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Heads Up - Coin Costs Going Up


crake

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I've received notices from two mints that prices are going up soon. Not just 5% or 10%, but upwards of 50% or more for the strike. Of course there's more to a coin's cost than the metal (shipping from the mint, the tracking number, etc.), but I expect that we may be seeing a $1 or more increase in a typical coin's cost. I also expect this increase to be across the board - no one will be immune. Also based on the current trends in material costs, we should expect more increases in the future :lol:

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I've received notices from two mints that prices are going up soon. Not just 5% or 10%, but upwards of 50% or more for the strike. Of course there's more to a coin's cost than the metal (shipping from the mint, the tracking number, etc.), but I expect that we may be seeing a $1 or more increase in a typical coin's cost. I also expect this increase to be across the board - no one will be immune. Also based on the current trends in material costs, we should expect more increases in the future :lol:

 

So is this the beginning to the end of Geocoins? And we thought that the LoggerHead and the Obsessed coins where expensive. Is $20.00 per coin going to be the new trend? We are already seeing $8.00 to $12.00 being the trend. That was already an increase from $5.00 to $7.00 per coin a year ago. It sure is getting easier by the day, minute, second to quite this habit :lol: .

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but I expect that we may be seeing a $1 or more increase in a typical coin's cost. I also expect this increase to be across the board - no one will be immune.

 

I'm immune because I have a choice if I'm going to buy any coin from this day forward. :lol:

 

Maybe the coin craze will slow down or stop? Who knows right now.

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I hope not! I don't think we're talking about $20 coin prices, but rather $9 or $10 as a typical cost vs. $7.50 or $8. The metal cost increase is going to hit many different sectors of the market (housing cost due to copper used in plumbing and electrical wiring for example).

 

Maybe you can think of geocoins as an investment... maybe the value of base metal alone will result in a big payoff one day :lol:

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you can always use zinc :lol:

 

and it is not just geocoins:

 

For the first time in U.S. history, the cost of manufacturing both a penny and a nickel is more than the 1-cent and 5-cent values of the coins themselves. Skyrocketing metals prices are behind the increase, the U.S. Mint said in a letter to members of Congress last week.

 

The Mint estimates it will cost 1.23 cents per penny and 5.73 cents per nickel this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The cost of producing a penny has risen 27% in the last year, while nickel manufacturing costs have risen 19%.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/money/2006-05-09-penny-usat_x.htm

 

Dont think the cost going up so much as the dollar going down.

Edited by nielsenc
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I hope not! I don't think we're talking about $20 coin prices, but rather $9 or $10 as a typical cost vs. $7.50 or $8. The metal cost increase is going to hit many different sectors of the market (housing cost due to copper used in plumbing and electrical wiring for example).

 

Maybe you can think of geocoins as an investment... maybe the value of base metal alone will result in a big payoff one day :D

 

You missed the whole point when I said $20.00 per coin :lol: . There is a very large differance in the cost that it takes to mint the coin Vs. the cost people are selling it for :lol: . People are already using the excuse that it is an odd shape or charging more for there LE coins when for the most part it costs no more for either one of these features :D . This will be nothing more than another reason for people to pad there pockets because " the cost to mint a coin has gone up" :lol: .

 

If this whole coin "collecting" was to go back to a hobby instead full fledge business the community would be able to sustain the increase in costs :lol: .

 

I know, I know, it's all about economics and of course we all have heard that if you mint it they will buy. This is just my opinion on the direction that coins are going. You don't have to agree :lol:

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you can always use zinc :lol:

 

You sure about that?

 

Check out the 5 year zinc price curve it looks just like the others!

 

OK, it's OT, but . . .

 

Pennies cost more than a penny to produce for a brief time in the late 70's I think. There was a bit of a penny shortage around that time. In the early 80's, the mint started making pennies out of zinc - they have been copper plated zinc ever since. Based on the cost-to-produce of a penny being over 1¢, zinc bought some time, but was not a cure for base metal prices.

 

My scouts recently discovered that if you put a penny in a fire, the zinc inside will melt and slump while the copper skin (sometimes) remains intact.

 

For a time during WWII, many transportation tokens were struck in zinc due to the strategic need for copper. Those tokens were often plated with silver but they still tended to corrode with time and develop a black patina. How good is the plating on geocoins struck in zinc? Will they stand up to the elements? Pennies do pretty well, but I have been wondering about Zn geocoins - especially if they are drilled.

Edited by tokencollector
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Why don't we as the geocaching community start setting price limits on sales of geocoins. If everyone of us puts their respective foot down, there will be less price gouging in the future. For example if cacher A wants to sell their coins at $20 each- we should all boycott it until the price becomes more reasonable. Fair prices means fair business practice.

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Why don't we as the geocaching community start setting price limits on sales of geocoins. If everyone of us puts their respective foot down, there will be less price gouging in the future. For example if cacher A wants to sell their coins at $20 each- we should all boycott it until the price becomes more reasonable. Fair prices means fair business practice.

 

Because it is easier to quite this addiction than it is to get some 100 people to agree on the same terms. :lol:

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Hmm, I thought the mint price increase effective today was a 20% increase on raw materials only... like 10-20 cents PER COIN depending on the quantity purchased :lol:

 

Different mints appear to have different increases. I don't have a price list yet from one of them, but was told more like 30-50% and that this isn't a one-time increase. This is why I said around a $1. The jump to $20 coins was a bit of a stretch.

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Hmm, I thought the mint price increase effective today was a 20% increase on raw materials only... like 10-20 cents PER COIN depending on the quantity purchased :lol:

 

Different mints appear to have different increases. I don't have a price list yet from one of them, but was told more like 30-50% and that this isn't a one-time increase. This is why I said around a $1. The jump to $20 coins was a bit of a stretch.

 

I was never implying that it was going to cost $20.00 to mint a coin, rather I was implying that those who are making coins and selling them will start charging this price. It was intended as a joke :lol: !

 

Who would have ever guessed that buying a coin from that "E" place would be cheaper than buying it from the designer :D ?

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Hmm, I thought the mint price increase effective today was a 20% increase on raw materials only... like 10-20 cents PER COIN depending on the quantity purchased :(

 

Different mints appear to have different increases. I don't have a price list yet from one of them, but was told more like 30-50% and that this isn't a one-time increase. This is why I said around a $1. The jump to $20 coins was a bit of a stretch.

 

It really depends on the price increase the middleman wants to pass on. For example, when Gas goes up, they can pass on a smaller or larger increase, depending on demand. With high demand, I would expect some companies to pass on a higher increase.

 

Once again, Adam Smiths invisible hand is at work here.

 

nielsenc

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The sad part is that the higher in value, real or imagined, coins go for the less likely you will find them in caches. People will be less likely to drop them off and more likely to pocket the ones they find. Yeah, I can hear some of you saying that wouldn't happen but where are the Moun10bike coins at? The only ones that I've found have been in someone's posession not in caches. Of course I've just started at this so I'm far from an expert. Just how I see it is all. I could be wrong and expect you all to tell me just how much! :)

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If the price of making a coin goes up even .50 cents there is some price gouging going on, IMHO.

 

My point exactly :)

 

Thank you, I am glad someone finally caught on to my posts. This was my exact point that all my posts above this where pertaining to. The differance is I was talking about those who are minting and selling there own personals at an outrageous price versus the increase from the mints.

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I know, I know, it's all about economics and of course we all have heard that if you mint it they will buy. This is just my opinion on the direction that coins are going. You don't have to agree :(

 

At one time that was true. Now even if you only do a run on 250 coins you may not sell them all or it will take time to sell them all.

 

Richard of the GeoCrickets

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Why don't we as the geocaching community start setting price limits on sales of geocoins. If everyone of us puts their respective foot down, there will be less price gouging in the future. For example if cacher A wants to sell their coins at $20 each- we should all boycott it until the price becomes more reasonable. Fair prices means fair business practice.

 

Its already happening and I hope it continues!! Look at Geocoin store as an example. Prices started dropping when coins were not selling. We don't have to put up with stupid prices, just dont buy em until they realize that geocoin collectors are not the cash machine they are hoping for.

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