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British Christmas set??


SlavicScott

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On my god, more junk i see.

 

Christmas sets? Christmas set? They really are running out of ideas. This goes hand in hand with Christening sets, new born baby sets, wedding sets... what's next? Easter sets and Bank Holiday sets?

 

This is getting as bad as Police Acadamy, make a movie then make a dozen sequels. Idea, stick, beat, death, to.

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On my god, more junk i see.

 

Christmas sets? Christmas set? They really are running out of ideas. This goes hand in hand with Christening sets, new born baby sets, wedding sets... what's next? Easter sets and Bank Holiday sets?

...

 

 

Finland offers matriculation sets. A couple of years back there was also a Ice Hockey World Championships set too. Of course we have also had a Christmas set and baby sets, etc too. :ninja:

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In the Netherlands we have birth sets and so called "good cause" sets.

 

The "good casue" set contains the 8 denomination of a year, in BU. They're sold by the mint and they donate a percentage of the selling price to an organisation in the netherlands, like the "burning wounds foundation" or the organisation that trains dogs to help blind people.

 

I don't have too much problems with these sets, in fact, I get my "good cause" set each year and I'm about to order a birth set (if still available...) to give to the new kid from my brother, to be born in november.

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I do like the idea of good cause sets because it's charitable, in my book that's good.

 

When it's for mint profit and greed then no, not good.

There's nothing greedy about it really: the mint does it to stay afloat. Last year they only made about half a million pounds profit. If items like these weren't around, the mint would go under.

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I've always though the mint should be a nationalised operation run by the government. That's how it used to be back in the middle ages, the kings ran the mints as their own. And moneyers were royal employees.

They did a lot of things in the middle ages which they don't do now. If it were run by the government, that doesn't mean it wouldn't produce these types of sets: it would have to just to stay afloat. Unless of course they decided to make coins out of something else to reduce operating costs (which were around £100m last year).

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True...

 

 

Although if it had been the Thatcher government there would have been alot of spending cuts. I think all the proof/mint sets would have been axed and they probably would have eliminated the bronze coins too to save on brass. It was that government that was responsible for the size reductions in the early 1990s... so they were already initiating spending cuts even though they didn't run the mint! :ninja:

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True...

Although if it had been the Thatcher government there would have been alot of spending cuts. I think all the proof/mint sets would have been axed and they probably would have eliminated the bronze coins too to save on brass. It was that government that was responsible for the size reductions in the early 1990s... so they were already initiating spending cuts even though they didn't run the mint! :ninja:

 

From the website of the Royal Mint....

 

"The Royal Mint is a department of government and its primary responsibility remains the provision of the United Kingdom coinage. Its reputation, however, extends beyond this and internationally it has a reputation for making some fascinating coins for over 100 countries."

 

"In April 1975 the Mint was established as a Government Trading Fund, operationally very similar to a government-owned company."

 

Another note... the reduction in sizes of the pieces in the 1990's was not a government initiative to cut spending, it was in response to increases in the metal prices that were cutting into the government's profits. It wasn't initiative, but reactive measures.

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There's nothing greedy about it really: the mint does it to stay afloat.  Last year they only made about half a million pounds profit.  If items like these weren't around, the mint would go under.

 

 

This year, they lost £3M, including almost £2M in operating losses.

 

By the way, these items are the exact reason why they have such an operating loss. Everyone knows that the seignorage for circulation pieces is squat, but it is steady and sure. With the collectibles market, it is a crap shoot, and you have to spend millions in advertising just to find out whether or not the public will actually buy the wares you are hocking.

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