Frugal Travel Guy reports that the $2500 per person cap on Presidential Coin orders has been lifted.
US Mint Deal is Going Wild
The cap has come off the US Mint deal on the Native American coins and I’m hearing some huge numbers of coin deliveries. One reader said he and his mom are getting 20K coins per week. I know of another that has deposited over $60K in coins.
Five minutes ago I just picked up the UPS box delivered with 2500 coins to meet the minimum spend on the new US Bank Flex Awards offer Katy got. That was enough for me.How are you guys moving these large numbers of coins to and from the bank?
Katy and I live in small town America and have a banking relationship with our locally owned bank and a Chase branch downtown. It would be a huge hassle (remember that word?) moving large numbers around downtown without a wagon or something. And our small town local bank just drives them downtown to Chase where they send them back to the mint. They don’t want anymore.
Chime in and tell us how many branches you are depositing into? How many coins you are taking to the bank per load? What kind of grief the tellers are giving you?
Collectively if we can increase our numbers, the higher our rewards will be. I’ll share the successes here and the things to watch out for.
For details on how to earn miles by buying money and depositing it back in the bank, here’s a FAQ.
I’d personally report that there are still caps, had a single order of 10K canceled. Seems they are still sticking to around their original 5K cap for the Native American Coins only.
So who’s footing the bill for all this mailing of coins around the country and the credit card fees the US Mint has to pay? I assume us taxpayers?
If so, it’s rather amusing to see FrugalTravelGuy advocate/promote this fleecing of the taxpayers and at the same time complain about politicians doing the same thing (maybe on a grander scale, but why would I think that he’d be any different than our elected representives if only given the chance). Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. But if personal profits are at stake, morality has to take a step back, I suppose.
Oh yeah, and message to the US Mint: stop this nonsense! Do you guys really think this helps distribute the coins throughout the country? The *only* place I have seen them in use is as change from Caltrain ticket vending machines here in the Bay Area.
I’m with Oliver; we all pay for this sort of exploitation via taxes, not to mention the headache (and backache) it causes for random bank and United States Mint employees through America.
Were this a repeat of the opportunity a few years back to get miles by buying US savings bonds? Sure; zero handling and processing for everyone involved, and I get to invest in my country’s future. This? This is a total ripoff of all concerned. I’ll bet Frugal Travel Guy is the type of person who gets upset when the “All-you-can-eat buffet” cuts him off at closing time.
Yawn. Yawn. Yawn
The Mint makes money by lowering their overall costs. UPS makes money on their deliveries. The credit card company earns merchant fees and those of us that are taking advantage of the deal are earning miles and points. This is a Win, Win , Win, Win.
You forgot three things:
1. The mint has already made the coins.
2. I’m smart enough to go to the buffet long before closing time.
3. “Winners laugh and tell jokes while losers pi$$ and moan.”
We’ll see who is laughing when you’re in jail for conspiracy to commit mail fraud. I’m no lawyer but encouraging people to order souvenir coins they have no intention of keeping and cycling them through the system is morally wrong and I’m sure it’s ILLEGAL.
Laugh it up, big boy. You are committing fraud against the US Mint!!! Win, Win, Win will only be your lawsuit against you!!! I hope the miles are worth it. Shallow life you lead.
Next thing we’re told to do will probably be steal lunch money from kids on there way to school so we can buy miles with them or mileage runs? Hahahahahahahaha
We’ll see who is laughing when you’re in jail for conspiracy to commit mail fraud. I’m no lawyer but encouraging people to order souvenir coins they have no intention of keeping and cycling them through the system is morally wrong and I’m sure it’s ILLEGAL.
Laugh it up, big boy. You are committing fraud against the US Mint!!! Win, Win, Win will only be your lawsuit against you!!! I hope the miles are worth it. Shallow life you lead.
Next thing we’re told to do will probably be steal lunch money from kids on there way to school so we can buy miles with them or go on mileage runs? Why not hold up a bank? Steal from Grandma’s purse? *Shakes Head*
Brilliant — Frugal Travel Guy just discovered perpetual motion. Now we just have to decide if we should nominate him for the Nobel Price in Physics or the one in Economics. Heck, why not both.
(read your own story, Rick — you yourself wrote that the coins go straight back to the Mint)
Seriously, have you completely lost your moral compass that you don’t care at all what you do to get your miles fix? And that you consider those who don’t agree with you “losers”?
Rick, you often have good and helpful posts on your blog, but some of the things you’re promoting (and doing) just aren’t kosher (and certainly not anything I’d call frugal).
This has no effect whatsoever on the actual level of government spending.
Oliver If you have the nerve, drop me an email and let’s take this out of Gary’s blog. You know the address
Earning tons of SPG points at no cost whatsoever, on a program that our government is encouraging, and in fact has just liberalized, seems pretty frugal to me.
If they are dumb enough to offer it, I’m just smart enough to take advantage. I missed out on welfare, food stamps, government assistance, Head Start, medicade and all the other soical freebies as I worked for a living and paid taxes to pay for all those governement handouts, And now you, “the exalted one”, question my right to get a piece of the corrupt overinflated , ridiculously inefficient thing we call “the goevernment” with a few free points and miles.
I hope some day to be as pure a person as you.
Frank: Poor Frank.
Are you making a libelous accusation? And I should worry about Fraud?
Did I ever suggest that the bank send them back to the bank? NO. That is there choice.
Do I have any control over what the bank does with them after they get them? NO that is their choice.
Have I and others ordered coins from a legitimate offer from the US Mint? Yes
Is there a caveat in their offer that I must break up the coins and use them in my daily life? NO
Gary; FYI it is a known fact that the production and use of coins saves the taxpayers money over printed paper bills. They last longer. Is it my fault that the general public does not entirely accept them? NO
We got some pretty high and mighty claims and accusations going on here from people that I dare say are not as pure as they think they are.
All of you using Citi Credit cards, or any other bank that has received a bailout can take a good look at what you are doing. Your purchases are giving you miles that some non subsidized banks don’t give. Who is paying for those miles? We are, with government bailout money, just like we are paying for the naming rights to the tune of $400,000,000 for some baseball park in NY.
Before you start casting stones here fellas, let’s make sure you are pure as the driven snow. Oops end of conversation now, I’ll bet.
OBTW, Frank, I’d like your name and email address please.
Grow up and see the world for what it is: Full of humans
Frankly (ba-dum-bump), all this talk about immorality and fraud is pretty nutso. The Mint made an offer and people have taken them up on it. No fraud, no immorality.
At least this gets some coins out into circulation, unlike the millions the mint spend on advertising the dollar coins. The Mint spent $12 million on an ad campaing to promote the “green” benefits of dollar coins. Good grief, that’s a scandal.
Anyone who takes advantage of the mint is essentially a rapist, and certainly as evil as one. They should be ashamed and punished for taking something that isn’t theirs to take.
This discussion is pretty nuts. All the Frugal Guy is doing is taking advantage of a loophole at the Mint. Kind of like taking advantage of a tax loophole. Is it good for the country? Of course not. Is it illegal? Of course not.
For those of you who don’t like our tax dollars wasted this way (and I presume I could find thousands of other examples of wasted gov’t money), contact the Mint and tell them why some people are ordering their coins. It’s very possible that they are clueless. It’s also possible that such information will cause them to close this loophole. Perhaps that will make you feel better. I would then encourage you to ferret out other examples of gov’t waste. In the meantime, good luck to those hauling the coins around!
My bank happily accepted $2500 today and encouraged me to bring in as many rolls as I wanted. So tomorrow I’ll take in another $2500 and I just ordered another $5K from the mint.
Who pays for the shipping? We pays so much taxes to foot the bill for welfare, wic, hospital education and medical for undocumented / illegals! So, why can’t we spend a little of our tax dollars on ourselves?
WAHOO! Go MINT!
“Oliver” If you are sad or upset about the “wasted” money…look at the salaries of the congressmen and people “in office.”
Now that’s something to be upset about! Getting paid ALL THAT money and getting next to nothing done.