Legislation passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday that would authorize the United States Mint to strike up to 350,000 commemorative silver dollars in 2013 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Girl Scouts of the USA.
The Girl Scouts USA Centennial Commemorative Coin Act, or H.R. 621, was introduced on Jan. 21 by Rep. Jack Kingston. It represents a second attempt at passage as the first version failed to make its way through last year’s 110th Congress.
The final outcome for this bill would seem to be different. It had the support of 304 cosponsors and easily passed in the House by a simple voice vote. Then there is the Boy Scouts Centennial Commemorative Coin Act, which was signed into law in October of 2008. It would seem an unsupportable position to honor the Boy Scouts next year for their 100th anniversary, and then not do the same for the Girl Scouts on their centennial.
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An all-Canadian achievement, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games athlete medals are the product of the Royal Canadian Mint’s close collaboration with the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) and metal supplier Teck Resources Limited. Thirty-four Mint engineers, engravers, die technicians, machinists and production experts have combined [...]
Thursday was a day of excitement, anger and despair for many coin collectors who attempted to place an order early for the new US Mint Lincoln Coin and Chronicles Set.
Whether an order was placed by phone or straight from the Mint’s Web site, the more likely outcome for most collectors was inaction and irritation. Visitors to the site were greeted with a "Service Unavailable" or simply a generic "The connection was reset" message. The site was down more than up. Those calling on the phone were met with a repeated automated message "We are unable to answer your call at this time. Please try again later."
The sets were released at noon ET. By accounts, the Mint appeared to be the busiest they have ever been this year. An easing seemed to occur after the first hour went by. After many, many repeated attempts, phone orders went through more readily. The web appeared to be a bigger problem. The Mint site returned to a more normal and consistent behavior by 3:30 pm ET. By evening, it was as smooth as ever.
Of course many collectors were more than frustrated. The Mint did have more staff on hand, but it comes to a point that there is only so much they can do when there appears to be tens of thousands of collectors who come knocking on the door nearly at once.
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New York gold futures lost ground Thursday as the yellow metal moved further away from an all-time high as the US dollar rebounded. Silver and platinum also declined. In other markets, crude oil rallied to a one-year high on news of a decline in gasoline inventories and US stocks rose modestly. New York precious metals [...]
The cost of living in the US rose slower in September, easing concerns of higher inflation which over the past 12 months has fallen more than one percent, according to a Labor Department report released Thursday. Consumer prices edged higher last month by 0.2 percent, following a 0.4 percent climb in August. Core consumer prices, [...]
An objective of many coin collectors today will be to fight through the expected wait lines to acquire the US Mint’s 2009 Lincoln Coin and Chronicles Set. It launches at noon Eastern Time for the price of $55.95. As the Mint announced in Sept., there is a one order limit per household in affect, with [...]
A month ago our US Mint sales report headline said "Presidential Dollar Sets Pass 600K." Today that picture reverses as the proof dollars withdraw to fall back below the milestone. Several other products fell as well in a week where demand for collector coins trended mostly lower. There were several exceptions, especially for coins of [...]
Ottawa, Ontario — For the fourth consecutive year, the Royal Canadian Mint has been named one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for 2010. This annual list, published by MediaCorp, recognizes employers that are industry leaders at attracting and retaining employees. “The Royal Canadian Mint is extremely proud to be included as one of Canada’s [...]
New York gold futures declined slightly Wednesday after two days of advances, and despite a weakened US dollar and oil prices that pushed above $75 a barrel for the first time in a year. Silver and platinum both climbed 0.4 percent. US stocks gained with the Dow closing above 10,000 for the first time since [...]
The latest US Mint figures show weekly sales more than doubled for the 2008 Annual Uncirculated Dollar Set, which includes the 2008-W Uncirculated Silver Eagle. Driving them higher is the fact that the set is the only way to buy an uncirculated Silver Eagle from the US Mint this year, following the 2009 Eagle cancellations. [...]
