It will be a very busy week for the U.S. Mint in the next seven days, with three coin releases coming up. Two of them are very high-profile coins, including the first of the new Lincoln Cent designs, (the Log Cabin Penny), and the Lincoln Commemorative Dollar. The third coin, launching on Feb. 16 (Presidents Day) is the William Henry Harrison Presidential Dollar. Both Lincoln coins officially go on sale tomorrow, (Thursday) Feb. 12, but as of right now, the only one that you will be able to buy on the Mint's Web site is the Lincoln Commemorative - assuming you can snag one before they sell out!
As I was the first to report last Friday, the new pennies probably won't be circulating very well. Coinage is coming into banks much faster than it is going out, resulting in a reversal of the normal coinage flow. What I expect will happen is that the few metropolitan areas in the U.S. that do get the new pennies will see them disappear almost instantly from banks, as eBay entrepreneurs seek to take advantage of the perceived rarity.
My recommendation is to sit tight if you don't see the new pennies right away. The U.S. Mint is planning to sell them as soon as their slow-turning bureaucratic wheels can get a sales program up on their Web site (and perhaps more importantly, stock to their fulfillment center.) In time, the pennies will make their way to commerce, even if the Federal Reverse Bank has to take special measures to ensure that they move. There is going to be a very high demand for these coins, but the numbers being struck are also very high - it is expected that at least a billion of each design will be struck at each of the two regular Mints (Philadelphia and Denver.) That's plenty to go around!
I did a quick spot-check of about 30 different banks in 10 different cities yesterday (3 different major banks in each) and was surprised and annoyed to learn that most tellers I spoke to didn't even know about the new pennies yet! Among those that had heard of them, not one had received any yet (and I asked them to go to the vault and check, too, to make sure of the stock.) Amusingly, one teller in Las Vegas that hadn't known about the new pennies said she actually did have 40 boxes of them in the vault! Then she asked me if it was okay to to sell them yet, and I told her, "Sure, go for it," hehehe.
A number of readers have asked if the U.S. Mint will sell the new pennies through the Direct Ship Program to help them reach circulation. My contact at the Mint says this is very unlikely. The Direct Ship Program was created specifically for the $1 coins, and there are no plans to add other denominations to the program at this time. It is possible that the Mint might sell regular pennies at a mark-up, though. They will certainly be selling special numismatic (coin collector) versions later in the year, including some which are struck on 95% copper blanks, like the original Lincoln Cents.
Lincoln Commemorative Dollars
A month ago, the Lincoln Commemorative Dollars were rated as an easy sell-out by coin market experts. Today, they're not so sure. The news on the economy has been especially bad this past couple of weeks, and although the coin market is holding up fairly well, there is some softness in higher-priced material. Also feeling the crunch are the TV shopping show dealers. It is these latter dealers that would probably create the primary market for the Lincoln Commemorative Dollar. If they decide not to "go with it" for this coin, who knows what the sales might ultimately be like?
One of the factors that make certain commemorative coins appealing to these dealers is that they can acquire vast numbers of them early on. The Mint sets a limit of 100 coins per household for the first several weeks, and as I explain in my article about how coin dealers get around the one-per-person limit on coins, they buy tens of thousands of these commemoratives using the same tactics. (Some of these guys have hundreds of contract-buyers.)
I think that when the Lincoln Commemorative Dollar goes on sale tomorrow at 12 noon ET, it will be an "either-or" situation. Either the coin sells out quickly, or these dealers decide not to play and sales chug along at a decent pace but everyone who wants one will get one. My advice? Be there on time, just in case.
Later this year, in late Spring or early Summer, the Mint will issue a special set containing the Lincoln Commemorative Dollar and the four 2009 Lincoln Cents struck in copper. This set will be limited to 50,000 units. I think everyone expects this one to be an instant sellout, but if the economy keeps tanking, the price might make the key difference.
Other U.S. Mint News
Without any warning, the U.S. Mint put its new Return Policy into effect yesterday morning. I saw the big red notice on the Mint's Web site around 8:30 am when I went to check on my UHR order to see if it had shipped yet (it hadn't). Shortly before the end of the day, the Mint issued a statement about the new policy. What it boils down to is that Mint customers no longer have 30 days to decide that they want to return a product. The return period is now 7 days. The rest of the sale terms are apparently unchanged.
I still haven't been able to get an explanation from the Mint regarding the shipping snafu related to the Ultra-High Relief (UHR) Double Eagles! My first query about this dates back 2 weeks to January 27! They have put me off on a nearly daily basis, promising it the next morning, practically every day during this time frame! If it wasn't for the fact that the Mint is a government bureaucracy (and we all know how efficient such bureaucracies can be) I would think they were trying to hide something!
Several readers speculated about the possible causes of the snafu (which included numerous emails to UHR buyers giving conflicting dates for the shipment of their coins, most dates of which differed from what appeared in the customer's record on the Mint's Web site.) Perhaps the best speculation came from Clair Alan Hardesty, who said:
Since the website originally set the ship date at 28JAN and we know they had coins ready to go on the 22nd, maybe they did not have all of the other materials in stock (the new 27mm X 4mm capsules, the wood boxes, the COAs, etc.) at that time (hence the initial 6 day delay to ship). It may well be that either something still has not come in, or something was way wrong (the capsules did not fit?) and the mint is reluctant to admit that they are holding up a $1,200 order for a 10 cent part. The fact that they are putting Susan off on the explanation lends credence to the notion that it is something embarrassing.
In one of my own speculations about the UHR shipping delays, I wondered if the U.S. Mint might have changed fulfillment contractors again. Yesterday I was able to confirm the fact that they had, effective Jan. 1, 2009. The Mint dumped PFS-Web, their previous fulfillment contractor, in favor of Pitney-Bowes Government Solutions. This was the reason the fulfillment center moved from Memphis, TN to Plainfield, IN. The fulfillment contractor also provides the 800-number phone service (although the phone number will not change). It is unclear whether Pitney-Bowes has this contract as a subcontractor to Accenture, or whether the Mint has gotten rid of them, too. You might recall that Accenture was allegedly partially responsible for the incredible 8-day total outage of the U.S. Mint Web site just a little over a year ago today.
It will be interesting to see whether the Mint ever comes clean about this latest Web site mess. The longer they refuse to provide answers, the more I suspect that something truly humiliating has occurred. Otherwise, what's the big secret? ;)
Do you plan to buy the Lincoln Commemoratve Dollar? Why or why not? Share your comments below!
Comments
Just gotta say it, the mint is a government agency and SAYS that they are trying to encourage coin collecting. BUT pricing the UHR double Eagle and the other coins sets at astronomical levels is just alienating many small collectors.
I will NEVER buy a UHR Double Eagle at the $300+ premium price; at those prices I’ll buy up 2010 Olympic Maple Leaf gold coins. The US Mint is pandering to big business instead of keeping prices under control so more collectors can enjoy their products.
Hi Sue! Yeah, i’ll probably buy one or two. If i’m there on time to get one. All the better. After this SITUATION NORMAL ALL FAC### UP thingy, i’ll be taking my time. Hast makes waste in my book. So i’ll just mozey on over to the mint when i get there. Then see where i go from there. Idon’t care about those T.V. hacks making a market anyway. I’ll buy it because i want it. It has potential without T.V. hacks. As i remember it, one of them had claimed to be the first to come up with the first strike designation. That didn’t do our hobby any favors.
Later Sue!
coiny
Yep. I’m in. I hope they do sell out, just not before I order mine!
Good luck everyone!
~The Yankee~
Guess I am one of the lucky ones. I ordered mine w/in the first hour of sale. It was shipped on the 6th of Feb and I had it in my little hands on the 10th. What a Beautiful coin. Well worth the money and wait. I wonder how much it wil lbe worth in 10 years? hmm
The Mint has been disappointing wit how they’ve handled the UHR coins. I’m also not one to firstly criticize them as a first impulse. But, when they say orders will be processed IN ORDER, then they should stand by that. Keith D ordered within the first hour. I ordered within the first half house and my order is still in process.
I called customer service yesterday and the lady told me that NONE of them have shipped yet. She could see all the orders. I pointed her to Susan’s blog. And the lady told me that it’s possible that the guy knew Ed Moy. Well, there are other reports of shipped coins. It’s further proof that these representatives just don’t know what they are talking about.
Anyway, this is a great blog. Very informative. Thank you for your information gathering on behalf of the collector community Susan. I’m very anxious to see your pictures of your Pilly Mint visit.
My UHRDEGC (if you try to pronounce that it sounds like you have a hairball) was ordered just 21 minutes after sales started and I still don’t have it. I am hoping it arrives today as the mint charged my CC on Monday.
I do plan on buying the Lincoln dollars (probably a couple of each varity) mainly because it is a part of history, as are many of the mints products, that will become part of a very nice collection to pass on to our children.
As to the price of the UHRDE, yes it is high but it is NOT a bullion product. If you want to pay bullion prices, buy bullion coins. The UHRDE cost a lot to develop, and if the mint wants to be allowed to continue to spend large up front development costs for unique products, it has to make a profit on every one of them.
Bullion coins do not come in capsules and wood boxes with books and COAs, they come 20 or more stacked in a tube, in boxes of 500 or more. Die used to produce bullion coins yield tens of thousands of coins, the die for the UHRDE might produce 100 coins (and I think that might be a high number). Bullion coins are mass produced by largely unattended machines running around the clock, the UHRDE is struct twice under very high force and hand held in and out of the press one at a time by white gloved men & women who care about what they are doing.
I just don’t think congress would let the mint make products like the UHRDE if they did not return some serious profit. If it was a break even deal, it would not happen.
I pretty much agree with Clair. The UHR is a special coin. I expected it to be priced higher. I’m curious as to why they didn’t make it a proof coin. Does the bowl shape have some impact on the ability to mint this coin as a proof?
BTW – I ordered on Jan 22. Still no UHR yet but I have received the other items (not the UHR book) that I also ordered that day… AND an item that I ordered just this past Sunday – yes, three days ago – has already shipped.
The Mint should try to, bump up in the queue, orders that contain multiple items. If they can ship the items together they’d save a “mint” on shipping charges. Sort of encouragement to get people to buy multiple items.
Dave, even though the mint refers to the URHDE as a business strike coin, it is essentially a proof coin. It is struck twice, on specially prepared planchets, with more than normal force and handled in a manner befitting proof coinage. The non-planar fields do increase the difficulty of producing the mirror finish that we have come to associate with modern proofs, but it is important to remember that proof coinage in 1907 (particularly with respect to gold coins of the time) was different than today. Several style of proof coinage were made, most with some sort of sand blasted or otherwise subdued surfaces. Thus, the UHRDE as produced is probably more in keeping with Saint-Gaudens’ original intent.
If the UHC is intended as a “collectible” then why would they have an unlimited mintage planned? It is just a fancy overpriced gold coin, and will probably be as good an investment as the First Spouse series. Sounds like bullion to me.
I have more problem with the way the US Mint does business. Just wait until they start canceling orders, they have done it to me before. On Jan 4 I ordered 3 of the Celebration Buffalo Gold coins from the Mint for $968 each, that week they announced their new higher pricing scheme and then canceled my order on about the 20th, no email, no message, just canceled the order. (and no my credit card wasn’t expired or declined!) If any coin dealer did that they would have very upset customers, but with the Mint I don’t have any recourse.
I just got off the phone with a very rude customer service agent at the Mint. She refused to believe me that ANY orders for the UHR gold coin shipped even after I offered her proof by referencing this blog, the PCGS forums, and eBay.
She told me that my order was on back order until the 18th and could be pushed back further (up to 6-9 months), even though my order was placed within the first half hour of sales. She would not budge one bit that the Mint made a mistake and though I was friendly in my approach, she refused to see my point of view (That the Mint is not following rules they set out with regards to coin orders)
The fact that The Mint has yet to give Susan any answers on this situation is further proof that they made a huge blunder on this one.
I, along with others, don’t honestly know when we’ll get our coins. It could take 6-9 months, even though we ordered the first day (according to the mean customer service rep.)
It could take that long, unless they cancel our order, like what happened to ChowderCoin.
I just ordered four of the Lincoln silver dollars (2 proof & 2 uncirculated). We’ll see how these orders go, they say they are on back order until the 19th. Order placed and accepted at 12:05 EST.
I honestly believe that the troubles with theses mint orders stem from the whole “fulfillment” system. It is clearly not in best the interest of customers, and I don’t think it is really in the mint’s best interests to have a third party, for-profit business handling collector orders from the US Mint. Customers and the mint should be in direct contact with each other, and information should flow freely both ways. Promises made should become promises kept and obligations entered into should be seen to just conclusions. Perhaps the US Mint should join ANA and agree to abide by ANA rules (for collector products). Farming out order fulfillment has caused so many problems over the years (some of then serious) that I can not imagine that it has saved the mint any money, especially when one considers the business lost to poor customer service.
When I buy something “as seen on TV” (OK I never do that), I expect the products to be shipped from someone’s garage or rented wharehouse space and I don’t expect them to know anything about what they are selling. When I buy from the US Mint I want my coins to be shipped from West Point, Philadelphia, San Francisco, or Denver and I expect the people on the other end of the phone to understand their products and customers, and have up to the minute information. I expect honesty, even if it is bad news, from the US Mint. I expect “first-come, first-served”, when stated over and over (as it has been in the case of the UHRDE) to be honored to the fullest extent possible.
I think the mint owes the people of this country an open and honest explanation of the recent problems with order processing and web site handling and I think we are due a well thought out plan for a future that has no such issues.
End rant.
I just did some calculations (because I do that a lot) and from January 16th (when I ordered a subcription for proof sets) through today (the Lincoln dollars), the mint has taken just over 160,000 orders. This works out to just over 4 orders per minute on average, well below their long term average of about 6 orders per minute. So, even with the flurry of activity associated with the UHRDE, orders are way down at the mint (as one would expect, we are the same people not buying new cars or TV sets in today’s economy). This fact takes away any load based reasons for poor order handling in recent weeks, as average work load is clearly reduced over the same period last year (and years before). With business down 33%, service ought to improve!
Just thought I would share that. I love hard data.
Hi Folks,
Placed an order within 20 minutes for 6 proof and 3 uncirculated Lincoln Silver dollars. Tried to place a second order for 6 and 3 more after 40 min and the order was suspended by the mint. I guess they are limiting the number of coins to well below 100. Sellout?
Funny thing about the EBay listings for the UHRs… most are still pre-sales and the one or two who “claim” to have the coin have not posted actual pictures of their coin. Hmmmm… For the life of me I can’t figure why people will go to EBay for something like this when they can just get it from the Mint for several hundred dollars less. They’re bidding them up to $1,700 already!
A few here or at other blogs have said they’ve received theirs…. I hope that’s true.
The UHRs should not have brought the fulfillment center to a halt. I’m sure they anticipate selling way more than ~40K coins of the Lincolns in the first couple of weeks and it takes just as long to put a $40 coin in a shipping box as it does a $1,200 coin.
I ordered 4 each of the Lincolns – proofs and uncirculated (within the first 20 minutes)… and they’re supposed to ship within a week.
Just submitted my order for the Lincoln Commemorative coins (5 ea) and look forward to getting them in March. Should be a great present for the kids this year.
Does anyone know if your price is locked in when you submit an order to the mint or do they adjust the price upon shipping?
“Does anyone know if your price is locked in when you submit an order to the mint or do they adjust the price upon shipping?”
According to the Mint, your product price is locked in when you place your order.
Just noticed on the Mint web site that they have extended the shipping date to: Product will be available for shipping 02/27/2009.
Does that mean that the coins we bought today at noon that the shipping date (2/19/2009) will go out the window?
Charlie, it should only mean that new orders will ship in a second batch starting on the 27th. Only the proof coin has had its date pushed out (which makes sense since typically more proofs are ordered). Most orders placed while the website still said the 19th should ship next week.
Morning.
I have a question. Where on the US Mint website does it say anything about prices being “Locked In” when you place your order?
With all due respect, I’ve found nothing about anything regarding that. In fact they reserve the right to change any or all of the information on their website at any given time, with or without notice, for the best interest of the Mint. This would even include the new Price Grid and should it prove to not be working beneficially to the Mint, they could just can it, right?
So what’s to keep them from changing a price on a particular product in mid-stream? They did it last year with the American Eagles. I ordered them when they were about $18 dollars, but by the time they had shipped Silver had spiked & I was charged almost $25 dollars.
The new price grid only has Gold & Platinum listed, as well. So is silver vulnerable to unexpected hikes or price changes?
Just curious…
~The Yankee~
Hi Yankee! Te mint can cancel orders at any time for any reason. So the lockin price as far as i can tell, is only for the week … or period it holds for. As the increments go up to where it requires a hange, the price will ratchet up to the next level. As far as silver, i doubt there is a lock in period, uless it states it as such. I bought the CLSD this morning at their introductory price! I had no clue what that meant. I wanted the coins. Introductory or not. What a surprise that was. I thought they wee on sale or something. What the heck is their introductory price??? Wanna talk about confusion?! One more think before i leave. What happened to the limit of one coin per household, i didn’t see a limit, so i orderd 6 – 3 of each. So we’ll see what happens from here. Order confirmed. Back orderd, both products. That’s nothing new for me. You? Later yankee!
coiny
Coiny, many commemeratives, like the CLSD, sell at a reduced price for the first month or so of sales, then the price increases slightly for the rest of the year. For the Lincoln coins, the price break is $4 for the proofs and $2 for the uncirculated version, with prices increasing for orders placed on of after March 16th. Also, for the Lincoln coins the household order limit is 100 coins, not one coin (like for the UHRDE). The total mintage for the Lincoln dollars is currently set at 500,000 coins (proof & UNC combined). Sales seem brisk and the subject is popular, so a sellout seems possible eventually, but not in the timeframe like the Franklin dollars (2006) or the Buffalo dollars (2001) which sold out in the first few weeks. I notice that the proof Lincolns have been pushed to April delivery for new orders (appropriately April 1st) while the UNC version still says a Feb 19 ship is possible.
Proofs normally outsell uncirculated versions of commemerative dollars, and this usually results in the uncirculated dollars having a slight higher long term price on the secondary market. Very few of the modern silver commemeratives have become truly valuable as investments (the 2001 Buffalo @ ~$200, and some that barely sold when originally offered like some of the UNC olympic dollars from vi which fetch ~$300 today), but virtually all have at least held their values. I suppose the real test comes long after we are gone, once the coins are passed on to generations yet to come. Many of the modern gold commemeratives (mainly becuase of very low mintage) have appreciated quite well.
Thank you clair for the information. I don’t think the above is to bad of a return for silver commemoratives. Although i haven’t kept track of prices, i really didn’t get back in to collecting till about 2/3 years ago. Any purchases from the mint before 06 was probably around 02/03 in that area. There was a large gap between purchases. Nothing ever before that. Alot of the commemorative you’ve mentioned i’m not familar with. Problly haven’t seen the coins either. Maybe i’ll come across them in my searches.
coiny
Yankee, where did the $18 price for SAEs come from? The 2006 unc SAE (introductory year) was produced in relatively small quantities at the end of the year and was priced at $19.95 (I got 3 of the early ones that came in the velvet pouches). I then set up a subscription for 5 a year and got my 2007 coins near mid-year and they were priced at $21.95. For 2008, I received my coins in March (but missed out on the 2007 reverse version) and the price was set at $25.95. The W mint-mark SAEs have never been $18 as far as I know (and these and the proofs are the only ones you get directly from the mint), and I never saw any prices other than the ones mentioned above. The mint does not sell bullion (no mint mark) coins through the web site (or over the phone).
It does not look like we are going to get any of the SAEs (proof or unc) early this year, the mint web site has yet to even mention any American Eagle or Buffalo coins in the product schedule. The gold & silver 2009 bullion coins are on the market (but only the full ounce gold is out there), but I have yet to see any 2009 platinum products. The blanks for the W mint-mark coins come from the same supply chain as the bullion versions (and then are specially prepared and handled prior to minting), so the bullion demand may affecting availability.
The planchets used for commemerative silver dollars are different (90% silver, 10% copper), they contain 0.77346 Toz of silver. They should be available, since this material is not used in huge quantities. Ninety percent silver is also used for the mint’s silver proof annual sets, but those coins contain even less silver than the dollars (0.7234 Toz per $1 face value). The 2009 silver proof set will contain $2.10 face value in silver coins (1 half dollar, 6 quarters, and one dime) for a total of ~1.52 Toz of silver.
The percentage markup on silver is very high (even on the bullion market) mostly because of overhead. It costs as much to produce & deliver an ounce of silver coin as an ounce of gold coin.
The mint’s commerative products include a surcharge that goes to the organization(s) that requested the coin be made, so they are priced even higher than the SAEs.
Hi Clair,
I stand partially corrected at the prices for the UC AE’s. They were being sold for $21.95 (early 07) but by the time they shipped they were $25.95 and that’s what I was charged. I’m fully aware of the 3 different types of the AE’s (since 06′) and buy what the Mint has and get the 3rd one from another source.
The Mint used to have a disclaimer on the actual product description: “prices subject to change without notice”. That disclaimer has since been removed, but still resides (somewhat) in their Terms section. My point is that I’m not convinced that anything the Mint sells is “Locked In” and I’ve seen nothing on their website that says that.
I was just curious about it because I’ve seen it said on several sites and all they say is “according to the Mint” but nobody can say how or where they got that info.
This doesn’t keep me from ordering from the Mint, nor will it in the future. You won’t get any coin(s) the Mint offers any cheaper once it leaves the Mint, right? I merely wanted to enlighten some folks that the Mints rules can change at anytime, for any reason and the terms are in place for the best interest of the Mint.
Thank You for all the extra info you included regarding silver coins & such, too.
The Yankee~
Susan did an article on price guarantees for U.S. Mint purchases on Jan 26 [U.S. Mint Guarantees Bullion Pricing]. According to her article she was informed by the U.S. Mint that the price is locked in at the time of purchase.
I’d be shocked if the Mint actually changed a customer’s price after the order was submitted and accepted. I would think there would be some legal statute preventing this *unless* it was clearly (not tiny print) stated in their policy. When we buy from the Mint we are basically entering into a contract of sale aren’t we? Incidentally, I can’t find anything on the Mint’s FAQ pages that address pricing policies.
The reputable bullion dealers clearly state how their pricing policy works and the ones I deal with (mainly APMEX and Gainesville Coins) lock in your price once you commit.
That’s a bummer Yankee that they changed your price. Did you call and complain?
Yankee, I did not realize that the price had gone up to $25.95 during 2007 for the SAEs. I stopped watching the price after I received mine and did not see the increase until the 2008s were coming out.
I do know that under old policies, especially with subscription orders (which still follow old rules), the mint sets the price shortly before shipping. They send a notice (via email) telling you what the price will be and giving you time to cancel your subscription or update your credit card info. They don’t let you skip a year on subscription orders, if you want to do that you have to cancel, then re-subscribe the next year.
I agree that the mint has not made the policy of fixing the price at time of order for anything other than the UHRDE clear. I would like to see them put that policy in writing, stating under exactly what conditions orders, once accepted, can be canceled by either party (and changes in spot prices should not be a valid reason for cancelling an order without penalty). I think that, like other dealers, there should be some sort of penalty for a buyer canceling an order before shipment. I do not believe that the penalty at the mint should be as severe as it can be at some bullion dealers, but if we expect the mint to honor its commitments, we should be willing to honor ours.
When we order gold, platinum, and in the future, palladium products, we expect the mint to acquire sufficient bullion to produce the products at a profit at time of order. Silver is different. Silver is so cheap and silver products are priced at a high enough margin, that prices ought to hold for extended periods. When radical spikes occur in the price of silver, orders can be suspended for short periods (like before) to prevent speculators from buying mint products for their raw value. In any case, once the mint accepts an order, the price should be fixed, and orders should not be canceled by the mint unless it is unable to produce the product (for instance, some products can not be sold after a certain date, as set by congress).
Dave, there is one mint product that has regularly been available in the secondary market for less than the original mint price and that is the American Legacy Collection series (2005-2008). The markup on these sets is so high that the secondary market can’t support it. The secondary market puts little value on packaging, no matter how unique it is (unless it has some intrinsic value of its own).
My biggest dissapointment is that the mint has not figured this all out before. They seem to be fumbling with a process that is well defined and accepted in the industry. This should not be this hard, and I still believe that the use of third party, for-profit, fulfillment contractors is a major part of the problem. The mint has isolated itself from its cusomters, and does not understand that all we want is honesty and fairness and open communication. Individual coins, and coin sets that carried no packaging premium, are almost always cheaper to buy from the mint during the year of issue.
Dave & Clair,
I’m going to dig up my receipts for the AE’s so I can tell you the more exact dates of when this happened. It’s not so much the money, I reckon it’s more the principle of things.
Thanks… (I’ll be back)
~The Yankee~
Well, the worst case scenario is unfolding. Friday, the mint shut off the Track Order pages and today they removed the charge for the UHRDE from my credit card. It had been there for a week as pending and I was waiting for it to fully post so I could be sure that they had shipped but now all bets are off. No explanations, no information, no emails, no coins. The last email I received (on 03FEB) had 18FEB as the expected ship date, we’ll see if that too comes and goes without communication from the mint. I am very dissapointed in the performance of the mint and their fulfillment contractors. They entered into a contract and made a promise to process orders on a first-in, first-out basis and deliver at the price in effect at the time of order. Calling the 800 robot tells me that my order is “still in processing” so hopefully that means that they have not decided to start cancelling our orders. To place a $1200 hold on my CC for a week and then simply remove it without any communication is just wrong. A simple “whoops, we’re sorry”, “damn,we built the boxes wrong”, or “Mr. Foy misspelled his name on the COA” would be greatly appreciated. They claimed that they had enough coins minted to fill all of the first day’s orders and they have not even filled the first half-hour yet.
Mr Moy. my intentional misspelling of your name in my claim that you might have misspelled it was a joke! Please send the coin anyway (I am not a very good commedian, I am an engineer).
Seriously though, would it really be that hard to let the collecting community what the real hold-up is regarding the UHRDE? We are more than willing to forgive mistakes, mis-steps, and just plain screw-ups. We are less willing to forgive CYAs. In this case, silence is clearly NOT golden.
Morning Clair, or anyone else following along.
I told ya I’d be back! BUT…
I’m going to move this part of the discussion to the forum area so as not to clog up this particular string. It’s also about time for Sue to move it to the archives, since it’s been here a little while & she’s probably got some new stuff ta post.
Look in the forum under:
US Coins then Mint Pricing
CYA Soon,
~The Yankee~
Clair,
I’m assuming that yer CC is up to date & stuff, right? OK, so providing that’s in order perhaps the fulfillment center & the Mint are on different pages regarding the new pricing grid? There could be a glich with that information.
Just a thought…
~The Yankee~
Me Again…
I just had a thought… What if they found some sort of odd error & they’re suspending shipment until they resolve it, just like they did with the 08′ Silver Eagles? hmmm?
~The Yankee~
I love my UHRDE. I wonder if I am the only one in the world who actually got one from the Mint. Could it fetch more then the infamous 1933 UHRDE?
KTD, in a word, NO. Also the 1933 Double Eagle was not UHR, it was reduced relief like all other production Saints. The reality, however, with the mint currently holding on to the UHRDEs, is that you probably could sell the one you have for a lot more than you paid for it. That will change as soon as the mint starts shipping in earnest, so if you are going to sell it, do it now.
My comment! Ok … I gave that a thought. More errors. The mint was kind enough to tell the collector world last time it happend. It’s pretty interseting & more intreging all this running silent. Any good imagination can conjure up something good about the saints. Yeah, there may be alot of peoed people [customers]. Look at the coverage this coin is getting in the news, with all the mystery surounding it. It has gotten ALOT of attention lately. Good for the mint. Maybe not! Didn’t cost a nickel in advertising. Can’t beat that. Speaking of the CLSD. That’s not to bad a price, because not so long ago, i think it was the silver bald eagle commemorative. I paid somewhere around $45 dollars each. If ihave to go looking for my recipts, it could take awhile. Yankee! You might remember that? I know it wasn’t that long ago.
coiny
It appears that the hold up with the UHRs might involve a dispute between the U.S. Mint and UPS over signature requirements for package deliveries. The Mint’s current contract with UPS apparently makes no mention of requiring a signature for packages valued at greater than $300… something like that… UPS has been leaving very expensive packages from the Mint on people’s doorsteps and the Mint got wind of it.
This would explain why the Mint is being so quiet about all this. They don’t want to get flooded with claims from devious individuals who claim they didn’t receive their coin – knowing the Mint can’t prove that they did.
I can confirm that. Last Sprin I purchased a 1/10 oz. and 1/4th oz Proof Buffalo and I had to go to DHL and sign for them. But the UHC was just left at my front door by UPS. To say I was a bit pissed would be an understatement.
Coiny,
The Bald Eagle Proof was 39.95
The Baldie coin & medal set was 44.95
Hope that helps ya out…
~The Yankee~
Well, the mint is at again. This time they have taken the whole website offline for “maintenance”. They also have now put a charge pending on my CC (last night) for my order of four Lincoln dollars, again with no communication (They are supposed to ship when they charge, and supposed to notify when they ship). Today is the date specified as the ship date for my UHRDE in tha last email I got from the mint (on Feb 3rd). With the web site closed, they have virtually shut down ordering and order tracking to a trickle. Still, no explanation of any kind from the mint. My originally reported ship date for my Lincoln dollars (from the order receipt email) is tommorow, so as long as they don’t pull another fast one, they will meet that date.
Unfortunately, my Lincolns are taking the slow boat. As many of you know the mint has found the slowest available shipping method in existence for their $4.95 shipping method. It used to go from the fulfillment people to DHL, which walked it to a large post office hub, and then it was sent parcel post to your home post office where it waited for a slow mail day for delivery. I actually did have one order disappear in transit (in USPS hands). It was my 2008 uncirculated set. I think that FedEx is handling the DHL portion now (unless the new fulfillment contractor has changed carriers).
My last order received from the mint was a bundle of direct ship golden dollars (2009 Sacagawea w/new reverse) which I ordered the same day as my UHRDE. It only spent eight days in transit (six days from the fulfillment center to the Dallas,TX post office hub). It still boggles me that mint puts $250 in literally hard cash in the mail (but I have had three such packages delivered without incident). My biggest fear is that the local carrier will mark it as delivered and not do so, we have had some pretty shady substitute carriers around here.
On the http://www.usmint.gov website (the leadin to the on line catalog), they have RSS links to press releases and other mint news. The last “press release and public statement” was on January 22, 2008, and the last “product information update” came on January 10, 2008! The last “presidential coin news” was on June 22, 2008, and the last “United States mint website update” posted on November 20, 2007. Eight months of dead silence on mint news feeds on their own website!
they just sent me email sending out my one lincoln silver proof, wow if they could have put the UHR in the same box as the shipping date on it is tomorrow lol at least something is coming out of the new wherehouse