NGC Grading McDonald's MacCoin Tokens

[Star City Homer]

I wonder if the slabbed ones are redeemable for the 'sandwich' 

Swore off McD a long time ago, but back when I was still eating it, I have to admit to being astonished at how a quarter pounder with cheese with fries tasted EXACTLY the same anywhere in the US, in Beijing, in Tokyo, in Spain and Germany too (can't remember the specific cities there).  Kinda of astonishing yet creepy in a way.

 

[LNCS]

On 8/9/2018 at 12:28 PM, Star City Homer said:

I wonder if the slabbed ones are redeemable for the 'sandwich' 

Swore off McD a long time ago, but back when I was still eating it, I have to admit to being astonished at how a quarter pounder with cheese with fries tasted EXACTLY the same anywhere in the US, in Beijing, in Tokyo, in Spain and Germany too (can't remember the specific cities there).  Kinda of astonishing yet creepy in a way.

 

That is what Ray Kroc envisioned when he created the brand.

[Forest City]

I read the article about these Sunday in Coin World and thought "ho hum".  Then I read this thread and checked ebay and figured I better check around.

20+ locations in my city are sold out.  Except one in a bad neighborhood that has a "small box" left.  I befriended an employee at 3 AM who gave me 2 free loose ones.  Then today I bought 10 Big Macs to get 5 tokens (mix and match 2 for 5).  I could not make a set, so I got 5 1998-2008 as they are supposedly the "rarest".  Thinking about going back for more...should I?

Usually prices on stuff like this is huge off the bat and then drops.  I see prices have already moved on the 1998-2008 from 30ish to 20ish.  Should we assume they will continue to drop, or is this different because it is Mcdonalds with a lot of collector interest and most are sold out already?  How many were there, aprox 3 million?  To sell or hold.  Sell or hold.

BTW the normal price for a Big Mac at this location is 4.49.  what a rip-off.  You can get a similar sandwich for 2 or less dollars.  That extra half of a bun and special sauce is not worth 2.50.

[jmiler]

On 8/4/2018 at 7:57 AM, CoinClocks said:

Heven't ate at McD's in years (90s when our kids were young) - but I was definitely wanting to get my hands on a full set of these coins without getting gouged on eBay, so I called my local store yesterday (Aug. 3d) and they said they still had a few left - Each store was allotted a box of 225 coins and when they were gone, that was it.  So my wife and I went in right at 10:30 and asked if I bought 5 Big Macs, could I pick the 5 coins so I could be sure to get one of each design.  Enter 'confusion' by the staff.  Finally, in this young lady's frustration, she went to the back and came back out with a handful of 20 or so coins.  She said 'this is it - this is all we have left" and put on the counter.  I was able to pick through and found the 5 coins with the last one of the series, the 2010s - there being only one left of those.  Then I was told I could only get these on 5 separate visits!  I laughed and asked, "Why are you going to make me walk outside - then back in - buy one - leave - repeat X5?  I mean if I have to play the stupid game I will - then she goes "FINE! But you still have to do this in 5 separate transactions."  I agreed.  No big deal.  And thankfully, this was at 10:30, so there was no line of people getting upset behind us!  Long story long, I got my full set of coins and 5 sequential numbered receipts to boot!  When we got our Big Macs, my wife and I kept one and gave the other three to some guys that got in line behind us!  All in all, I'm glad I went to the trouble for these.  It's not everyday a company does something like this and I'm happy to have the full set without needing to 'play by the rules' as that would make it real hard for anyone else to get a full set and buying them on ebay was not an option.  BONUS:  I asked if I could have the box the coins came in and the crew flier and I got them too!

Coinclock, is there a way I could get a scanned copy of that flier. I am working on a possible exhibit on the MacCoins and would like to include a copy or the original.

[jmiler]

Has anyone heard of the turn in rate? what happens to the MacCoins when they are turned in?If McDonald received any special presentation versions for their HQ/Museum? What about different holder designs for different countries? Any info on product giveaway in other countries? I have seen a different holder for the MacCoins given out in New Zealand. there was 50,000 in New Zealand and 20,000 had been redeemed by September. Any information could help me with my exhibit. Thank You

[Revenant]

I thought the idea was cool / cute. Not cool enough or cute enough to get me out to a McDs to get one or to go out to the secondary market. Not cool enough for me to actually want to hold onto one / collect them, but I found the whole thing amusing.

[Conder101]

My problem is if I decided to collect them I would want the WHOLE set.  There are five different tokens issued here, but they were also issued in something like 20 other countries and several of them have the inscriptions in another language.  There are probably somewhere between 30 and 60 different pieces.  And some of those non-US pieces may be difficult to get ahold of here.

[jmiler]

On 12/24/2018 at 3:01 AM, Conder101 said:

My problem is if I decided to collect them I would want the WHOLE set.  There are five different tokens issued here, but they were also issued in something like 20 other countries and several of them have the inscriptions in another language.  There are probably somewhere between 30 and 60 different pieces.  And some of those non-US pieces may be difficult to get ahold of here.

There are only 5 possible tokens total. I have all 5 reverses plus 1 to show the obverse. I am building a token exhibit for the FUN show. I have looked at the tokens from the other countries, and have talked to the company that made the tokens Osborne Coinage . There are only 5 reverse designs. with one common obverse design released in All countries combined. every coin no mater what county it was received at looks like the same designed token from any other country. The different languages were on each coin. However the packaging was different in some of the countries that I have seen. Here is some of my info I have gotten.

The common obverse has these words: "50",  "1 Big Mac" (for the denomination), and "Valid Thru" in six languages (English, Arabic, Indonesian, Mandarin, Portuguese, French, and Spanish) along with the year "2018" 

MacCoins were distributed worldwide when you bought a Big Mac on August 2.

Each McDonalds restaurant in the U.S. received one box of 225 mixed tokens.

Most countries were "sold out" within two days.

All of the tokens that were turned in for big macs were then sent to McDonald's headquarters and were supposed to be melted down.

Proceeds of the sale of the metal was donated to the Ronald MacDonald House.

Because of this melting there is no way of knowing how many still exist worldwide. 

The MacCoins have a reeded edge

They are made of Brass (70% copper, 30% zinc)

The diameter of the tokens are 32mm

The weight of each token is 10.9 grams

 

[Jason Abshier]

My son is a Manager at McDonald’s he bought the tokens home to me at end of season ... apperatly I have 3 different ones .. I don’t have the full set ... I had 6 tokens that were all the same , I gave them to a homeless man that lived close by McDonald’s, Free Big Mac for him ....

 

honsetly I hate the smell of McDonald’s food these days since my son been working there for a few years ,I can not stand the smell anymore ! 

[Jason Abshier]

There is 41,146 McDonald’s in USA alone ... 225 tokens each McDonald’s X 41,146 totals out to be (3,182,850 tokens) \ 5 (different strikes) 636,570 of each strike .... according to my son most of them were turned right back in by customers the tokens were destroyed ... however they still are accepting them as of 2019 so they are slowly pouring back in ... how many will survive? I don’t know .... it’s an interesting token ... but not enough for me to send it in and pay a slabbing and grading fee ... why they have a high ridiculous prices on these tokens are beyond me ! Maybe 40 years from now I might bump into a hardcore McDonald’s lover and be able to sell these tokens at a handsome price 

[Conder101]

On 2/18/2019 at 9:12 AM, Jason Abshier said:

I gave them to a homeless man that lived close by McDonald’s, Free Big Mac for him ....

 

Except they ceased to be exchangeable after the end of 2018.

 

On 2/18/2019 at 10:39 AM, Jason Abshier said:

however they still are accepting them as of 2019 so they are slowly pouring back in

Interesting they were supposed to stop accepting them. 

[nk1nk]

Wish I had snagged these when they were on eBay.