Yahoo Finance Coin collector ‘disappointed’ after queuing hours for ‘scratched’ $2 set
"For $235 they should be in better quality."
A coin collector who drove for hours to wait in line overnight for a special $2 set was disappointed to find scratches on the ‘mint condition’ edition that is now being sold online for up to $1500.
There was a lot of hype surrounding the release of the limited-edition, 35th anniversary $2 coin set and, the night before its release, Maurice Mattei was one of thousands who travelled to the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra and queued to purchase a set.
“It was a two-and-a-half-hour drive there. I stood in line for about 10 hours. Picked up the set then drove home another two-and-a-half hours,” he told Yahoo Finance.
But when he got home, he wasn’t impressed with the condition of the coins, particularly given the $235 price tag - a significant jump from the last 12-coin set, which sold for $75 (it’s now selling “consistently for more than $800").
“There are scratches on the head from where they’ve been bumped around in the drums,” Mattei said. “The last 12-coin sets were in much better condition and much cheaper.
“For that sort of money, they should’ve made a special batch for just them and handled them with more care. Not just pick them out of the drum and stick them in the folder.”
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When Yahoo Finance asked the mint what it thought of the damage to the coins, it said it was fine because they were a “collection of circulating coins, presented in uncirculated condition”.
“The standard of the collection has been assessed by the mint’s quality control team, and deemed to meet the mint’s quality standards for this class of product,” the mint told Yahoo Finance.
“Consumers who purchased their items directly from a retail store were able to inspect the sets at the point of sale and make their purchasing decision.”
Coin expert Matt Thompson, who regularly posts about his experience on YouTube for Thompson Coins, told Yahoo Finance it was “not uncommon” to see slight imperfections on these uncirculated coins because they were not produced to the standard of a proof coin, which is struck multiple times with polished dies.
“Essentially, the way the uncirculated coins are produced is still the same as their mass-production methods and there can still be production factors that do impact the finish of the coins, which can be disappointing and I can see why people get upset by that,” Thompson said.
He said the imperfections may mean they wouldn’t sell for as much as ‘perfect’ variations, but said it was important to consider success stories like the red poppy $2 coin - originally issued through RSLs for $10 - which were initially “a flop”.
“The original 2012 red poppy coins were the first coloured $2 coins issued in Australia, and even ones with significant paint chips are still selling for over $200 - these are ones that have been through a till and knocked around significantly,” he said.
“Coins with more visible marks may not fetch quite as much down the line, but a set like this that's really in demand - even right now with some imperfections - I imagine collectors would still be willing to pay significantly more than the retail price for it. But it is a valid concern.”
Other collectors have reported having faults in their set, with double-ups of certain coins and others missing entirely.
The mint said if anyone was unhappy, they could ask for a refund but, “due to the popularity of this product, the mint is unable to offer a replacement”.
The mint isn't wrong there. The items have been very popular, but it’s had to hold off on selling the rest it has in store after huge demand on the first day of sale again resulted in unhappy customers unable to get through via the phone, or standing in hours-long queues.
It had to change its sale method, and will be issuing the rest online. But it was still yet to work out when that would be or how the new ballot system would work.
Mattei said he’d missed out on a lot of new releases in the past couple years due to the unreliable system. But Thompson said he was confident the new process would create a fairer platform for collectors.
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