Some SilverStackers will already know that the final 2014 5 oz America The Beautiful (ATB) silver coins (bullion and collector versions) have been released for sale to the public recently. Some or much of this message may apply namely to North American buyers since ATB coins can be difficult to obtain or costly to order for those in Australia or other parts of Asia or Europe. The 5th and final silver 5 oz coin for 2014 is the Everglades National Park coin. The Everglades is one of the most well known natural preserves in North America. It is the largest tropical wilderness in the U.S., and is the third-largest national park in the continental U.S. For those who have been buying coins from this series, you may be interested to know that sales for the recently released bullion coin has already surpassed sales of the previous release. Sales figures for the collector version appear not to be available yet since the collector version of each issue is released for sale as many as several weeks after the bullion version. A couple of stackers seem to believe that modern collector (semi-numismatic) coins are fairing just as poorly today as common bullion coins in terms of prices fetching at dealers and marketplaces like eBay. But from my experience, that isn't necessarily true. For example, I follow sales of various 5 oz ATB-P coins and also a number of American Silver Eagle (ASE) bullion coins/lots on eBay and while 2010 bullion Eagles are today selling for about $4 dollars over spot for tubes of 20 in many cases, 2010 ATB-P 5 oz silver coins have been realizing significantly greater gains percentage wise in most cases and some high grade examples have been red hot in spite of the plummeting spot price. The latest one I have been following on eBay ended recently with a final sales price of over $700 USD....very sweet return for a lovely coin that is disparaged by some: http://www.ebay.com/itm/231382106183?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT For those who like to own silver coins that seem to even retain a good value when the silver market spot price is in the sub-cellar, you may want to consider collecting America the Beautiful "P" coins to supplement (not replace) your current stack. .
The Everglades which is the last ATB coin for this year will be an interesting case, while silver spot price is close to $15 which is driving the bullion version prices close to $100, the P collector version price has stayed unchanged by the US Mint which even stopped the %10 discount for the subscription buyers. As a result, many collectors are refraining from buying the collector version and preferring to go for the much cheaper bullion version. Let's see if this will have an impact on this nice coin mintage.
Obviously the first one I buy and they go an up the mintage!! Jeez I liked the 30-35k mintage idea...
Mintages to date bullion first, then "P" collector version Hot Springs National Park 33,000 27,000 Yellowstone National Park 33,000 27,000 Yosemite National Park 33,000 27,000 Grand Canyon National Park 33,000 26,019 Mount Hood National Forest 33,000 26,928 Gettysburg National Military Park 126,700 24,625 Glacier National Park 126,700 20,856 Olympic National Park 104,900 18,398 Vicksburg National Military Park 58,100 18,594 Chickasaw National Recreation Area 48,700 16,827 El Yunque National Forest 24,000 17,314 Chaco Culture National Historical Park 24,400 17,146 Acadia National Park 25,400 14,978 Hawaii Volcanoes National Park 20,000 14,863 Denali National Park 20,000 15,225 White Mountain National Forest 35,000 20,530 Perry's Victory & Int'l. Peace Memorial 30,000 17,707 Great Basin National Park 30,000 17,792 Fort McHenry National Monument 30,000 19,802 Mount Rushmore National Memorial 35,000 23,547 Great Smoky Mountains National Park 33,000 24,722 Shenandoah National Park 22,800 27,280 Arches National Park 22,000 27,294 Great Sand Dunes National Park 16,800 22,089 Everglades National Park 22,000
Has anyone from Australia ever bought those directly from usmint? I've just started an order and entered a redirection address (using AusPost ShopMate, but might check other services) and it seems to accept it.
Haven't submitted it yet - I was waiting to see if anyone was going share their experience. If I end up submitting in the next few days I'll let you know how it went
I went ahead with my order and it's gone through okay. ShopMate address was accepted. There might be cheaper services than ShopMate but the couple of others I checked were more expensive.
To order from the US mint do we have to use a service like Shopmate? Or can we just ship direct from the mint? From what I've heard, shopmate has higher shipping prices.
usmint ships internationally for $20AUD but I going through ShopMate as I want to buy other stuff elsewhere. If people know about a cheaper service than ShopMate I am interested to hear about it.
Spot price on silver has dropped again to the $15 USD and change range...still not low enough for me to buy blobs since $14 is yet to come so I was interested in trying to pick up an addition to my small ATB collection and I looked to bid on this recently ended ATB coin when I first saw it like a week ago, but when it started getting closer to $2,000 as opposed to $500...then I knew it is out of my batter's box.... http://www.ebay.com/itm/151468919074?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT I should have looked to pick up ATB's like this 2 years ago when they were still reasonably priced. .
Interest in 5 oz ATB bullion coins is picking up a lot these days inline with the cheaper silver price
I just can't get into these. I suppose some designs are okay enough. My issues with them are: apparently BU quality isn't great; diameter-to-thickness ratio too large / thin; weight tucked away & stamped on the edge; Washington obverse; and last but certainly not least, "QUARTER DOLLAR". I've yet to buy even one, and highly doubt I will. Just not a huge fan of US coins, in general.
I don't mind a few ASE's here & there. They're decent enough. But with annual mintages in the tens of millions, I'm one of those who fall in the camp that they're almost considered "generic." I'm certainly not stacking them by the tubes & boxes, like some do. Though they can & do play a role in one's Ag strategy, especially for those who are in the US. I can think of worse coins out there. And if I were more into gold & my budget allowed, I'd probably pick up a Buffalo at some point. I'd also pick up a 5-oz and/or 10-oz ASE, if they made them.
