In what could end up being an about-face in government policy, new legislation was introduced in the United States Senate on January 31, 2012 seeking to replace paper dollar bills with $1 coins.
The proposed bipartisan bill is entitled the Currency Optimization, Innovation, and National Savings (COINS) Act, S. 2049, and was introduced by Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa and Senator John McCain of Arizona.
If passed and signed into law, the COINS Act would effectively serve as a reversal to the December 2011 order [...]
Demand for 22-karat American Gold Eagle bullion coins grew for a second straight month in January. The United States Mint reported sales of 127,000 ounces, marking a gain of 61,500 ounces, or 93.9%, over the previous month.
With that total, the month ranks as the fourth best January in the twenty-six year history of American Eagle program. It is also the highest monthly amount since January 2011 when 133,500 ounces were ordered [...]
The United States Mint released images of the 2012 America the Beautiful Quarters on Thursday, and lower prices for related products were published on Friday.
America the Beautiful Quarters include five new coins featuring reverse designs emblematic of selected sites of national interest. The five sites to be honored in 2012 include El Yunque National Forest of Puerto Rico, Chaco Culture National Historical Park of New Mexico, Acadia National Park of Maine, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park of Hawaii and Denali National Park of Alaska [...]
The United States Mint on Thursday announced the designs and released associated images for the 2012 Presidential Dollar Coins. Showcased on the four 2012 coins are obverse portraits of former Presidents of the United States Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland (acknowledging his first term), Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland again (acknowledging his second term).
These four issues mark the twenty-first through twenty-fourth of the Presidential $1 Coin series. The program debuted in 2007 under which new Presidential dollars are issued [...]
Available now from the Perth Mint of Australia are 2012 Year of the Dragon Gold Coins. These 2012 Year of the Dragon Gold Coins are issued by the Mint as a part of the Chinese Astrological Series and feature a dragon and the Chinese character for either prosperity, longevity or success — Fu, Lu and Shou.
Each coin is struck from 1/5 ounce of 99.99% pure gold to proof quality. The gold coins are available in differing product options. The ‘Prosperity’ coin is available individually with a maximum mintage of 2,000. Expanding on the Chinese Astrological Series, a [...]
December 2011 bullion sales of American Gold Eagle coins from the United States Mint came in at 65,500 ounces, the first monthly increase since August and 59.8% higher than November. The tally strengthened the status established a few months ago when 2011 moved up to the seventh best annual slot in the history of the American Eagle program.
During 2011, buyers ordered exactly 1,000,000 ounces of Gold Eagles. Of that total, the majority was the one ounce coins with 910,000 sold [...]
The People’s Bank of China has released another series of gold and silver commemorative coins dedicated to the classical Chinese novel known as the Outlaws of the Marsh. The coins feature reverse designs colorized to showcase the famous outlaws and some of the deeds they committed.
The third series of the Outlaws of the Marsh commemorative coins includes three in 99.9% pure gold and four in 99.9% pure silver. All feature extremely limited mintages and are available now through authorized People’s Bank of China distributors [...]
In a memo Wednesday to its network of Authorized Purchasers, the United States Mint announced the release date for what will be its two most popular bullion coins next year, the 2012 American Gold Eagle and 2012 American Silver Eagle.
According to the memo, the bullion coins, including the fractional sized Gold Eagles, will be available for order on Tuesday, January 3 — the same day last year’s issues launched [...]
The United States Mint on Tuesday once again reduced prices on several numismatic silver coins, marking the second such occurrence in less than three months.
"American Eagle Silver Uncirculated Coins and America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins, previously taken off sale for re-pricing, are now available at new LOWER PRICES. Be sure to PLACE YOUR ORDER TODAY," the United States Mint advertises on its online store at www.usmint.gov/catalog.
These price drops were precipitated by a falling silver market which is down over 40% from its high earlier this year. The precious metal averaged [...]
The metallic composition of cents and nickels would be changed if newly introduced legislation becomes law. According to two separate bills introduced on December 15, 2011, America’s two lowest denominated coins should be struck primarily from steel.
Congressman Steve Stivers of Ohio introduced the proposed changes as part of the Cents and Sensibility Act, H.R. 3693, and the Saving Taxpayer Expenditures by Employing Less Imported Nickel Act, H.R. 3694, also known as the STEEL Nickel Act. Taxpayer savings was the reason given for each [...]
