Convex/Concave Baseball Hall Of Fame Coin

I'm a bit surprised about the "mint to order" approach the Mint is apparently taking for this one. Unlike the Silver Eagle sets, these coins are privately sponsored and I would imagine that the sponsor (the National Baseball Hall of Fame) would certainly want to collect the maximum level of surcharges possible. It would surprise me to hear that they have agreed to a limited ordering window for the coins as it would seem it would very likely reduce their potential revenue from the coins.

If it's early in the year, for example, they would miss out on a likely sales bump from the 2014 All-Star Game, playoffs and World Series.

In any case, I would think that the ordering window would be longer than the 30 days used for ASE sets. I'm not necessarily opposed to the made-to-order approach, but I think it could create more issues than it solves for privately-sponsored commemorative coins.

True, but I'm thinking you are referring to the distribution and order fulfillment issues experienced with the ASE sets.

I'm thinking more in terms of potential issues with the coin sponsors if they feel they have missed out on potential revenue. I can envision them trying to force the Mint to re-open the ordering window and we all know what type of backlash that would create among collectors!

Since the mint hasn't really announced what the ordering window will be... I suggest they do it like the season.

Open sales on opening day - free shipping all star week - and end sales at the conclusion of the world series. That covers most of the major events - has them for sale through the standard length they normally run (6 to 8 months) and ties the coin to the games.

I guess one scenario I considered is as follows:

• The Mint opens a three-month ordering window during the first half of the year.


• Final sales figures for the ordering window are less than what was hoped for by the Baseball Hall of Fame.


• The HoF pressures the Mint to open another window later in the year so that they can collect additional surcharges.


• The Mint acquieces because the maximum mintages included in the Public Law authorizing the coins were not reached.


• Collectors who ordered during first window get upset because the number of coins available in the marketplace will go up and potentially negatively impact their "investment."


• Debate rages on!

Yes, just about every US commemorative coin (classic and modern) has a private sponsor in whose name legislation gets introduced into Congress and who collects surcharges from coin sales. What is going on with the Baseball HOF coins is no different than what has happened with any of the other US commemorative coins (except for the 1982 George Washington pieces). I do think that the HoF will be actively involved in the promotion of the coins when they are available.