ON THE MINT'S DISCONTINUANCE OF MAIL ORDERS

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The E-Sylum: Volume 20, Number 23, June 4, 2017, Article 7

ON THE MINT'S DISCONTINUANCE OF MAIL ORDERS

Scott Barman writes:

Regarding the discontinuance of the mail orders by the U.S. Mint, the first time the U.S. Mint tried to do this, it was just announced without outside discussion. As a result, collectors called their members of congress and contacted the media who questioned the move. Since then, U.S. Mint officials have been speaking with members of congress to prepare them for the announcement.

As part of the discussion was the promise from the U.S. Mint to reduce their budget. Even though the U.S. Mint operates on the seigniorage it earns, surplus is deposited in the general treasury and the lure of bringing in more money, no matter how little in comparison to other revenues, is something the current congress likes. According to my contacts, there is enough support within the government that they do not see a reversal.

Thanks for the background and update. Readers - please stay on the lookout for any old U.S. Mint product catalogs and ordering forms. A set of U.S. Mint catalogs digitized on the Newman Numismatic Portal would be a great resource for collectors and researchers. -Editor

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
U.S. MINT DISCONTINUES MAIL ORDERS (http://www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n22a17.html)

Here's an excerpt from Numismatic News Editor Dave Harper's take; see the complete article online. -Editor

In this day and age, even telephone orders seem old-fashioned. If you want any of the hot Mint offers, you must order through the website.

Instant sellouts mean that any attempt to offer the coins the old-fashioned way by going to the expense of printing catalogs and order cards and mailing them to collectors simply means that any actual orders generated for hot items would have to be returned unfilled. This would raise collector blood pressure across the land. – Not a good thing for the Mint to do. Blood pressure readings are high enough among collectors who actually do use a computer to place orders.

Of course, the Mint could issue printed catalogs that offer none of the good stuff. They could then fulfill the orders they receive. But even those few collectors who still order by mail know the potentially hot stuff from the routine, and will not be particularly responsive to catalogs with no hot stuff in them.

So what’s the point of making such a catalog in the first place? The Mint has asked this question and come to the logical conclusion.

To read the complete article, see:
Shed a tear for end of mail orders? (http://www.numismaticnews.net/article/shed-tear-end-mail-orders)

AUCTION CATALOGS FOR SALE

In the process of retiring, the book inventory has been sold, only the auction catalogs remain. The physical size of the group is two racks 12 feet long, 6 feet high, 18 inches wide, 6 shelves in each rack. The catalogs should be able to fit it in a 15 foot panel van, there are 165 boxes, catalogs are already boxed and labeled with the auction firm noted on the box. Will consider selling some of the steel shelving.

My asking price is $4500 for the lot. The majority of the catalogs are US sales (about 70%) the remainder are Foreign (about 30%), all are better sales. There are multiples of most of the US catalogs and of some of the foreign sales, a total of nearly five thousand catalogs. Anyone interested should feel free to inquire and discuss potential purchase.

Thanks, Orville Grady (402-721-8348)

Wayne Homren, Editor

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

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