As most people are aware, the U.S. Mint Web site’s Ecommerce section was down for a little more than a week recently. Mint Director Ed Moy issued an apology, which struck me as being sincere, but there were still a few loose ends to wrap up before letting this matter take its place in “old news.” In particular, people wanted to know how it was possible that a major entity like the U.S. Mint could lose its Ecommerce functionality for so long a period of time.

There was speculation that a Mint Web services subcontractor had withheld the computer code and/or order data from the Mint in retaliation for being fired by the Mint. Another rumor claimed that the whole outage was a manipulation on the Mint’s part to justify some price increases. Some rumors I heard were very bizarre conspiracy-theory type explanations that are so absurd as to not be worth repeating. Read Full Story

By Susan Headley, About.com:Coins

The U.S. Mint offers a bewildering variety of coin sets each year, ranging from the old stand-by’s such as Proof sets and Uncirculated (year) sets, to the special commemorative sets and coins that have limited mintages. Learn which ones typically skyrocket in value right away, and which ones are usually the duds.

A. The answer, in a nutshell, is the limited mintage sets that have a unique coin in them that cannot be gotten in any other way are the sets that make the smartest buys. For example, the Twentieth Anniversary Silver Eagle 3-Coin Set that came out in late 2006 had a coin that could only be acquired as part of the set - the Reverse Proof Silver Eagle. This set had a mintage of 250,000 maximum sets, and the Reverse Proof immediately doubled the set’s value. As of January 2008, the set sells for around $400 in PR-68 (a low-end grade for the set.) The issue price was only $100. Read Full Article