It just seems like everytime I go to one of my coin club meetings, somebody starts talking about some kind of new or different error coin that they've found or heard of in some publication. The general attitude of so many people, mostly collectors, just seems to be that the U.S. Mint can't seem to do anything right anymore! I personally take offense to that kind of talk. Most collectors seem to look upon the U.S. Mint System as if it was some little shop in a strip center, and anytime they create an error coin, someone ought to be "written-up" or "fired" for total incompetence! I'm glad that I don't work for them. I just don't think that some people have anywhere near as much sense as my little dog!

The truth is that the U.S.MINT System is a series of very high production manufacturing plants who'se only real difference is that they manufacture United States money, instead of light bulbs or kitchen appliances! In the year 2000, the combined production of all four Mint facilities (including West Point), was more than 30-BILLION coins! Thats right, - BILLION!  To strike these coins, more than 80,000 pairs of dies had to be produced. The total dollar amount of U.S. coins produced was about $3,565,000,000.00!  This total doesn't even include Silver, Gold, or Platinum Bullion Coinage! Nor does this total include any medals, or Official Proclamation items that the Mint is also commissioned to produce. Not only that, these totals don't reflect those coins produced for the U.S. Territorial possessions like the Gilberts or the Marshall Islands, or other contract customers. The U.S. Mint still produces coins under contract for several other countries respective economies. By weight, in the year 2000, the Mints produced more than  150,000 tons of coins. This is an amount greater than the weight of the QE-II luxury liner, or three times that of the TITANIC!

If you really break it down, the Mint System produced an average of 80,660,000 coins per day - 365 days a year. Of course we all know that they didn't work 365 days! When you look at the staggering numbers of coins produced, along with the overall quality - Which is absolutely THE BEST anywhere in the world - the numbers of imperfect coins released into the public domain was fewer than  1 in 40,000. Lets also remember that all coins start off as bars of bullion. These bars have to be rolled out to proper dimensions of weight and thickness. Some have to be clad (copper nickel to copper core) or otherwise processed before being punched into blanks; some copper electroplated; others sinthered and so on. All of these different steps are part pf the process before being stamped into money, counted, bagged, and shipped to the Federal Reserve System for distribution!  And all throughout this process, all coins and metal scrap has to be accurately accounted for as prescribed by Federal guidelines.

No other coins in the world can consistently come close to matching the quality and sheer magnificense of the proof coins and other presentation pieces produced by the U.S. Mint System. The splendidly cameoed devices in contrast to the deeply reflective fields on U.S. proof coins is true art and truly a sight to behold for anyone who appreciates coin beauty. United States proof and mint sets are two of the most popular keepsakes cherished by visitors and brought back as gifts to friends and family members all over the world, not just coin collectors!

So, the next time you hear someone complaining that the quality of  U.S. coins needs some "serious" improvement, just ask them to step up and show the Mint how to do it better.  Oh, . . .and if you are lucky enough to run across one of those 1-in-40,000 error coins, . . .SMILE! . . .because you just found a RARE coin!

If you have found this review interesting, entertaining, or informative in any way, I would greatly appreciate your taking just a moment to "check" the ( YES ) box at the bottom of this page. All information sources are available upon request. mintex03