ATG: Award Travel Guide

Unfortunately the U.S. Mint is supposedly cracking down on a very lucrative points earning scheme. Technically each individual is allowed to order $500 worth of US Dollar coins. Why would you want such coinage rattling around in your pockets? Well you probably don’t, but the U.S. Mint wants these coins in circulation, and allows you to order through their website via points-earning credit cards. The best part? Well that would be the free shipping of course.

Reports of individuals being able to order between $5,000 and $800,000 worth of these coins in order to gain the points have been floating around the web for some time. One individual was quoted by the WSJ as saying he just had the UPS delivery man put the package of coins directly in the boot of his vehicle, and then drove straight to the bank to deposit.

Now however, the U.S. Mint has become wise to the practice, and has vowed to more strictly enforce the $500 limit. It is also reportedly speaking with Credit Card companies to not allow purchases from the Mint to be eligible for points. How well will they be able to do this? The better question is why would they bother doing this? Their stated goal is to get these coins into circulation as fast as possible. These coins last longer than dollar bills, and thus save them money. What is the harm in some clever folks also benefiting from this?

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