The numismatic landscape for US Mint 2009-dated coins has remained on the sleepy side of sales since mid-December. The attention-grabbing action surrounds the new 2010 products.

2010-dated Gold and Silver Eagles made waves in January. The eagles swaggered last month toting prolific numbers. But then sales appeared to dive into nothingness as not a single sale was added to Mint registers for nearly a week.

The silence was shattered on Wednesday afternoon. Silver Eagles jumped up 500,000. Gold Eagles picked up 14,500. The additions are hardly spectacular, but they are decent … and far from ugly zeros. Read the rest of this entry »

The amount of money coin collectors have been spending on numismatic coins has fallen since the middle of December, as a holding pattern is apparent by those who have already made their 2009-dated purchases and are awaiting the US Mint’s new offerings. The latest weekly sales report from the United States Mint is the least impressive in a very long time.

Only three collector products showed improvements over the prior week:

• Two First Spouse Gold Coins — the Anna Harrison proof gained 20 versus 17 and the Letitia Tyler proof advanced 21 compared to 16
• The 2009 DC & US Territories Quarters Proof Set rose 8,968. Last week the US Mint had cut their previous total down by 6,809.

In a bigger picture of faltering demand for gold products, only 240 First Spouse Gold Coins were purchased compared to the prior weekly grab of 733. The proof American Buffalo tally advanced another 421, but that is down greatly from the modest 749 increase reported last week. Tumbling bullion prices have not been beneficial to sales, but the US Mint did cut gold coin prices on Wednesday which should increase their appeal in the market. Read the rest of this entry »

Gold prices tumbled last week from Wednesday through Friday, and the balance looks to be tipped enough that the United States Mint will cut prices for all First Spouse Gold Coins and the 2009 Buffalo Gold Proof Coin.

The threshold for the US Mint’s current pricing structure is based on a London Fix weekly gold average of between $1,100.00-$1,149.99 an ounce.

The Mint must still consider the Wednesday AM morning gold fix. However, unless there is a serious run-up in overnight prices that pushes gold above $1,124 an ounce, the weekly average will remain under $1,100.00 and trigger price cuts. The London gold fix ended today at 1,093.25 an ounce Read the rest of this entry »

In what has become almost a weekly routine of late, the United States Mint again reported unimpressive sales according to their latest figures. A few bright spots did emerge, however.

The most impressive gains come not from a numismatic item, but from the US Mint’s bullion coins. Recall that the bullion 2009 American Silver Eagles sold out on January 12th, with 2010-dated coins not appearing for sale until this last Tuesday. The situation left authorized purchasers with no silver bullion options for almost a full week.

They made up for this lack of availability and then some. In less than two days, Mint records show an astounding 2,480,000 were purchased. Put another way, in less than 48 hours the Mint sold over 8.6% of the total number of Silver Eagles it had sold in all of 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

US Mint numismatic coin sales dipped, marking the third general weekly decline in four weeks. The excitement level of the 2009-dated coins is waning as eyes begin to turn toward upcoming series, like the America the Beautiful Quarters products, 2010 Lincoln cent and 2010 silver dollars — especially the Boy Scout commemoratives.

Sales were not completely sour. Last week’s rising gold and silver prices were beneficial to most US Mint precious metal products. Momentum picked up for American Eagle Gold and Silver bullion coins, the proof American Buffalo Gold piece, and several First Spouse Gold Coins. Highlights from the most recent United States Mint sales report follow:

• Final sales figures for the UHR $20 Double Eagle Gold coin are now known. During their availability from Jan. 22 to Dec. 31, collectors purchased 115,178 of the 24-karat, .9999 fine gold coins.

• 2009 American Silver Eagle Bullion coins sold out earlier this week. In total, 29,134,000 left US Mint inventories, earning the 2009s first place in annual and overall sales across every other eagle dating back to the series launch in 1986. Companion 2009 Gold Eagle Bullion coins jumped 14,000 during the last seven days, bringing their January sales to 20,000. The Mint will not offer them much longer. Tuesday is the scheduled release for the one-ounce 2010-dated eagles — both gold and silver.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sales of collector coins from the United States Mint appear to have stopped their three week slide, but not by much. According to their latest report, no new drastic drops are apparent. Unfortunately, also equally missing from that data are significant gains.

While not huge in numbers, the First Spouse Gold Coins saw almost across the board improvement, not that this was hard to do after the previous week’s disappointing sales.

Leading the pack was the Margaret Taylor First Spouse Proofs with a 110 unit increase. The only spouse to show a set back was the Letitia Tyler Uncirculated Coin, declining 11 from the week prior to 9 new sold. You may recall that each of these coins are struck from 1/2 ounce, 24-karat gold. That sets their price points of $729 for the proofs and $716 for the uncirculated coins, which is steep for most casual collectors.

2009-dated American Silver Eagle bullion coins are showing consistent demand with 131,000 sold so far in the month of January. Gold Bullion Eagles came in at 6,000. As a reminder, the 2010-dated versions will not be offered by the US Mint until January 19.

A few other striking items from the weekly sales report: Read the rest of this entry »

If the United States Mint was hoping for strong Christmas week sales from Santa, unfortunately, they were disappointed. For the third straight week figures show significant drops in volume almost across the board for collector coins.

Only a few meager entries managed a positive change, but the overall results are not too rosy. Of course, this time of year one would expect a lack of interest in the hobby with thoughts turning to travel and family and friends. Even those individuals who thought ahead to give coins as gifts had to plan that out weeks ago and place their orders to insure delivery before Christmas.

The only true beacon of light on the US Mint’s sales for the week were American Eagle bullion coins. The 1 oz Gold Eagle versions, which were just made available from the Mint again on December 15th after having been suspended due to demand, are up to 1,303,500 for the year. That was a jump of 47,500 for one week. And this is with an allocation program in place on strikes, meaning the Mint’s authorized purchasers are limited in the amounts they can order.

1 oz Silver Eagles are being rationed as well, but that did not stop their numbers from rising to 28,680,500 for the year, an increase of 281,500 in just the one week.

A few other interesting items from the weekly sales report: Read the rest of this entry »

If last week’s US Mint coin sales report could be considered lackluster, the most recent figures for this week do nothing but continue that trend. Fortunately, a few entries did show some movement, even if that movement could not be called extraordinary.

Gold coins appear to have led the pack with decent demand. Most likely this is due to the $50 price reduction on gold issues that stemmed from the lower gold prices.

Sales of the American Buffalo Proofs jumped 524 units over last week to 922, bringing the total number sold to 41,553. Also possibly playing into the increased sales is the fact that the bullion versions of the Buffalos reached a sold-out state from the Mint on December 4th of this year, making the proofs the only Buffalos still available.

Showing an even greater increase in sales were the 2009 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle coins. They ran to 1,887 sold versus only 587 the week before. This brings their grand total for the year to 110,681. These 24-karat coins were first offered on January 22nd and will only be struck this year. The Mint will continue taking orders on the UHR’s until 3 PM (Eastern) on December 31, 2009, making them available for just one more week. Read the rest of this entry »

The United States Mint today revealed the final design images of the new 2010 First Spouse Gold Coins featuring the wives of Presidents Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, and Lincoln. These men will be depicted in 2010 on Presidential $1 clad coins while their spouses will be honored on $10 gold pieces.

The coins mark the fourteenth through the seventeenth to be issued in the series which began in 2007. The US Mint will produce collector proof an uncirculated versions. Each is struck in 1/2 ounces of 24 karat, .9999 fine gold. The new designs also will be featured on 1-5/16" bronze medals.

"The First Spouse Gold Coin designs give us a glimpse into the fascinating lives of the women who supported, promoted and often advised the men who led our country," Mint Director Ed Moy said in aptly describing the series last year.

The following are images of each first lady coin, and design information as provided by the US Mint. Read the rest of this entry »

The United States Mint is unlikely to cut numismatic gold coin prices for a second straight week, despite the continual decline in gold prices — now at the lowest levels since early November.

The US Mint cut prices last Wednesday, Dec. 16, when the London Fix weekly gold average retreated under the $1,150.00 an ounce threshold. The next barrier before an adjustment can take place is below $1,100.

London gold did shift below that level on Tuesday, but the current several day average is $1,105.81. The Wednesday AM fix will need to settle under $1,053.50 an ounce to trigger lower prices for US Mint First Spouse Gold Coins, American Buffalo Gold Proof Coins, and Ultra High Relief $20 Double Eagles. Read the rest of this entry »