pre-sales with the new numbers. I would expect the cents to come down a bit. The sets themselves were sellling at $199 and they may or may not come down much. We really won't know anything until the Big Boys issue buy prices in June.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Please, no offense to anyone in here. A few of the posters here had sub for 20, 30+ sets. Obviously they are for resale and not for collecting. It makes it hard for collectors who want a set for their collection to get one from the mint. Should the mint be a supplier for large orders to wholesalers or small orders to collectors?
@Manorcourtman said:
The subscriptions are selling very well. ATS last night was 28,496. Tonight the ATS is 16523, I'd say 12,000 in sales in less than 24 hours is quite strong for the set.
earlier it was just over 1,000
did they add more or reduce the sneaky ones back to 10?
24,992
"ats": 23633, almost 12 hours later. Not exactly flying, as you noted earlier.
@Russell12 said:
Please, no offense to anyone in here. A few of the posters here had sub for 20, 30+ sets. Obviously they are for resale and not for collecting. It makes it hard for collectors who want a set for their collection to get one from the mint. Should the mint be a supplier for large orders to wholesalers or small orders to collectors?
They do both and should do both. The large sellers do a lot of marketing for the Mint products.
If I buy 1 or 10 or 100, it doesn't make me a large order wholesaler. Lots of collectors flip items to raise funds to buy other coins. The Congratulations set had an HHL of one. How are you going to stop us from flipping the one?
It is rarely hard for any collector to buy from the Mint. There may be one or two (artificial) rarities per year that have a limited distribution that makes it hard. Frankly, the Mint should auction those and not sell them directly at all and then sellers can get them. But people, maybe not you, don't want to compete for those rare items.
The fundamental problem is that the easier it is to get the item, the less value it is likely to have.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Thoughts on the quality of the coins in the uncirculated mint sets?
So far the stuff out of circulation is not that great, I'm looking at the cents, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half dollars for grading -- I would like to get one nice set to keep in PCGS or CAC slabs. If I buy 10 sets and select the best two of each and send them it won't be cheap -- but will it likely work out? I don't know, if I look at the sets and select the best coins to make the attempt. The rest will just go to the grandkids and EBay cheap.
@Old_Collector said:
Thoughts on the quality of the coins in the uncirculated mint sets?
So far the stuff out of circulation is not that great, I'm looking at the cents, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half dollars for grading -- I would like to get one nice set to keep in PCGS or CAC slabs. If I buy 10 sets and select the best two of each and send them it won't be cheap -- but will it likely work out? I don't know, if I look at the sets and select the best coins to make the attempt. The rest will just go to the grandkids and EBay cheap.
This is the problem with the mint pricing these at $125 per set. The mint set quality is not great. I have said before, it looks like they use a shovel to remove coins from a ballistic bag to fill the sets with. So you drop $1,250 on 10 sets to grab the best of the best and send them in for grading. The remaining chopped up sets are worth face value. This is not an inexpensive way to get a nice set and this is not helping the average collector. If these were priced fairly, this method of going through many sets might be a good option.
@Russell12 said:
Please, no offense to anyone in here. A few of the posters here had sub for 20, 30+ sets. Obviously they are for resale and not for collecting. It makes it hard for collectors who want a set for their collection to get one from the mint. Should the mint be a supplier for large orders to wholesalers or small orders to collectors?
They do both and should do both. The large sellers do a lot of marketing for the Mint products.
If I buy 1 or 10 or 100, it doesn't make me a large order wholesaler. Lots of collectors flip items to raise funds to buy other coins. The Congratulations set had an HHL of one. How are you going to stop us from flipping the one?
It is rarely hard for any collector to buy from the Mint. There may be one or two (artificial) rarities per year that have a limited distribution that makes it hard. Frankly, the Mint should auction those and not sell them directly at all and then sellers can get them. But people, maybe not you, don't want to compete for those rare items.
The fundamental problem is that the easier it is to get the item, the less value it is likely to have.
I guess my point was the "general public" gets shutout from ordering mint direct coins when multiple "dealers" buy dozens of the coins and the mint is sold out in minutes. Forcing us common people to buy on the secondary market. What other products does this happen to? None.
@Russell12 said:
Please, no offense to anyone in here. A few of the posters here had sub for 20, 30+ sets. Obviously they are for resale and not for collecting. It makes it hard for collectors who want a set for their collection to get one from the mint. Should the mint be a supplier for large orders to wholesalers or small orders to collectors?
Both. For annual mint sets... produce to demand at a fair and reasonable price. Given these are $6 of pocket change the mint has already made seigniorage on and placed in a plastic blister pack, $15/set seems much more fair to me. As for the cent... stop making it.
I just want to stack some pretty sets. 10 now was 30 which I questioned that outlay as I do not sell coins.
"Shoveled up" treasures will go away as 124.50 for baseless metal set is crazy.
I'm an odd one as I open everything I buy from Mint and anywhere else.
& No way would I ever drop $800 on sticking complete 1776~2026 Mint Set in certified plastic.
I source coins and bullion direct from the Mint, I'll assume they are not counterfeits.
I sub'd for one. Had a set in the 'hopper' at $185. Almost pulled the trigger, then I saw The Mint released more sets. Now I feel like I'm getting a deal. Funny how that works.
@Old_Collector said:
Thoughts on the quality of the coins in the uncirculated mint sets?
So far the stuff out of circulation is not that great, I'm looking at the cents, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half dollars for grading -- I would like to get one nice set to keep in PCGS or CAC slabs. If I buy 10 sets and select the best two of each and send them it won't be cheap -- but will it likely work out? I don't know, if I look at the sets and select the best coins to make the attempt. The rest will just go to the grandkids and EBay cheap.
This is the problem with the mint pricing these at $125 per set. The mint set quality is not great. I have said before, it looks like they use a shovel to remove coins from a ballistic bag to fill the sets with. So you drop $1,250 on 10 sets to grab the best of the best and send them in for grading. The remaining chopped up sets are worth face value. This is not an inexpensive way to get a nice set and this is not helping the average collector. If these were priced fairly, this method of going through many sets might be a good option.
No offense, but let's look at the bright side, they're still more attractive than the quality of mint sets in the late 1960's to the 70's.
Also, while the main hype is about the cents, there is some hype for these new designs on the dimes and half dollars. If the mint wanted to destroy the hype on those, they would plan to continue the design next year.
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. Voltaire. Ebay coinbowlllc
@Russell12 said:
Please, no offense to anyone in here. A few of the posters here had sub for 20, 30+ sets. Obviously they are for resale and not for collecting. It makes it hard for collectors who want a set for their collection to get one from the mint. Should the mint be a supplier for large orders to wholesalers or small orders to collectors?
They do both and should do both. The large sellers do a lot of marketing for the Mint products.
If I buy 1 or 10 or 100, it doesn't make me a large order wholesaler. Lots of collectors flip items to raise funds to buy other coins. The Congratulations set had an HHL of one. How are you going to stop us from flipping the one?
It is rarely hard for any collector to buy from the Mint. There may be one or two (artificial) rarities per year that have a limited distribution that makes it hard. Frankly, the Mint should auction those and not sell them directly at all and then sellers can get them. But people, maybe not you, don't want to compete for those rare items.
The fundamental problem is that the easier it is to get the item, the less value it is likely to have.
I guess my point was the "general public" gets shutout from ordering mint direct coins when multiple "dealers" buy dozens of the coins and the mint is sold out in minutes. Forcing us common people to buy on the secondary market. What other products does this happen to? None.
That's not true. Have you ever bought Coke directly from the company? There lots of products that can't be bought directly from the producer. There are also certain custom TV models or computers that can only be bought from a SINGLE retailer.
Shall we talk about Black Friday for busters now?
There's nothing remotely unusual or uncommon about this. The most unusual thing might be the fact that you CAN buy them direct from the manufacturer at the same price as the retailers. Try that with virtually any product at Walmart.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
@Russell12 said:
Please, no offense to anyone in here. A few of the posters here had sub for 20, 30+ sets. Obviously they are for resale and not for collecting. It makes it hard for collectors who want a set for their collection to get one from the mint. Should the mint be a supplier for large orders to wholesalers or small orders to collectors?
Both. For annual mint sets... produce to demand at a fair and reasonable price. Given these are $6 of pocket change the mint has already made seigniorage on and placed in a plastic blister pack, $15/set seems much more fair to me. As for the cent... stop making it.
They weren't making money at that price. Look at their annual report from 2020. While $124.50 may be high, $15 is a ridiculous price that is easy under their costs.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
One would think the Mint would get their computer system into the 21st century using some of the money from the immense profits they enjoy from sales of issues like the 2026 uncirculated coin set.
The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.
Albert Einstein (14 March 1879--18 April 1955)
@mr1931S said:
One would think the Mint would get their computer system into the 21st century using some of the money from the immense profits they enjoy from sales of issues like the 2026 uncirculated coin set.
Don't confuse software with hardware. They almost definitely use something like Amazon Web Services for the hardware.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
That's not true. Have you ever bought Coke directly from the company? There lots of products that can't be bought directly from the producer. There are also certain custom TV models or computers that can only be bought from a SINGLE retailer.
Except that Coke DOES NOT SELL DIRECTLY, the mint DOES.
@mr1931S said:
One would think the Mint would get their computer system into the 21st century using some of the money from the immense profits they enjoy from sales of issues like the 2026 uncirculated coin set.
Don't confuse software with hardware. They almost definitely use something like Amazon Web Services for the hardware.
I'm not confusing software with hardware. I'm merely pointing out there appears to be major deficiencies in the Mint's order taking system. Computers crashing is so 1990's, so 20th century.
The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.
Albert Einstein (14 March 1879--18 April 1955)
That's not true. Have you ever bought Coke directly from the company? There lots of products that can't be bought directly from the producer. There are also certain custom TV models or computers that can only be bought from a SINGLE retailer.
Except that Coke DOES NOT SELL DIRECTLY, the mint DOES.
I did buy some Coke in glass bottles with my name on the label directly from the company (or their merchandise fulfillment center).
That's not true. Have you ever bought Coke directly from the company? There lots of products that can't be bought directly from the producer. There are also certain custom TV models or computers that can only be bought from a SINGLE retailer.
Except that Coke DOES NOT SELL DIRECTLY, the mint DOES.
I did buy some Coke in glass bottles with my name on the label directly from the company (or their merchandise fulfillment center).
I hope we are not confusing coke with the dime bags.....
That's not true. Have you ever bought Coke directly from the company? There lots of products that can't be bought directly from the producer. There are also certain custom TV models or computers that can only be bought from a SINGLE retailer.
Except that Coke DOES NOT SELL DIRECTLY, the mint DOES.
I did buy some Coke in glass bottles with my name on the label directly from the company (or their merchandise fulfillment center).
This ^^^. Bad example, because Coke actually does run a few retail stores where you can actually buy product directly from the producer. Also, most retailers get bulk discounts from the Mint, so, no, they don't buy at the same price as the rest of us.
That's not true. Have you ever bought Coke directly from the company? There lots of products that can't be bought directly from the producer. There are also certain custom TV models or computers that can only be bought from a SINGLE retailer.
Except that Coke DOES NOT SELL DIRECTLY, the mint DOES.
That's exactly what I said.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
That's not true. Have you ever bought Coke directly from the company? There lots of products that can't be bought directly from the producer. There are also certain custom TV models or computers that can only be bought from a SINGLE retailer.
Except that Coke DOES NOT SELL DIRECTLY, the mint DOES.
I did buy some Coke in glass bottles with my name on the label directly from the company (or their merchandise fulfillment center).
This ^^^. Bad example, because Coke actually does run a few retail stores where you can actually buy product directly from the producer. Also, most retailers get bulk discounts from the Mint, so, no, they don't buy at the same price as the rest of us.
Bulk retailers get a 5-10% discount but can't purchase until the HHL end. Not exactly preferred treatment. Walmart gets a much bigger discount from Coke and doesn't wait in line for inventory to become available.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
That's not true. Have you ever bought Coke directly from the company? There lots of products that can't be bought directly from the producer. There are also certain custom TV models or computers that can only be bought from a SINGLE retailer.
Except that Coke DOES NOT SELL DIRECTLY, the mint DOES.
I did buy some Coke in glass bottles with my name on the label directly from the company (or their merchandise fulfillment center).
I hope we are not confusing coke with the dime bags.....
That's not true. Have you ever bought Coke directly from the company? There lots of products that can't be bought directly from the producer. There are also certain custom TV models or computers that can only be bought from a SINGLE retailer.
Except that Coke DOES NOT SELL DIRECTLY, the mint DOES.
I did buy some Coke in glass bottles with my name on the label directly from the company (or their merchandise fulfillment center).
I hope we are not confusing coke with the dime bags.....
Just saying ... lol
Well played, Sir !! Bravo.
Even a blind squirrel get's a nut every now and then !
Tried yesterday no luck but it went through just now. Wish they were accountable for price gouging. They do work for us and I could understand some corporation doing the price gouging. Not even precious metal in the set.
@pf70collector said:
Tried yesterday no luck but it went through just now. Wish they were accountable for price gouging. They do work for us and I could understand some corporation doing the price gouging. Not even precious metal in the set.
I filled all the diesel containers for my big tractor today and it cost me a little over 1 mint set.
@pf70collector said:
Tried yesterday no luck but it went through just now. Wish they were accountable for price gouging. They do work for us and I could understand some corporation doing the price gouging. Not even precious metal in the set.
How can it be price gouging when the sets sell for $199 on eBay?
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
@pf70collector said:
Tried yesterday no luck but it went through just now. Wish they were accountable for price gouging. They do work for us and I could understand some corporation doing the price gouging. Not even precious metal in the set.
How can it be price gouging when the sets sell for $199 on eBay?
Because eBay sellers are also price gouging. This is like saying that the 7-11 selling bottled water, or gasoline, after a natural disaster for $20 a gallon is not price gouging because Wawa is selling it for $40 a gallon.
The Mint really should be selling base metal annual sets for cost plus a reasonable margin. And making them to demand. Not creating a artificial shortage, and then capitalizing on that shortage by jacking up the price. Period.
That's what predators do. Not government agencies. How would you feel if the State Department jacked up the price of a passport to $1,000, just because they can? What happens on eBay should not dictate what the Mint does.
@pf70collector said:
Tried yesterday no luck but it went through just now. Wish they were accountable for price gouging. They do work for us and I could understand some corporation doing the price gouging. Not even precious metal in the set.
How can it be price gouging when the sets sell for $199 on eBay?
Because eBay sellers are also price gouging. This is like saying that the 7-11 selling bottled water, or gasoline, after a natural disaster for $20 a gallon is not price gouging because Wawa is selling it for $40 a gallon.
The Mint really should be selling base metal annual sets for cost plus a reasonable margin. And making them to demand. Not creating a artificial shortage, and then capitalizing on that shortage by jacking up the price. Period.
That's what predators do. Not government agencies. How would you feel if the State Department jacked up the price of a passport to $1,000, just because they can? What happens on eBay should not dictate what the Mint does.
It's not gouging when the buyers are willing and the product is completely non-essential. It's a price level that the market has agreed to whether you like it or agree with it or not.
@pf70collector said:
Tried yesterday no luck but it went through just now. Wish they were accountable for price gouging. They do work for us and I could understand some corporation doing the price gouging. Not even precious metal in the set.
How can it be price gouging when the sets sell for $199 on eBay?
Because eBay sellers are also price gouging. This is like saying that the 7-11 selling bottled water, or gasoline, after a natural disaster for $20 a gallon is not price gouging because Wawa is selling it for $40 a gallon.
The Mint really should be selling base metal annual sets for cost plus a reasonable margin. And making them to demand. Not creating a artificial shortage, and then capitalizing on that shortage by jacking up the price. Period.
That's what predators do. Not government agencies. How would you feel if the State Department jacked up the price of a passport to $1,000, just because they can? What happens on eBay should not dictate what the Mint does.
I'm going to ignore all that nonsense.
If the MARKET PRICE on ebay is $199, the Mint should not be selling them for $35. It's hardly "price gouging" if you are charging less than the market price.
It's also not price gouging if it's a discretionary purchase. No one has to buy them if they don't want to.
Yes, they could have an unlimited mintage. I'm fine with t that. But the demand will drop off a cliff.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
@pf70collector said:
Tried yesterday no luck but it went through just now. Wish they were accountable for price gouging. They do work for us and I could understand some corporation doing the price gouging. Not even precious metal in the set.
How can it be price gouging when the sets sell for $199 on eBay?
Because eBay sellers are also price gouging. This is like saying that the 7-11 selling bottled water, or gasoline, after a natural disaster for $20 a gallon is not price gouging because Wawa is selling it for $40 a gallon.
The Mint really should be selling base metal annual sets for cost plus a reasonable margin. And making them to demand. Not creating a artificial shortage, and then capitalizing on that shortage by jacking up the price. Period.
That's what predators do. Not government agencies. How would you feel if the State Department jacked up the price of a passport to $1,000, just because they can? What happens on eBay should not dictate what the Mint does.
It's not gouging when the buyers are willing and the product is completely non-essential. It's a price level that the market has agreed to whether you like it or agree with it or not.
Agree to disagree, because "essential" is in the eye of the beholder. People could eat less, drink less, and drive less during natural disasters, and not need to buy food, water or gas at inflated prices. By the same token, someone who has been building a Mint set collection for 50 years might find the 2026 set to be "essential," and feel the need to pay whatever the Mint asks.
Either way, I stand by my comment. It is unconscionable for the Mint to intentionally under produce a product as basic as a base metal uncirculated set, and then use the resulting supply/demand imbalance, as well as eBay secondary market prices, to justify pricing it at a 2100% markup to face value.
I REALLY hope the market decides that they went one step too far in not only jacking up the price nearly four fold from last year, but also jacking up the mintage by over 50%, and that they get stuck with so many sets that they end up selling less than the 190K they could have easily sold if they left the mintage alone.
Personally I choose to believe the mint should mint to demand. If 1 million people want to buy one, the mint should sell 1 million. If it’s only 50,000 they should sell 50,000. The only thing a flipper could profit on is who gets the item first. Anyone who is patient can get it at retail as long as they order before some deadline.
This game of artificial rarities and flipping is stupid for everyone. It’s stupid for the collector. And it’s stupid for the mint. The only person it’s not stupid for the flipper.
And I personally know that a lot of demand is coming from flippers who have no interest in the product, just making a quick buck. Minting to demand kills this effectively.
Wait until next year when they have quarters and dimes nobody wants again. The gravy train ends and reality will set in for the prices they charge. The mint has always been horrible at predicting demand for their products.
They are going to have to completely change the product lineup they have or else sales will fall off a cliff. Who ever thought to make so many gold coins for 2026 when the price of gold is almost $5000 an ounce.
So far it has worked out as they have the dual date coins to carry them this year. Unless they can pull a rabbit out of the hat, they won't have that for 2027 and beyond.
@HalfDime said:
Anyone buying these sets should flip them and take the money.
You may be right. 21,000 subs still open with a limit of 10. They're not exactly flying, yet Ebay does have a few completed presales for $199. If this product with a 300,000 mintage limit rises in price when everyone rushes to flip them, won't it be the first of the 2026's to do so? The Congrats set stayed pretty consistent at $300-$350 until they released the additional 20,000 this week.
@HalfDime said:
Anyone buying these sets should flip them and take the money.
You may be right. 21,000 subs still open with a limit of 10. They're not exactly flying, yet Ebay does have a few completed presales for $199. If this product with a 300,000 mintage limit rises in price when everyone rushes to flip them, won't it be the first of the 2026's to do so? The Congrats set stayed pretty consistent at $300-$350 until they released the additional 20,000 this week.
Trust me, the eBay presales are to people who don't know the mintage was raised to 300K, and who don't know they can prebuy up to 10, right now, directly from the Mint for $124.50 each. Stupid sales to stupid people really do not make a market. TBD how many of them end up being canceled by the buyers before fulfillment, given how far out delivery will be.
Comments
You're right. And it would be, at $33.25. 300K at $124.50? I'll believe it when I see it. I happen to think the Mint is killing the golden goose here in an effort to kill the flip. I think they'd do everyone a favor selling a million at $33.25 instead.
Based on last year, and last year's secondary market, 190K was the right number, and, while I think $124.50 was piggy, it was justified if the goal is to capture secondary market value for the government, rather than pricing at cost plus a reasonable margin, as has traditionally been the case.
300K at $124.50 just seems unjustifiably high, given there is no precious metal content. Remember, a lot of demand comes from people looking for a flip.
If the flip isn't there, demand disappears. At the end of the day, are there really 300K people whose lives won't be complete if they don't possess one of 300K P&D 1776-2026 Lincoln cents at more than $50 each?
If not, people won't take shots, the Mint will be sitting on tens of thousands of unsold sets, FOMO will dissipate, and, with it, secondary market values for the sets will tank. Again, TBD.
I'm thinking about it, but the 110K increase is such a turnoff to me that I'm probably going to cancel all my subscriptions. I was never happy with the pricing, but I really can't justify now at this mintage.
Agreed. But I'll bet lots of people don't realize the Product Limit increased to 300K. Let's wait and see if the subscriptions ever go Unavailable. More importantly, let's see if they sell out 300K at $124.50. Not impossible, but I'll believe it when I see it.
I just don't think 300K zinc NCLT cents are that interesting at more than $50 each, so I have a hard time believing 300K other people will. If demand does not exceed supply, these will be dogs.
With no limits, they haven't sold 300K Mint sets in forever. At prices far below $124.50. I get the fact that cents are now only available in the sets makes the sets more desirable than before, but how much more desirable, and at what price?
After all, there is a limit. Both to demand and to perceived value.
earlier it was just over 1,000
did they add more or reduce the sneaky ones back to 10?
I was reduced from 30 to 10 again. Probably a mass cut to 10 led to the major increase in ATS.
Well , I'm glad to give you folk's my 22 set's..... I will keep my original order of 3 one for myself and one each for my granddaughters.
I hope everything works out for you All .
I’m starting to think that we (the forum) are generating a lot of the demand. 300,000 is a big number of sets and if we all convince ourselves of the scarcity and demand then there might be a lot of sets sitting on eBay. Maybe I’m wrong, but I focused more on silver and gold sets that have some precious metals value (way overpriced ) and not just perceived scarcity.
The truth will be revealed in the next few months
24,992
Yeah I saw that! I give up trying to figure what they are doing!!! They just do what they want and don't tell us anyway!
They dropped my subs down to 10 again.
Won't bother trying to bump back up to 30 sets.
Tidy unilateral $2,500 savings for me.
Will revisit products and subs daily to spot evolving changes in expanded mintage & HHL & price.
There is no point. With the HHL in place on the product page, it will just bump them down again.
It will be interesting to monitor the pre-sales with the new numbers. I would expect the cents to come down a bit. The sets themselves were sellling at $199 and they may or may not come down much. We really won't know anything until the Big Boys issue buy prices in June.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Please, no offense to anyone in here. A few of the posters here had sub for 20, 30+ sets. Obviously they are for resale and not for collecting. It makes it hard for collectors who want a set for their collection to get one from the mint. Should the mint be a supplier for large orders to wholesalers or small orders to collectors?
"ats": 23633, almost 12 hours later. Not exactly flying, as you noted earlier.
They do both and should do both. The large sellers do a lot of marketing for the Mint products.
If I buy 1 or 10 or 100, it doesn't make me a large order wholesaler. Lots of collectors flip items to raise funds to buy other coins. The Congratulations set had an HHL of one. How are you going to stop us from flipping the one?
It is rarely hard for any collector to buy from the Mint. There may be one or two (artificial) rarities per year that have a limited distribution that makes it hard. Frankly, the Mint should auction those and not sell them directly at all and then sellers can get them. But people, maybe not you, don't want to compete for those rare items.
The fundamental problem is that the easier it is to get the item, the less value it is likely to have.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Thoughts on the quality of the coins in the uncirculated mint sets?
So far the stuff out of circulation is not that great, I'm looking at the cents, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half dollars for grading -- I would like to get one nice set to keep in PCGS or CAC slabs. If I buy 10 sets and select the best two of each and send them it won't be cheap -- but will it likely work out? I don't know, if I look at the sets and select the best coins to make the attempt. The rest will just go to the grandkids and EBay cheap.
This is the problem with the mint pricing these at $125 per set. The mint set quality is not great. I have said before, it looks like they use a shovel to remove coins from a ballistic bag to fill the sets with. So you drop $1,250 on 10 sets to grab the best of the best and send them in for grading. The remaining chopped up sets are worth face value. This is not an inexpensive way to get a nice set and this is not helping the average collector. If these were priced fairly, this method of going through many sets might be a good option.
I guess my point was the "general public" gets shutout from ordering mint direct coins when multiple "dealers" buy dozens of the coins and the mint is sold out in minutes. Forcing us common people to buy on the secondary market. What other products does this happen to? None.
Both. For annual mint sets... produce to demand at a fair and reasonable price. Given these are $6 of pocket change the mint has already made seigniorage on and placed in a plastic blister pack, $15/set seems much more fair to me. As for the cent... stop making it.
I just want to stack some pretty sets. 10 now was 30 which I questioned that outlay as I do not sell coins.
"Shoveled up" treasures will go away as 124.50 for baseless metal set is crazy.
I'm an odd one as I open everything I buy from Mint and anywhere else.
& No way would I ever drop $800 on sticking complete 1776~2026 Mint Set in certified plastic.
I source coins and bullion direct from the Mint, I'll assume they are not counterfeits.
I sub'd for one. Had a set in the 'hopper' at $185. Almost pulled the trigger, then I saw The Mint released more sets. Now I feel like I'm getting a deal. Funny how that works.
fka renman95, Sep 2005, 7,000 posts
Webdite says available june 2026
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
No offense, but let's look at the bright side, they're still more attractive than the quality of mint sets in the late 1960's to the 70's.
Also, while the main hype is about the cents, there is some hype for these new designs on the dimes and half dollars. If the mint wanted to destroy the hype on those, they would plan to continue the design next year.
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. Voltaire. Ebay coinbowlllc
That's not true. Have you ever bought Coke directly from the company? There lots of products that can't be bought directly from the producer. There are also certain custom TV models or computers that can only be bought from a SINGLE retailer.
Shall we talk about Black Friday for busters now?
There's nothing remotely unusual or uncommon about this. The most unusual thing might be the fact that you CAN buy them direct from the manufacturer at the same price as the retailers. Try that with virtually any product at Walmart.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
They weren't making money at that price. Look at their annual report from 2020. While $124.50 may be high, $15 is a ridiculous price that is easy under their costs.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
One would think the Mint would get their computer system into the 21st century using some of the money from the immense profits they enjoy from sales of issues like the 2026 uncirculated coin set.
The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.
Albert Einstein (14 March 1879--18 April 1955)
Don't confuse software with hardware. They almost definitely use something like Amazon Web Services for the hardware.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Except that Coke DOES NOT SELL DIRECTLY, the mint DOES.
I'm not confusing software with hardware.
I'm merely pointing out there appears to be major deficiencies in the Mint's order taking system. Computers crashing is so 1990's, so 20th century.
The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.
Albert Einstein (14 March 1879--18 April 1955)
I did buy some Coke in glass bottles with my name on the label directly from the company (or their merchandise fulfillment center).
I hope we are not confusing coke with the dime bags.....
Just saying ... lol
This ^^^. Bad example, because Coke actually does run a few retail stores where you can actually buy product directly from the producer. Also, most retailers get bulk discounts from the Mint, so, no, they don't buy at the same price as the rest of us.
That's exactly what I said.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Bulk retailers get a 5-10% discount but can't purchase until the HHL end. Not exactly preferred treatment. Walmart gets a much bigger discount from Coke and doesn't wait in line for inventory to become available.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Well played, Sir !! Bravo.
Even a blind squirrel get's a nut every now and then !
Round 2 now shipping
Tried yesterday no luck but it went through just now. Wish they were accountable for price gouging. They do work for us and I could understand some corporation doing the price gouging. Not even precious metal in the set.
Box of 20
I filled all the diesel containers for my big tractor today and it cost me a little over 1 mint set.
How can it be price gouging when the sets sell for $199 on eBay?
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As far as i'm concerned , @ 300K mintage @ 124.50 ...... Keep 'Em ! I will keep my original 3, no more !
Because eBay sellers are also price gouging. This is like saying that the 7-11 selling bottled water, or gasoline, after a natural disaster for $20 a gallon is not price gouging because Wawa is selling it for $40 a gallon.
The Mint really should be selling base metal annual sets for cost plus a reasonable margin. And making them to demand. Not creating a artificial shortage, and then capitalizing on that shortage by jacking up the price. Period.
That's what predators do. Not government agencies. How would you feel if the State Department jacked up the price of a passport to $1,000, just because they can? What happens on eBay should not dictate what the Mint does.
The well will eventually go dry at this pricing structure.
It's not gouging when the buyers are willing and the product is completely non-essential. It's a price level that the market has agreed to whether you like it or agree with it or not.
I'm going to ignore all that nonsense.
If the MARKET PRICE on ebay is $199, the Mint should not be selling them for $35. It's hardly "price gouging" if you are charging less than the market price.
It's also not price gouging if it's a discretionary purchase. No one has to buy them if they don't want to.
Yes, they could have an unlimited mintage. I'm fine with t that. But the demand will drop off a cliff.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Agree to disagree, because "essential" is in the eye of the beholder. People could eat less, drink less, and drive less during natural disasters, and not need to buy food, water or gas at inflated prices. By the same token, someone who has been building a Mint set collection for 50 years might find the 2026 set to be "essential," and feel the need to pay whatever the Mint asks.
Either way, I stand by my comment. It is unconscionable for the Mint to intentionally under produce a product as basic as a base metal uncirculated set, and then use the resulting supply/demand imbalance, as well as eBay secondary market prices, to justify pricing it at a 2100% markup to face value.
I REALLY hope the market decides that they went one step too far in not only jacking up the price nearly four fold from last year, but also jacking up the mintage by over 50%, and that they get stuck with so many sets that they end up selling less than the 190K they could have easily sold if they left the mintage alone.
Probably. Then they will either drop it or just live with lower sales levels.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Personally I choose to believe the mint should mint to demand. If 1 million people want to buy one, the mint should sell 1 million. If it’s only 50,000 they should sell 50,000. The only thing a flipper could profit on is who gets the item first. Anyone who is patient can get it at retail as long as they order before some deadline.
This game of artificial rarities and flipping is stupid for everyone. It’s stupid for the collector. And it’s stupid for the mint. The only person it’s not stupid for the flipper.
And I personally know that a lot of demand is coming from flippers who have no interest in the product, just making a quick buck. Minting to demand kills this effectively.
Successful transactions with: wondercoin, Tetromibi, PerryHall, PlatinumDuck, JohnMaben/Pegasus Coin & Jewelry, CoinFlip, coinlieutenant, bigjpst, and joebb21.
Wait until next year when they have quarters and dimes nobody wants again. The gravy train ends and reality will set in for the prices they charge. The mint has always been horrible at predicting demand for their products.
They are going to have to completely change the product lineup they have or else sales will fall off a cliff. Who ever thought to make so many gold coins for 2026 when the price of gold is almost $5000 an ounce.
So far it has worked out as they have the dual date coins to carry them this year. Unless they can pull a rabbit out of the hat, they won't have that for 2027 and beyond.
Anyone buying these sets should flip them and take the money.
You may be right. 21,000 subs still open with a limit of 10. They're not exactly flying, yet Ebay does have a few completed presales for $199. If this product with a 300,000 mintage limit rises in price when everyone rushes to flip them, won't it be the first of the 2026's to do so? The Congrats set stayed pretty consistent at $300-$350 until they released the additional 20,000 this week.
Trust me, the eBay presales are to people who don't know the mintage was raised to 300K, and who don't know they can prebuy up to 10, right now, directly from the Mint for $124.50 each. Stupid sales to stupid people really do not make a market. TBD how many of them end up being canceled by the buyers before fulfillment, given how far out delivery will be.