Hi all; Just got this in my e-mail, and I am very
unhappily surprised:
<<<U.S. Mint Product Notification Update
In response to overwhelming customer demand, the U.S. Mint is raising the order
limit for its 9-coin Proof Set. The new household limit will be five.
Those who bought under the previous limit of two sets per
household, now will be able to buy an additional five sets. New
customers will be limited to five. To make this possible, the
Mint is boosting its production estimate for the proof set by 500,000.
"The limit we placed on the 1999 Proof Sets has had the desired
effect," said Diehl, speaking at the American Numismatic Association's
1999 World's Fair of Money in Chicago "Over the past two months, we've
given all our customers a fair shot at getting at least two 9-Coin
Proof Sets, and now we are responding to customers who have asked
for an opportunity to buy more sets.
"We are aiming at total production of 2.5 million 9-Coin sets to fulfill
the extraordinary demand from the collectors and the general public generated
by the 50 State Quarters (tm) Program," Diehl said.
In order to produce 500,000 additional proof sets, the Mint will delay
the release of the 1999 Silver Proof Set by just one month, making them
available for sale in October. The estimated production run for the
Silver Proof set will be 800,000 sets, with an order limit of
two per household. To accomplish this, the Mint will not offer a
separate 5-coin Silver Proof Set as originally planned.
The excitement over the 50 State Quarters Program is not expected to wane.
Last year, the Mint sold about 2.1 million 5-Coin Proof Sets. This year to
accommodate demand for the numismatic sets containing the 50 State Quarters,
the Mint is expected to make some 5 million 5-Coin Proof Sets.
"Even so, we do not expect to meet all demand for the proof set,"
Diehl said.
Customers may order the 1999 9-Coin or 5-Coin Proof Sets via secure Internet
connection, which is exempt from shipping and handling fees.
usmint.gov >>>
The problems are 2-fold. First, the mint just increased
the number of coins it is producing, given that people have
already ordered coins on the basis of what the mintage
figures are to be. That I can handle, after all, there
is a lot of demand.
But secondly, the mint is no longer offering the quarters
as a separate silver proof set. This means that those of
us who are collecting the quarters will have to buy a full
set of silver proofs (including dime and quarter) and break
it open just for the quarters. What a waste!
I predict that numismatic outrage over not offering the
quarters separately will cause them to change this decision
probably within two months.
-- Carl |
