@MrBear said:
Well...I THOUGHT my BOM5 was inbound (BOM4 showed up the Monday after ordering) but it's still en route. :'(
Meanwhile, since this is the internet and we're expected to complain about nothing, I sent my BOM4 to our hosts a couple of weeks ago. It might be the most expensive thing I've ever sent them, so naturally I was a little nervous. It allegedly arrived on the 18th. And I kept waiting to see it logged in all last week, getting increasingly nervous. Even though I knew it takes a few days. Yesterday it showed up in my account. For the BOM5 I need to make sure I can insure it for the full amount. Apparently for priority mail you're restricted to $5000, while registered mail is 10x that.
Always send registered if over 5k.
Overnight is extremely secure also, but 5K limit, and very expensive.
@MrBear said:
Well...I THOUGHT my BOM5 was inbound (BOM4 showed up the Monday after ordering) but it's still en route. :'(
Meanwhile, since this is the internet and we're expected to complain about nothing, I sent my BOM4 to our hosts a couple of weeks ago. It might be the most expensive thing I've ever sent them, so naturally I was a little nervous. It allegedly arrived on the 18th. And I kept waiting to see it logged in all last week, getting increasingly nervous. Even though I knew it takes a few days. Yesterday it showed up in my account. For the BOM5 I need to make sure I can insure it for the full amount. Apparently for priority mail you're restricted to $5000, while registered mail is 10x that.
Priority mail insurance does not cover bullion. Must be sent Registered for insurance to be valid.
@Tomthemailcarrier said:
Priority mail insurance does not cover bullion. Must be sent Registered for insurance to be valid.
Regardless, the package had BOM5 and a 2026 Morgan in it, so it was $6000 and priority mail maxes out at $5k. Regarding what's covered, AI says that standard priority mail insurance doesn't cover bullion past $15.00. It says you can combine Priority mail with Registered mail to get the higher insurance amount.
If I had to guess, they don't want to insure bullion because, by definition, it's fungible, and if you shipped a gold bar last week, and it was lost (or "lost") this week, well, gold is 10% cheaper this week, so you'd make a profit. Any product bought from the Mint will have a receipt, so the only problem is convincing them that the box you shipped actually had 10 gold buffaloes in it, and not a bunch of Eisenhower half dollars
@MrBear said:
Well...I THOUGHT my BOM5 was inbound (BOM4 showed up the Monday after ordering) but it's still en route. :'(
Meanwhile, since this is the internet and we're expected to complain about nothing, I sent my BOM4 to our hosts a couple of weeks ago. It might be the most expensive thing I've ever sent them, so naturally I was a little nervous. It allegedly arrived on the 18th. And I kept waiting to see it logged in all last week, getting increasingly nervous. Even though I knew it takes a few days. Yesterday it showed up in my account. For the BOM5 I need to make sure I can insure it for the full amount. Apparently for priority mail you're restricted to $5000, while registered mail is 10x that.
Priority mail insurance does not cover bullion. Must be sent Registered for insurance to be valid.
I think this qualifies as a numismatic item, not bullion.
To avoid any hassles or issues, why not simply send Registered? Sure, it takes longer and costs a bit more but I've never lost a package that way in decades of shipping coins and bullion. Can't say that about priority or express mail.
That said, my preferred method is always show drop off.
@gpnyc said:
To avoid any hassles or issues, why not simply send Registered? Sure, it takes longer and costs a bit more but I've never lost a package that way in decades of shipping coins and bullion. Can't say that about priority or express mail.
That said, my preferred method is always show drop off.
All other things being equal, Registered is less than Priority. This is because the insurance is less because its more secure so the risk is less.
@gpnyc said:
To avoid any hassles or issues, why not simply send Registered? Sure, it takes longer and costs a bit more but I've never lost a package that way in decades of shipping coins and bullion. Can't say that about priority or express mail.
That said, my preferred method is always show drop off.
When I went to send in my 1804, I asked the person at the PO if I could insure it for $6000. She said "Sure!" and then tapped away at the screen for a few minutes and said "It won't let me go past $5000. Sorry. There's no way to insure it for over $5k." Now, if I (or she) had been better informed, I would have told her to send it registered. I'll probably do that with the St. Gaudens next week, although the way things are going, it won't be WORTH $5000.
Mildly annoyed that BOM5 is down $100 and mine won't arrive until Monday. Probably end up being down another $100 in a week. FOMO is a PITA.
@goldenboy89 said:
can't you insure registered mail for up to 50k? i only send gold via registered mail, and i send my silver via regular mail when grading.
I finally received this set and the coin and medal look much nicer than I had expected. The detail on the Saint Gaudens double eagle is much easier to see on this coin compared to the 2009 ultra high relief Saint Gaudens double eagle thanks to the larger size of this coin and it non-proof strike (it's less shiny). The Capitol on this coin is clearly visible and it is obvious that it is the Capitol while on the 2009 coin you can hardly make out the Capitol. It's a real shame that the Mint didn't either use more gold and charge more money for the 2009 coin or perhaps create a second variant of the coin that used two troy ounces of gold.
As for the medal, the obverse design actually looks quite good compared to the photographs. For whatever reason, in-hand, Liberty's face doesn't look like she ran into a glass plate. I still don't like the reverse very much and think that it might have been much more appealing had the American flag been in the background of the eagle, textured, as the flag behind Liberty in the Walking Liberty obverse and the eagle having feathered wings instead of a flag for wings. I do like the detail of the stars on the flag, though.
All in all, I am actually glad I bought this set. The Saint Gaudens coin is different enough from the 2009 Ultra High Relief, the yearly proof gold eagles, and not insanely priced numismatic Saint Gaudens coins that I would have wanted this coin whether it came with the medal or not. As for the medal, it's much nicer-looking in-hand than the photographs suggest and even if the medal were optional, I would want it. The only medal I did not like in the whole Best of the Mint series is the one that came with the Walking Liberty gold coin.
This whole series has been a winner, in my opinion, albeit unpleasantly expensive. Speaking of price, I just realized something. For the price of the one ounce Liberty Bell gold coin, a person could have purchased all five sets of the Best of the Mint series and still have about $4,000 in his pocket. Viewed from that perspective, this was a bargain.
Comments
Always send registered if over 5k.
Overnight is extremely secure also, but 5K limit, and very expensive.
Priority mail insurance does not cover bullion. Must be sent Registered for insurance to be valid.
it's numismatic in the strictest sense of the word
It is US legal tender coinage, not bullion. Why should it matter, 5K is 5K.? Can you backup your claim?
Regardless, the package had BOM5 and a 2026 Morgan in it, so it was $6000 and priority mail maxes out at $5k. Regarding what's covered, AI says that standard priority mail insurance doesn't cover bullion past $15.00. It says you can combine Priority mail with Registered mail to get the higher insurance amount.
If I had to guess, they don't want to insure bullion because, by definition, it's fungible, and if you shipped a gold bar last week, and it was lost (or "lost") this week, well, gold is 10% cheaper this week, so you'd make a profit. Any product bought from the Mint will have a receipt, so the only problem is convincing them that the box you shipped actually had 10 gold buffaloes in it, and not a bunch of Eisenhower half dollars
I think this qualifies as a numismatic item, not bullion.
I could even make an argument that it's art.
To avoid any hassles or issues, why not simply send Registered? Sure, it takes longer and costs a bit more but I've never lost a package that way in decades of shipping coins and bullion. Can't say that about priority or express mail.
That said, my preferred method is always show drop off.
All other things being equal, Registered is less than Priority. This is because the insurance is less because its more secure so the risk is less.
When I went to send in my 1804, I asked the person at the PO if I could insure it for $6000. She said "Sure!" and then tapped away at the screen for a few minutes and said "It won't let me go past $5000. Sorry. There's no way to insure it for over $5k." Now, if I (or she) had been better informed, I would have told her to send it registered. I'll probably do that with the St. Gaudens next week, although the way things are going, it won't be WORTH $5000.
Mildly annoyed that BOM5 is down $100 and mine won't arrive until Monday. Probably end up being down another $100 in a week. FOMO is a PITA.
can't you insure registered mail for up to 50k? i only send gold via registered mail, and i send my silver via regular mail when grading.
Yes, that’s what we’ve been saying
I finally received this set and the coin and medal look much nicer than I had expected. The detail on the Saint Gaudens double eagle is much easier to see on this coin compared to the 2009 ultra high relief Saint Gaudens double eagle thanks to the larger size of this coin and it non-proof strike (it's less shiny). The Capitol on this coin is clearly visible and it is obvious that it is the Capitol while on the 2009 coin you can hardly make out the Capitol. It's a real shame that the Mint didn't either use more gold and charge more money for the 2009 coin or perhaps create a second variant of the coin that used two troy ounces of gold.
As for the medal, the obverse design actually looks quite good compared to the photographs. For whatever reason, in-hand, Liberty's face doesn't look like she ran into a glass plate. I still don't like the reverse very much and think that it might have been much more appealing had the American flag been in the background of the eagle, textured, as the flag behind Liberty in the Walking Liberty obverse and the eagle having feathered wings instead of a flag for wings. I do like the detail of the stars on the flag, though.
All in all, I am actually glad I bought this set. The Saint Gaudens coin is different enough from the 2009 Ultra High Relief, the yearly proof gold eagles, and not insanely priced numismatic Saint Gaudens coins that I would have wanted this coin whether it came with the medal or not. As for the medal, it's much nicer-looking in-hand than the photographs suggest and even if the medal were optional, I would want it. The only medal I did not like in the whole Best of the Mint series is the one that came with the Walking Liberty gold coin.
This whole series has been a winner, in my opinion, albeit unpleasantly expensive.
Speaking of price, I just realized something. For the price of the one ounce Liberty Bell gold coin, a person could have purchased all five sets of the Best of the Mint series and still have about $4,000 in his pocket. Viewed from that perspective, this was a bargain.