Lincoln Formative Year cents are on fire, UHR $20 gold coins are selling at a level pace, demand for Braille Bicentennial Dollars has picked up slightly, and Puerto Rico quarter sales are mixed.

The second redesigned 2009 Lincoln cent went on sale Thursday, May 14. By Sunday, a mind-blasting 200,055 of the two-roll sets were sold. (See 20 Million Lincoln Rail Splitter Pennies Sold.)

Although the public is happier with improved access to the new pennies, collectors are generally disappointed as US Mint sales continue with no apparent end in sight, making the cents far from "scarce." In the Log Cabin penny launch, the Mint concluded sales after 96,000 of the two-roll sets were sold. Then, more than one collector was taken aback by the unexpected stoppage. With this series, the Mint is in an apparent no-win situation. Read the rest of this entry »

Ultra High Relief (UHR) $20 gold coins break a new threshold and Braille Commemorative Silver Dollar sales soar, according to the latest US Mint sales report.

Ultra High Relief (UHR) $20 gold coin sales cooled off compared to the last figures, but rose above the magic 60,000 barrier. With an average price of around $1200 each, the total is quite impressive.

In a surprise for the second straight week, sales of Louis Braille Silver Dollars shot up… really shot up. Proofs jumped by 38.1 percent over the prior numbers, with 21,636 additional sold. The uncirculated options rose by nearly 30 percent, with 10,200 more purchased by collectors. Read the rest of this entry »

Sales figures for sold out 2008-dated American Buffalo gold and American Eagle gold and platinum coins are showing mostly zero changes this week after a few of the options jumped around last week.

In the strange category for this report, no gains are listed for the uncirculated American Eagle Silver coin. Considering the US Mint still sells them, there is likely an accounting error to consider.

The sharpest gainer for the week is the final remaining 1/10 oz 2008-W American Eagle Gold Proof coin. Sales increased by 1,911, or 16.4 percent. The same size in the uncirculated option also picked up nicely to 8.3 percent compared to the previous 1.9 percent increase. Read the rest of this entry »

Take the new two-click poll on the CoinNews website asking that very question (found in the upper right). Surprisingly, at least so far, results have been close to evenly mixed.

Compared to the U.S., interesting and different dynamics are in play with other countries and their small change. Several countries are actually suffering through serious coinage shortages due to hoarding.

Two countries in particular, Argentine and China, have experienced an up tick in entrepreneur-like activity where people find and resell small change - for a profit - to businesses or individuals who are experiencing shortages.

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