Interesting because it's for those reasons I like the ATB bullion coins. The less than great quality means that the good quality coins will fetch high premiums (which they do in general) and I buy the one's which are of excellent quality. Besides, these are bullion coins meant for investors, not collectors and if you are considering buying them for the weight and purity of the silver content (I don't know if that's why you have considered them in the first place), why would it matter what quality they are in? If you are interested in coins for the excellent quality, U.S. Mint produced collector coins (not coins intended for circulation or bullion coins but mainly proof coins or coins meant never to be put into circulation) in general do have excellent quality in comparison to other major mints. The collector version of the ATB 5 oz silver coins are excellent quality, based on the quality of the ATB-P coins I've received from the US Mint. I love that the weight is denoted on the edge....very cool. Washington was a great leader and the first President of the U.S. The bust design sculpt is very well done and classic. Excellent reasons for me to like the obverse design. I love the fact that it's denominated as a quarter dollar; a great reminder to me of the fact that the dollar is fiat money and also the reason why I started stacking silver bullion in the first place. I love it when I show one to friends and family and their jaws drop when they learn it is a 25 cent piece (nominal currency value) and then they start asking questions about how that's possible. Makes for great teaching opportunities. .
I just want P quality at BU prices! :lol: If I *were* to buy them, obviously would go for the P's. I don't know.. Why bother even doing the BU's if the quality is going to be lousy? To confuse some people, perhaps even drag down the overall perception of ATB's? Especially when they could be doing other stuff with their time & money (e.g., 5-oz / 10-oz / kilo ASE's, etc.) which would probably be more popular, instead. I would definitely throw my cash at that! So would many others, I believe. Perhaps someday. Just a personal preference; to each his own. Not much of a fan of US coins, or even coins from Canada, for that matter, in general, these days. Like I said, just a few here & there, so I'm not totally dissing them. I just prefer to spend my fiat on other things from elsewhere, at least re: govt-minted coins. As for non-legal-tender pieces from US-based *private* mints & smiths, however, that's a much different matter. There's a few out there where it would probably just be easier for me to hand them a blank check. Anyway, I'm sure the P-versions will do fine, as a group, over the coming years & decades.
We all want to get the "P" version at bullion pricing. Yes, of course, to each their own. It's funny how sometimes, people don't like the coins minted in their own country yet are willing to pay higher premiums to acquire coins from other lands! Not that there's anything wrong with that...I am a fan of some other nation's coins for sure. .
Obviously I can't say with absolute certainty, but if I had been born & lived in a different country, I don't think there would be much, if any, difference in preference or purchases. Final pricing of certain pieces, however, is probably where I'd see the most difference, due to fees / shipping / taxes / availability.
Just for the heads-up, order ended up being cancelled by the mint - International Credit cards are apparently not accepted although the transactions showed up on my CC account as pending. Nevermind..
Sorry to hear that...it is disappointing news. I'm assuming that the Perth Mint accepts charges on international cards...why wouldn't the US Mint? .
I would bet that the cancellation had something to do with address validation, a non-US credit card with an order being shipped to a US address.
Well the whole thing was a bit odd. My original order (using ShopMate's US address) stayed at the 'processing' stage for 10 days. Since I couldn't get what I wanted elsewhere to make ShopMate worth it, I emailed USMint asking If I could include a 2nd coin to my order. They replied that it was not possible to modify it and that my order would be cancelled. So I placed another order, this time using my Australian address for shipping, the order showed as being 'On Hold' straight away and was cancelled within 2 days. I emailed them asking why and they replied that my international mode of payment could not be validated (Master card) and that I would have to use a wire payment, which I can't be bothered doing. Maybe Austro has had more luck..
I emailed the mint a little while ago and they said they were having issues with their International order processing and hoped to have it fixed by the end of November...
Theoretically they do accept international orders: International Shipping: USD$17.90 + $2.95 per item But it looks like it's not up to scratch yet...
I contacted the Mint again to follow that up - Wire Transfer is (and will remain) the only method of payment for Australian customers. They included a doc which is meant to be instructions for wire transfers, it's a blank page......Looks like they don't want our money,moving on...
:lol: They probably want you to fill in the instructions (with screen capture), send it back and let them mark. Kind of passing a test 100% in order to purchase. :lol:
Right, I was wondering too what happened with iluvbeans. Apparently, he was allegedly being the facilitator for US Mint purchases for several SS members who don't live in the US I wonder if any of the SS members who were dealing with iluvbeans is still in touch with that member. .
