Realcent.org

The US Mint keeps trying to get people to use golden tokens for dollars, but the public is lothe to adopt them. They even introduced the direct ship system to allow people to purchase them at face value, shipped. As it turns out, the vast majority of the coins ordered are purchased with a credit card that offers cash back. Has anyone ever done this? Assuming the card pays 1% cash back, that's $10 per month (limit $1000/month). I figure they are easier for us to dump than most, as we can mix them with rolls of dimes and half dollars.

I believe they put more restrictions on the program because most people were buying them and dumping them at banks right away...

The intended purpose of the Circulating $1 Coin Direct Ship Program is to make $1 coins readily available to the public, at no additional cost, so they can be easily introduced into circulation—particularly by using them for retail transactions, vending, and mass transit. Increased circulation of $1 coins saves the Nation money. The immediate bank deposit of $1 coins ordered through this Program does not result in their introduction into circulation and, therefore, does not comply with the intended purpose of the program.

This has been a topic of discussion here before. The conclusion was that the Mint wants you to put the coins into circulation, but have no way to confirm that you've done so. Yes, it's a good way to earn points or cash back.

It is actually 1000 every ten days you can order.

You would need multiple dump banks as I bet they will quickly tire of paying to send them back to the Fed.

The PennyArcade machines at Banknorth hereabouts are all set to trip off at 100 $1 coins. In other words, the bag fills to max and requires teller assistance every 15 or 20 seconds. They say it's for security reasons I had mint wrapped rolls but they still wanted them cracked open and run through the machine.

Sure looks dopey when they seal the giant coinlok bags and there are barely enough coins in it to fill out the bottom.

natsb88 wrote:I believe they put more restrictions on the program because most people were buying them and dumping them at banks right away...

The intended purpose of the Circulating $1 Coin Direct Ship Program is to make $1 coins readily available to the public, at no additional cost, so they can be easily introduced into circulation—particularly by using them for retail transactions, vending, and mass transit. Increased circulation of $1 coins saves the Nation money. The immediate bank deposit of $1 coins ordered through this Program does not result in their introduction into circulation and, therefore, does not comply with the intended purpose of the program.

Yup its too late to really play that game anymore.

If you order on a regular basis I believe you have to fill out a form stating why you are ordering and now the order limits are really low.

my wife owned a condo when i got married so i sold my house and bought u.s. savings bonds with the profit with my credit card. ca-ching.

Looks like the credit card free bonuses are over:

http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/$1c ... directShip

So at least the direct ship is kept available for those willing to mail a check or money order.
I'm suprised it took them 3 years to figure this out.

Just read the article linked at coinflation:

http://www.businessinsider.com/us-mint- ... les-2011-7

One guy directed the shipment of coins straight to the bank whom his mortgage was with,
so he didn’t have to “hassle with hauling them over myself, because I have a bad back.”

Um, OK, my back ain't perfect but I'm pretty sure I can move the coins myself, it's about
carrying them properly and balancing the weight. That guy is just the ultimate in lazy!
I mean just how many dollar coins does it take to make a mortgage payment? :-O

PolishPunisher wrote:You would need multiple dump banks as I bet they will quickly tire of paying to send them back to the Fed.

And, uh, exactly /who/ sets the rules the banks have to follow?

I was lucky enough to make a little money off of this scheme. I used a Wal Mart credit card, 1% back, and I paid the bills with the coins. Never had any problems. I'm bummed that it's over.

This deal is over. Payment by check, money order, or wire only. Don't see much of a point in getting dollar coins to spend if you can't get credit card points out of it. It was fun while it lasted.

chris6084 wrote:This deal is over. Payment by check, money order, or wire only. Don't see much of a point in getting dollar coins to spend if you can't get credit card points out of it. It was fun while it lasted.

Ditto. The gig is up.

twentybux wrote:

chris6084 wrote:This deal is over. Payment by check, money order, or wire only. Don't see much of a point in getting dollar coins to spend if you can't get credit card points out of it. It was fun while it lasted.

Ditto. The gig is up.

Alas, between the seigniorage and the idea that the USPS is part of the government and charged the US Mint, I presume, for the free shipping feature, the dollar coin program was a nice under the radar kind of thing until it got too well known. Hmmm, a lesson here that should of been heeded:

http://sororitea.files.wordpress.com/20 ... titled.jpg

I think the banks that were making people break up the rolls and put them through the
counters were helping to make it less obvious to the Fed...but some people doing it
even whined about that. People are lazy. Free money, you just have to do a little work.
"But I want the money without the work, can someone else do the work and me get the
money anyways..." -_-

Needless to say the reform will limit order to the people the program was intended for
and not the free riders. Though I don't blame anyone that did jump on it, the loophole
never should have been there that long if at all in the first place. Reminds me of a cell
phone company that left a giant security hole in their pay and talk system for at least 6
years, the abuse got pretty bad and went on pretty long and got _really_ obvious before
they finally did something about it.