The Fiasco Of RCM's Face Value Program Per The 2016 Annual Report

Yeah I chuckled at the wording, "it is currently not the intention....".

It's maybe still too early to say but just another thought. Aside from RCM taking a financial hit, I wonder if the Face Value program is indirectly responsible for the recent trend toward the almost immediate devaluation of NCLT in general. By that I mean RCM had to have blinders on to not notice people,were buying and selling XforX to attain MC status, aside from credit card rewards. For some bizarre reason I've noticed some past posters here appeared to be under the false impression that flipping coins would pave their way to prosperity. Sure, they probably lost money and on they went to something else but the result was it enabled RCM to increase both number of releases and sales. But the reality is devaluation also negatively impacts the loyal type of collector who buys only to add to a long term collection.

So I'm also concerned about how many RCM customers have left or minimized their expedatures because RCM just can't seem to do to many things right. Why RCMs reputation is important is because we need people to become interested in NCLT and the coins we hold in our existing collections, otherwise it's guaranteed to be worth only bullion value at any time in the future. Sure, many of their coins are nice but each year the pricetag also creeps higher and higher.

WildflowerAB:


This has been my frustration. The prices today reflect a tremendous raise in silver prices about 5 years ago. We were hitting $45/ounce. Rightfully so, the mint adjusted their prices upwards. However, with silver down in the low 20's, the mint has yet to adjust their prices back to more reasonable profit lines. And for this reason, I'm out. I'll still pay attention, and occasionally pick up a nice little bauble, but I do it with open eyes (and wallet) not expecting anything from it other than an appreciation for the art, workmanship, etc.

It certainly could be, but I tend to view it differently.

Several years ago, the RCM initiated a plan to increase its customer base by producing a diverse variety of coins in an effort to "cover all bases" and attract those who might not otherwise be interested in collectible coins. Many of these offerings involved flowers, animals, hockey or pop culture icons rather than traditional themes that focused on Canada and its history.

The Mint succeeded in attracting many new customers. They didn't, however, attract nearly as many new collectors as they had hoped. These new customers came in, bought a few "souvenir" coins of themes they connected with and then left. So, the Mint had to spend more time, money and effort attracting new short-term customers with regular batches of new topical coins. For years now, they have been mired in this repeating cycle.

A major flaw with this approach is that these new customers were/are short-term accumulators and not collectors who stick around and work on assembling meaningful sets of coins over time. Without a robust group of collectors searching for previously issued coins to build their sets, the secondary market is weak for most issues and prices naturally fall.

Also, the RCM has now reached the point where it has issued so many different coins across so many themes that it is very difficult for a person of average means to build a complete collection of a given denomination or theme. This acts as a barrier to entry for many new collectors.

I think that if the RCM had spent more time gaining a true understanding of what creates and maintains collectors vs. just creating coins to briefly engage transient customers, it and the secondary NCLT market would be in a much better place.

Just my opinion, your mileage may vary.

( WARNING : DOOM and GLOOM reply - Don't read if depressed )

Inevitably... the steady decline of coin usage in our daily lives probably mirrors what CC just stated. I've been collecting for many decades now and I have my doubts about the future of both NCLT/circulation coin collecting - but perhaps for slightly different reasons.

I will probably not witness the day when our children no longer carry any form of currency. Maybe the next generation, or the one after that. However, I know this time *will* come.

And when the time comes, (or slightly before that) there will be an avalanche of coins (real / fake) on the market with so few knowledgeable takers that the raw, ungraded stockpile will be reduced to bullion / metal value.

One bright star... TPG... TPG will carry the hobby for 25-40 years ahead.

Which may explain why TPG is so popular these days. I do anticipate that graded coins will postpone the inevitable for a while. For instance, PCGS's stock is doing really well. I expect TPG to do very well in the near future because certification offers a tangible second opinion and a way to legitimize what you have in your hand - for those collectors who want to secure and maximize their returns.

No knowledgeable collector would purchase a $1 1948 on ebay today without some kind of validation. Unless that person is a flipper or a speculator. Both of whom will disappear fast when the downturn plays out.

And in the end when the speculative fluff clears out: due to the lack of interest there will be very few out there to fuel the momentum. Whilst flipper and speculators have long moved on to the 'next big thing' the few aging collectors (still alive) will be holding the bag.

I don't plan to be one of them holding the bag.

When nobody cares about the story, then that story has no value beyond the metal is it written onto.

I simply view the 20 for 20 as a silver 20 dollar bill, instead of a plastic 20.00 bill, nothing more, nothing less, the RCM offered we took advantage, now the RCM sees their debt obligations with this series.