Hi just wondering if anyone knew the reason why, say an Australian coin set, as an example, is 4-5 times more than a NZ one of the same circa? I realize there are production levels and exchange rates etc, but NZ is right next door, with similar coins even. But, they just dont seem to bring the same level of enthusiasm / price as the Australian coins?
no idea, its probaly a population thing one would guess, they do have a platinum kiwi $150 I would love to own though, and I'm also chasing a 1968 Proof Set
Lack of marketing, perth mint got lucky, PM products comes in capsules etc. NZ mint products are pretty good, they just need to step up the marketing, packaging and product line. I would love to see competition for perth mint.
Local demand... If NZ had a larger population, and/or a greater enthusiasm for coins per capita, I am confident NZ coin values would be much higher.
In my opinion, the NZ mint should be doing a lot better than they are. They seem to have gone mainly for minting dubious issues from whatever pacific country. A lot of their stuff is minted in Germany, their prices are too high and overseas buyers cannot purchase bullion directly - would like to be able to get plain silver 1oz coins. I agree that they are not marketing themselves as well as they should, they would be better concentrating on minting high quality local issue coins and designs, things that make them uniquely kiwi. On a positive, they can produce some beautiful coins. Have just got 2009,10,11 1oz silver kiwi proofs, they are an undervalued and under appreciated series, low mintage yet seem not to be wanted by collectors. They could learn a lot from how the Perth Mint does things - if only the PM could get their ordering system to handle the peak loads they would be perfect! BUT, the Icons of NZ 2010 proof 1oz silver proof can be got new for @69!
IMO opinion there are several reasons. One, and I know this may sound counter intuitive in the world of collecting, but I think one of the problems is too LOW mintages for a lot of coins. In other words their are not enough for people to get their hands on so not a lot of word of mouth buzz. For instance; the Swordfish Mintage 5000 and the Bounty Mintage 3000. Too many colorized coins. Guilded...okay, but colorized...a bit hokey Bullion coins are booooring. The Kiwi is just an odd looking bird and a turtle...well it's a turtle. Finally price, they are comparatively expensive. Btw, I'd love to have a swordfish and a Bounty for under 80, but it'll never happen
NZ Bullion has rubbish marketing, no online presence... there is no buzz about there products and as a result word of mouth dosent happen... They need to employ a webmaster to build awareness, and in turn growth. A web guru with advanced SEO, Social Networking and online marketing would be all it would take, but yes the prices and lack of supply are also issues.. but going under the rader is there biggest problem.. they need to drive demand. Not saying Perth Mint have good SEO or online marketing but there bullion product has est a cult following so we do there marketing for them, also they have an est market and product and a est brand WW.. these things take time but can be accellerated through a decent marketing focus. I guy like me could double there profits and massively increase demand in a year or so. 1for1
I agree with you. The kiwi series is beautiful but I think that most people don't know about them, which is a shame. On the flip side, that is an advantage to collectors who are interested in the kiwi series because they are still available for a relatively low price given their mintage. I'm not complaining while I try to build my kiwi series collection.
http://www.trademe.co.nz/antiques-collectables/coins/new-zealand-decimal/other/auction-427445140.htm AndyRoo were those Kiwi's for $69 aussie $
Bit of a thread revival, quiet evening and got too much spare time on my hands Just an example of how the NZ Mint are so frustrating. Bit of a discussion in one of the other SS Silver threads about the NZ Gilded 1oz Dragon - nice looking coin, great packaging and very low mintage. Can we actually buy some of these coins from the NZ Mint - no. Want a Fiji Gilded Taku, can't get that from the NZ Mint. How about the Gilded Swordfish? No, not that either! Could name another half a dozen coins that they make but can't actually be purchased from them. Tried to ring them 7 times on friday - message bank every time. Email response from an enquiry a week ago? Nothing. Lucky for us, Maggie is doing a group buy from Gainesville, so we can at least get our hands on them. With the difficulty of obtaining coins from them, is it any wonder that they are not as popular? I know I would buy more if I could log into there site, select what I want, give them my money and we would all be happy - why is that so hard for them to implement!? I get my NZ coins from NZ Post online - I log in, select what I want, give them my money and in a week or so I have the coins on my doorstep - take note NZ Mint, it can be done! /rant EDIT: Sorry, RicHARD, just saw your post. No, I was talking about the NZ Icons http://coins.nzpost.co.nz/2010/icons-new-zealand-silver-proof-coin - NZ$89 - @AU$68 at the moment. Although those ones in your link look very interesting, will keep an eye out for one of those sets - many fond memories of going camping as a child and stumbling on a giant weta in the toilet blocks at night :lol: