Thanks OP!

Halothane

Actually that is not correct. The Mint does not get "charged $1" to monetize the coin. The difference between the cost to make the coin and the face value is the Mint's profit. At the end of the year the "Profit" is returned to the Treasury. This is only true for coins, not bills.

So....even though the Mint is paying for shipping and credit cards fees, it is still making a huge profit on each transaction. $500 - $120 (Costs including shipping and credit card fees) = $380.

Very nice. A no brainer for the super-mileage-fan!

coins are now on back order, watch out that it does not take to long to receive the shipment or you will be up the creek with your credit card

Reading this thread or looking carefully at the website will show your card is not charged until the coins ship.They are also not exactly on backorder, but the John Adams coin won't be released until June 28. And should your card be charged long before you receive the coins, you could still pay off the card without penalty, assuming you have the funds to do so.

Thanks for the warning, but it may be a non-issue.

That all depends on whether you use cash often. For example, I always use a CC to buy groceries, because I get 3% cashback. I don't buy from vending machines, and the ones at my workplace don't take dollar coins anyway (only new ones do, usually). Lottery tickets... well, let's not address that. :) Similarly, I pay for restaurants/bars with a CC that earns 3% for dining out. Indeed, I basically spend cash as rarely as possible... I use a CC as often as possible to maximize rewards. Simply replacing your CC purchases with these coins essentially negates any benefit you get for buying the coins (since you could just have not bought the coins and paid for the products/services with your CC).

True, but it may not be your bank. Banks with whom you don't have an account generally don't like changing large amounts of cash... they'll probably do it, but they may scrutinize you more closely, require additional ID, etc. to prevent fraud... and they may charge you a fee if you are not a customer. On the other hand, doing a cash exchange at your own bank is generally much easier since they already have a history on file for you, but your own bank may not be convenient to your home or workplace (mine isn't, for example).

I'm not aware of ANY bank that won't exchange rolled coins (like these $1 coins) for free even if you aren't a customer.

Just the opposite is true. Congress has consistently PREVENTED the government from phasing out the $1 bill. Public Law 105-124 (which authorized the Sacagawea dollar coin) states in section 5:

RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be construed to evidence any intention to eliminate or to limit the printing or circulation of United States currency in the $1 denomination.

Even the U.S. Mint states on its website:

Would the use of the Golden Dollar in lieu of the paper dollar save money and if yes why doesn’t the United States Mint eliminate the paper dollar?

The use of the Golden Dollar coin in lieu of the paper dollar would ultimately save money. The General Accounting Office’s (GAO) stated potential savings of up to $500 million in a report issued September 2002, which was calculated on the premise that the U.S.Government cease production of the paper one-dollar bill. However, the United States Dollar Coin Act of 1997, which authorizes the Golden Dollar, did not call for the elimination of the paper dollar. Consequently, dollar coins and dollar notes co-circulate in the marketplace. The United States Mint does not have the authority to change existing legislation thus, full cost savings cannot be realized.

In the Washington, DC area, Chevy Chase Bank also offers the same free coin counting and redemption service to the general public.

SHipping
 

I just tried it - $4.95 minimum shipping. Not worth it at this point.

To avoid any confusion, the coin you are referring to is the John QUINCY Adams dollar coin. And you are wrong about the release date. The John Quincy Adams dollar coin was originally released on May 15, 2008, so the boxes ARE on back order.

By the way, the John Adams (the father of J.Q. Adams) dollar coin was issued on May 22, 2007.

I saw that on the site as well, but the $4.95 wasn't added to the total when I got to checkout.

I think someone mentioned earlier in the thread that the shipping charge gets dropped at checkout.

Mike

Sorry, thanks for the correction. Always did have a short attention span for American history. Well, European history also, to be accurate.

This is really interesting and tempting somehow, but like [B]cepheid[/B using them would be in place of times I would ordinarily use a more convenient credit card.

But you could pay for whole Costco pizzas at the outside window - they don't take credit cards. Or contributions to the homeless or the guy in the parking lot who just needs money for gas to get home to his family.

I agree that there is no point to buying the coins unless you use them in places where only cash is accepted OR you just really want to encourage the circulation of dollar coins, which is what the U.S. Mint has been directed to do by Congress. This is the same idiotic Congress that won't allow BEP to stop the printing of dollar bills.

But you could also just order your whole pizza at the main retail registers and then go pick it up at the window, thereby paying with credit card and saving time. ;) That's what I do...

Somehow, I don't really feel the need to buy $500 in dollar coins to make my questionable charitable donations easier. If this is something one routinely does, I suppose it could be of benefit, but I doubt this would be a huge convenience for most people.

We were just there for the pizza on our way to visit friends :eek: Long-time member, first-time pizza buyer. You should have seen our expressions and fumbling when they asked for cash or check. Mr. lili is oldschool and actually had $23.11 cash.

This thread is amazing me in pointing out how rarely I use cash and how much of an inconvenience it is for me. I think that Mint place may be going out of business soon. :D

But I still want to buy a box of these coins. Irrational, but appealing. I could bury them in the yard. Or leave them hidden in crazy places in the house for my heirs to find...

If you got "a $2 Susan B Anthony", it was counterfeit. :p

yes, somehow people are missing the point.

1. get coins on cc
2. take coins to bank and deposit
3. pay cc before incurring interest

if this doesn't work for you, then don't do it.

sam

Except that some(most?) banks charge a fee if you bring coins that are more than "loose change" quantity to deposit. I forget how much, but if you bring in rolls and rolls of $1 coins, they have some sort of fee to deposit it. Yeah, I couldn't believe it myself the one time years ago I tried to turn in like just 3-5 rolls of some coin (forgot which). I said "you're charging me money to deposit legal tender US money in your bank?". The woman let me do it "the one time" without a fee. Apparently a lot of coin money isn't "real money" they want to deal with.

One way around this is to buy a cheap-o money order. Many places will sell them to you for 25 - 50 cents. Then just deposit the money order at your bank. It would probably be cheaper than paying the fee.

I have a couple of employees who cash their checks thru my cash drawer. Maybe they would like a couple hundred JQA Dollars next time? :p

I think everyone would appreciate it if anyone who actually purchases these coins reports here after your credit card is charged whether or not your card is charged for a purchase or a cash advance. If I am understanding previous comments correctly, cards are not charged until shippment, and the coins are not yet ready for shipment. If this is true, whoever said the coins are charged as a purchase couldn't possibly know this as fact. All credit card terms and conditions that I have read indicate that obtaining cash or cash equivalents via credit card will cause the expense to be charged as an expensive cash advance.

You're right, but I didn't want to revisit an older OT post to correct my stupidity. It was something weird (to me) and was actually a $2 bill. I'm going to the recycling again tomorrow and will report back.

The US Mint charges for ALL online orders as a purchase, whether you believe it or not.

The mint has been selling coins since before this thread was started.

It's two boxes per order. For this item, the US Mint currently has a limit per order, not a limit per household. So you can churn this deal many times if you wanted to, unless the product becomes unavailable or the Mint changes the terms unfavorably.

Thanks OP, that was painless and I look forward to circulating them!

My apartment's leasing office accepts cash... they're not going to like me...

My bank (formerly CalFed, now Citibank) does not charge me for depositing rolled coins. Maybe because it's a business account... or I have several accounts there (or I've been there for over 20 years), I dunno. But I deposit several hundred $$ per month in quarters. They also supply the paper rolls for free, I just roll them up. They require the account number to be written on the roll (I just hit it with my endorsement stamp).

BTW, thanks OP, I just ordered two boxes. :D

My only issue is the delivery date... without knowing exactly, I hope I'm home when they come! The estimated ship date is 7/2; the estimated delivery time is 1-2 weeks. Does that mean from the time of order, or the time of shipment??

Good call on that, i can just imagine $1000 in coins sitting on my door step. Anyone been able to see who will be delivering it?

Last time I did this (6-9 months ago?) they informed me that that were about to start charging non-account holders to use this service.

I can only get the John Quincy coins to come up, anyone have a link for the other 5? I can't seem to find it anywhere

According to the FAQ, Unmixed coins will be available to banks, credit unions, and thrift institutions for six weeks, beginning two weeks prior to a coin’s release date and continuing for four weeks after the release date.

If this new program for the public works the same way, then the prior releases are no longer available for order.

If by churning, you mean ordering 2 boes every few days, I don't think so. The limit, if I read the Mint's Press Release correctly is 2 boxes per customer every 3 months.

"Customers may order up to 500 $1 coins (two boxes) within any given Presidential $1 Coin issuance period."

The issueance period is 1 coin every every 3 months. But I see no reason my wife, mother and myself can't order a box each 3 months.

Also, the program will end at the first living President, currently Jimmy Carter. So, if Carter is alive after the Gerald Ford Dollar is issued in 2016, the program ends and there will be no Ronald Reagan coin.

My bank allows you to deposit a small amount of change each day. I don't see why I cant go every few days and depostit 5-15 dollar coins -- but I cant say with certainty how much I can deposit each day.

Others have said the coins are good for tips. I agree, I have used them in airports to tip luggage handlers or skycaps, though I have to frequently explain to them that it is a $1 coin.

My best use for the $1 coin is paying a toll at a bridge, tunnel or turnpike. IMO, I think the toll collectors sometimes prefer the $1 coin. I've never gotten any kind of negative response when I hand them several $1 coins.

The Printer's Union at BEP has a lot of influence and they make political contributions to the right members of Congress.

strip clubs make the most sense...

A $2 bill is real, interesting enough. I've got a couple ;) , in fact I bought a few sheets of uncut $2 bills back when the US Treasury was selling them as novelty gifts (of course they cost more than the $2 bills on the sheet). Not sure if they are still doing that. I don't think banks stock $2 bills or anything like that, but they turn up here and there.

I get $2 bills from my bank (they order them for me). Quite useful in fact.