The US Mint on Thursday announced the ceremonial release date for the newly redesigned 2010 Lincoln Shield Cent.

The official launch will occur on Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 9:30 AM Central Time at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois.

The city is a popular destination for those wishing to follow in the footsteps of Lincoln, as it is there where he spent most of his adult life prior to becoming the 16th President of the United States.

Along with a plethora of other Lincoln related sites, to include the museum and the historic site where he lived, Springfield is home to Lincoln’s Tomb.

The new Lincoln "Preservation of the Union" penny is emblematic of President Lincoln’s "preservation of the United States of America as a single and united country." The reverse features a union shield with a scroll draped across it bearing the inscription E PLURIBUS UNUM. The 13 vertical stripes of the shield represent the states joined in one compact union to support the Federal government, represented by the horizontal bar above. Read the rest of this entry »

The United States Mint will send the Millard Fillmore Presidential $1 Coin into circulation on Feb. 18, 2010. On the same day the US Mint will ceremoniously unveil the new dollar at the Moravia Central School in Moravia, N.Y. at 10 AM ET.

Fillmore was born only five miles east of Moravia. He served as the 13th President of the United States from 1850-1853 after assuming the office when President Zachary Taylor passed away. These were tremulous times for the country which was already on the verge of a civil war, postponed by the Compromise of 1850. Fillmore is credited with the 1854 Treaty of Kanagawa effectively ending the isolationism of Japan. Read the rest of this entry »

The United States Mint today at noon ET began offering bags and rolls of 2010 Kennedy Half Dollars.

Kennedy 50c pieces are unique in that the US Mint no longer produces them for use in every day change, but instead for collectors in circulation strike condition.

Demand, therefore, is dictated by the quantities of bags and rolls sold directly by the Mint to interested buyers, and not by orders placed from American banks.

In 2008, the Mint struck 1.7 million 2008-D and 1.7 million 2008-P Kennedy Half Dollars. It had to increase production in 2009 as demand rose, helped in part by the focus on the Kennedy family following the passing of Ted Kennedy on August 26, 2009. The mintage levels increased to 1.9 million at each Mint facility. Read the rest of this entry »

The Royal Canadian Mint’s Winter 2010 Collection — Product Spotlight

Earlier this month, the Royal Canadian Mint released its first new collector coins of 2010. To follow up on our recent 2010 Proof Set Spotlight honouring the Canadian Navy’s centennial as the theme of its 2010 Silver Dollar, we’re now pleased to tell you about another perennial favourite — the annual Specimen Set which pays tribute to one of Canada’s remarkable feathered friends.

The Royal Canadian Mint 2010 Specimen Set includes seven Canadian coins with a combination of superb brilliant and frosted relief finishes on lined backgrounds. Read the rest of this entry »

To celebrate the Winter Games, the Austrian Mint in Vienna has issued two silver 5 Euro coins. Each displays a winter discipline in which Austria is a world-leading performer.

The first has as its theme ski jumping. One sees the helmeted ski-jumper captured in his flight from the end of the steep ramp against a background of trees in an alpine forest. The second design shows a female snow-boarder as she performs a hair-raising air trick, flipping her snowboard up over the rim of the half-pipe in which they perform. Read the rest of this entry »

In the lead-up to Australia Day, the Assistant Treasurer, Senator Nick Sherry, announced the design of the newest coin to go into the hands of Australians.

Commemorating and celebrating Australia Day and designed by the Royal Australian Mint in consultation with the National Australia Day Council, this 50 cent coin marks the spirit of this significant national celebration and will soon be available around the country.

Australian cricket great and National Australia Day Council Chairman Adam Gilchrist welcomed the newest coin to go into the hands of Australians. Read the rest of this entry »

The United States Mint today officially launched the 2010 Native American $1 coin. The newly designed dollar debuted in a special ceremony at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian George Gustav Heye Center in New York City.

"The beautiful 2010 Native American $1 Coin reverse design honors the Iroquois Confederacy – five tribal Nations joined by a single constitution in the 1400s in upstate New York," said US Mint Director Ed Moy who was joined by Heye Center Director John Haworth to introduce the latest circulating $1.

"The design is an acknowledgment of the confederation’s influence on Western political thought, including concepts of equality and democratic self-government that existed on the North American continent long before the founding of the United States."

Thomas Cleveland’s design depicts "Government – The Great Tree of Peace." Centered on the reverse is a Hiawatha Belt which signifies the creation of the Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy. The belt and five arrows bound within portray the strength in unity of the five participating nations — Onondaga, Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga and Seneca. Read the rest of this entry »

The United States Mint today at noon ET began selling 2010 Native American Dollar Rolls for $35.95.

Available are rolls filled with $1 coins struck from either Philadelphia or Denver. Each roll is "wrapped with specially designed yellow and black paper" and contains 25 coins.

The Native American dollar features a new reverse theme each year. The 2010 design, by Thomas Cleveland, portrays "Government – The Great Tree of Peace." It shows a Hiawatha Belt that signifies the creation of the Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy.

The belt and five arrows bound together signify the strength in unity of the five participating nations — Onondaga, Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga and Seneca. The obverse features Glenna Goodacre’s Sacagawea design that was first introduced in 2000. Read the rest of this entry »

To celebrate a 3,250 kilometer expedition to cross Australia’s frontier back in 1860, both mints from Australia have released commemorative coins.

The Royal Australian Mint issued the 2010 Burke and Wills Expedition 150th Anniversary 20c and $1 Australian Coins. In further celebration, The Perth Mint of Australia is commemorating the historic journey with its own 2010 Burke & Wills Anniversary Silver Proof Coin. These coins serve as a reminder of the daring and tragic story behind the expedition. Read the rest of this entry »

The United States Mint on Wednesday began selling Northern Mariana Islands Quarter First Day Coin Covers for $14.95.

The 20,000 limited edition cover includes the final two quarters struck in the 2009 District of Columbia and U.S. Territories Quarters Program. One quarter-dollar is from the US Mint’s Denver facility while the other was produced in Philadelphia. Both coins were minted on the first day of Northern Mariana Islands Quarter production.

An attractive display card housing the quarters includes a 44-cent Flag stamp and a postmark of November 30, 2009, Saipan, CNMI, marking when the commemoratives were first released to the public. Read the rest of this entry »