ATB Five Ounce Silver Coins

Me too. Glad I did get my Hawaii-P before it sold out though. Had to suck it up and get Hawaii and Denali at the higher prices... was tough but didn't want to fall behind in the series and have to (possibly) pay more later.




I'm a bit surprised too, but yeah, it's good for collectors for these to be 15k or so in total number. It's nice that the production rate continues to decline (would be really cool to have an issue under 10k or even 5k) but it is concerning (I suppose) that production may go to zero, which brings us back to the original topic of this thread.

What financial problems are you talking about, Clint? We know they're losing money on nickels and cents but what else have you heard?

@Bizy - thanks for the summary. That's very handy.

Where can we find this report?

Thanks.

Dave

I am surprised it sold out as well, but also glad they sold out. I don't think they will be dumping this series this year since all 5 coins are on the product schedule for the year. Has there ever been a product that had a series that was on the schedule for the year and they just stop making them and took them off the schedule? I too wish they would have a lower mint population to make these coins a bit more rare in the future.

I find it kind of strange that they sell out of the 2013 ASE bullion already (they should have more here in a couple of weeks), but they have a hard time selling the 5 oz pucks. Aren't the prices for 5 bullion ASEs and one bullion puck pretty close? I would rather have one puck that has a low population of under 20 K, than 5 ASEs with a population of 33 million. Am I wrong to think this way? Almost seems like a no brainer. Don't get me wrong, I will still buy my share of ASEs from the mint and make sure I have one of each of the bullion ASEs coins just to add to the collection, but if you are buying for silver and future worth, would not the pucks be a better buy? Is the reason because they might be harder to re-sell in the future at that size? Just some deep thoughts by Jack Handey ( old SNL reference ).

According to Bizybackson's summary on page 48 of this topic, all the bullion pucks to date have sold out so they can't be that hard to move.

There's nothing wrong with your logic as a collector, Teach. You'd just have to sell your bullion puck(s) to the right person to a premium over spot. Most of the stores I frequent kind of scoff or consider them a fad/curiosity when I ask them about the pucks. And you answered your own question - they're just not as liquid as the ASEs so they tend to sit around longer. It's easy to go in and pick up an Eagle or two with what's in your wallet, but if you want a puck you have to typically plan ahead and visit your ATM.

Like anything collectible, a demand had to be created for them, and that takes time and a steady supply of product. Whether or not, these bullion coins ever acquire a numismatic premium above and beyond their bullion values requires a couple of other factors, i.e. the response by the dealers as something other than as curiosities, a greater mintage than 20,000 of any one issue that can be successfully marketed by one of the huge coin warehouses (we love to hate them, but they have created desirable issues in the past that might have been overlooked and languish in obscurity.) The ASE took well over 20 years before it became a PM staple, partly because in its early days you could skip lunch and buy one whereas everyone else shunned it because it was dirt cheap and thus of "no value." Back then people only bought the gold 'rands and maybe the occasional maple leaf. It is way too early to write off the series since so few people outside of the hobby know about them, and they WILL eventually turn the corner.

Regarding the net difference between FY2011's $110m vs. FY2012's $14.3m made on ATB bullion, must account for two abnormalities in FY2011, viz., ALL 165,000 2010 coins were sold in the 1Q & 2Q of 2011, and the unprecedented sellout of an additional 253,400 coins of Gettysburg & Glacier in April and May of that year, when silver was over $45/oz. for much of those two months. The bullion coins will always retain their bullion value and if they ever acquire a numismatic premium, it'll be the lower mintage years like 2012. Those Gettysburg and Glacier bullion coins currently in hiding may have enough numbers to be mass marketed to a eager public as maybe loss leaders, and then the entire market would heat up when new collectors look for the scarcer ones. So hang on to your Denalis, Chacoes and Acadias. They're sure to be worth more than they are currently trading now. It's one of the hobby's bright spots and the ride's only the beginning.