Numismatic ATB 5oz Silver Coins

Hard to believe that these have not sold out! If the bullion coins were "all that and a bag of chips" it boggles the mind that these are still available.

I doubt that this series will be completed due to lack of interest and skyrocketing bullion prices. The CME today raised margins AGAIN for the third time is five days! By December they will require 100% cash payments for paper silver! The monkeys are pulling out ALL the stops to hold silver below $50. Check out a 7-10 day silver chart and you'll see what I mean. By the time the Mint finishes the series silver will be at $400 oz. $279 per coin will seem cheap at that time.

Bill

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Permalink Reply by Indentured Servant on February 20, 2012 at 8:23pm

Nate, you have to keep in mind that the US Mint is "of the government, by the government & for the government". Recall the 25th anniversary silver eagle set.......beautiful coins packaged improperly so that capsules and coins came loose in shipping, limit of five per household pissed everyone off, website crashed as usual. Prior to that the ATB 5oz fiasco. The UHR nightmare. I could go on and on. Don't set your expectations too high and you will not be disappointed.

Bill

Nate said:

Captain - I'm new to this hobby as of about a year ago. Dare I ask what 2009 was like? I haven't been impressed with the mint's organization so far either. I keep waiting for them to update their release schedule but there hasn't been any progress there since the beginning of the year.

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Permalink Reply by Clair Alan Hardesty on February 21, 2012 at 8:16am

Most of the horrors are the fault of PBGS, the private for-profit company that runs order taking and fulfillment under contract with the mint. The 25th anniversary issue, which could and should have been solved with a small piece of 1/4" foam placed inside the display case, is the mint's fault all the way. I am still of the opinion that the five set limit was completely logical based on past experience and that it only caused some uproar because of the unpredicted infusion of non-numismatic buyers trying to make a fast buck on a product they know nothing about. I also think things would have been worse if the system had been able to handle the traffic unless some sort of system was in place to prevent programmed buying (which doesn't exist today).

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Permalink Reply by Nate on February 21, 2012 at 12:04pm

Clair, your disgust at PBGS has certainly been well documented lately. I think your comments are warranted, but I disagree that the Mint doesn't deserve to share a lot of blame. It was the Mint who bungled 2010 AtB bullion production causing low mintages, leading to a subsequent false buying frenzy and then failed at delivering a smooth plan for sell-through to customers (I do appreciate their efforts to stop APs from price-gauging on that one though). It was the Mint who crammed ten AtB 5 oz. releases in less than a year saturating the market. It was the Mint who completely misunderstood their customers when setting maximum mintage limits on the 2011 AtB bullion and then decided to liberally reinterpret the law so that they can continue selling off their unsold inventory. It was the Mint who was similarly clueless about customer demand for the 2011 Anniversary set. It was the Mint's order system that regularly frustrated many buyers trying to place orders for popular products throughout the year (2011 anniversary set, Hot Springs as the first 5 oz. Unc AtB and past order fiascos that I have not been a part of). And it's the Mint who has given zero update on product release schedules since the beginning of the year.

I like some of the products the Mint has to offer. I'm a fan of the AtB 5 oz AtB series and I like the idea of a new special eagle set that the mint is contemplating (based on the anniversary set there certainly seems to be a lot of demand for special eagles to support it). I appreciate the Mint's price cuts on some of their just released silver products - it's great that they are able and willing to pass on some cost reductions. I also like their concentrated product lineup - other world mints (Perth, RCM) have some interesting quirky products and innovations but they have some much it's overwhelming and much of it is doomed to the scrap bin. There are some positives to be said for the US Mint but in my brief 2-year experience they leave a lot to be desired in terms of organization, production, scheduling, communication, being in touch with their customers and having their pulse on the market.

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Permalink Reply by Clair Alan Hardesty on February 24, 2012 at 11:39am

The mint is repricing the AtB-P and the 2011 uncirculated SAE today. Silver has been on the rise for several days and passed above $35 yesterday. The retail price of the 2011 bullion coins was about to pass the mint price for the satin finish versions so this move was expected. The only unknown is how high they will set the new price. My guess is $5 per ounce, so $5 more for the SAE (to $54.95) and $25 more for the AtB-Ps (to $229.95). I am glad that I bought all of the 2011 AtBs already and I just picked up another SAE along with the Infantry dollars last week.