Hi everyone, I was taking a look at the presales for the 2021 silver American Eagle and am confused by what I'm finding. There's an "emergency production" label and a "normal production" label. That is, a label that does not include the phrase "emergency production." My question: if there is a short supply of silver/limited mint operation due to the pandemic, how can there be both an emergency production label and a "normal" label? Wouldn't a non-emergency label technically not exist due to the short supply? Or am I misunderstanding things? Is this basically another marketing gimmick? I tend to go with first day of issue release; is it worth the extra money to purchase a first day of issue emergency production release? Or should I just stick with my normal routine? Would appreciate any input/clarification.
Due to Covid19 the USA Mint temporarily closed the West Point mint and shifted production to the San Francisco mint. SF produced (I think) 1 million one ounce coins. It would be nice to have one or two as a momento but I wouldn’t pay much over the normal price of an eagle. I reckon this labelling ‘emergency production’ is just a marketing exercise to gouge a bit more money. It’s not like the supply is limited, the coins are bullion not really numismatic. Stick ‘em in a slab with a fancy label eg ‘emergency production’, ‘early release’, ‘first strike’ and so on makes the buyer feel they have something special. I remember seeing bottled water with a prominent label saying it was ‘cholesterol free’, go figure. (edit to correct typo)
Correct me wrong but no ASEs were mintmarked so only graders could slab with correct mints if they received the sealed monster boxes direct from each mint. Boon for graders. Also boon for graders to change design horses mid stream and create false impression of scarcity. Australian, Mexican, US Mints using this trick for sales. Bet ya all 2020 and 2021 eagles are very high mintage.
AFAIK, only proof silver eagles have a mint mark. The exception (of course there has to be an exception) is a few years ago some ‘uncirculated’ silver eagles were produced and mint marked. I think these were aimed at the collector market and used specially prepared blanks. Yes, graders and firms like APMEX are happy when any change however minor occurs. Slab ‘em and flog ‘em off at a juicy premium. I am embarrassed to admit that I fell for this and bought a couple of PCGS 70 First Strike silver eagles myself some years ago. Well, they do look pretty in their little plastic houses! Live and learn I guess
Personally I've never seen the point of slabbing MS coins that were never circulated. Following the V75 privy, I suppose this will become a thing. Australians and British are probably sick of privy marks but US hasn't been done that path for a while.
Sorta the opposite to this box of chocolates which uses "New Allergens" as a positive selling point...
