Silver Certificates -- not valid for silver -- how about for tea?

Silver certificates contain the statement :"This certifies that there is on deposit in the treasury of the United States of America one dollar in silver payable to the bearer on demand."  The statement represents a broken promise from the United States government. I have a stack of silver certificates.  The U.S. government stopped redeeming them for silver in 1964.  There is no expiration date on the bill.  Our government promised us silver and did not deliver.

I gave a well-worn silver certificate to my daughter, Rachel Planchet.  At school, she became thirsty, and went to a drink machine to attempt to purchase a bottle of peach tea.  The machine refused to accept her silver certificate.

Two generations of Planchets have now been thwarted by certificates that we could redeem for neither silver nor tea.

APMEX misbehavin? Price Gouging and America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins

Bullion wars have heated up this past weekend as the United States Mint attempted to launch its America the Beautiful Silver Bullion program.  The five-ounce monsters were expected to become available through the mint's authorized distributors.  Since the mintages were low (33,000 per coin design), the mint became concerned about the potential for price gouging.  The mint marked up each coin by a mere $9.75.  The following warning letter was sent to the distributors:

Because the United States Mint was only able to produce and make available a limited quantity of each these silver bullion coins in the relatively short period since the authorizing legislation was approved, we anticipate that demand for these coins will be significant. Accordingly, as Authorized Purchasers of the United States Mint, we want to remind you of your commitment, under your Authorized Purchaser Agreement, “to maintain buy/sell premiums for the United States gold and silver bullion coins with as narrow a spread between buy and sell prices as prudent business judgment permits. These premiums are to be competitive with those charged for other bullion coins, considering prevailing market conditions."

This was wishful thinking on the part of the mint.  American Precious Metals Exchange (APMEX) sold sets of five America the Beautiful bullion coins at  $1395 per set.  This represents a markup of approximately $130 per coin.  After receiving numerous complaints, the mint put the kabash on APMEX's order.  The coins are now on hold.

Since the mint had to buy a German press for the minting of the coins, they (and, therefore, the taxpayers) are probably losing money with each coin sold.  Meanwhile, APMEX and the other distributors stand to make a fortune. The mint states its goal of "ensuring that the coins will be available, accessible, and affordable to members of the public."  By selling all of the coins to a small handful of corporations, they have guaranteed that this will not happen.  The best hope is that the mint will sell bullion directly to the public, or at least to Peter Planchet.

Low Ball Coin Collecting

One of the newest fads is "low ball" coin collecting.  The objective here is to collect coins in the worst possible grades. This fad is sure to make the coin grading services happy. While many coins in high grades are sent to the grading services, the lower grade coins generally are not.  I am now seeing ads for low-ball coins on such places as ebay. Before you laugh too hard, the Bicentennial dollar pictured (graded as AG3 by PCGS) is on sale at APMEX for $99.  If you had the same coin in about uncirculated, you would have a difficult time fetching $1.50. APMEX brags that only three coins have been certified in this grade with only two lower.  Yes, the race to won the worst is on!

If you really want a low ball coin, simply take a coin and rub it continuously against your oriental rug.  In about a week, both the coin and the rug will be in fair condition.

Why the artificial desire to have coins in low grades?  Dr. Planchet does not know the answer to this one.