In ironic fashion, a single penny will push US Mint collector gold coin prices higher.

The UHR Gold Double Eagle will increase by $50 to $1,489, the newly released 2009 Gold Buffalo Proof Coins will jump $50 to $1,410 and First Spouse Gold Coins will rise $25 to $729 for the proofs and to $716 for the uncirculated options.

The US Mint uses a London Fix weekly gold average to determine whether to keep gold coin prices the same, or adjust them up or down. An upward adjustment seemed unlikely as the several day average as of Tuesday was well below the $1100 threshold that would trigger them. However, the Wednesday AM London Fix came in higher by over a dozen dollars to $1114.75 an ounce, which was exactly enough to tip the balance. Read the rest of this entry »

Demand for newly issued 2009 Gold Buffalo Bullion Coins is proving to be exceptionally hot. From their release on Thursday through to Monday, 71,500 of the one-ounce, 24 karat gold coins have been sold by the US Mint. That represents nearly 42 percent of the total sold in all of 2008.

In contrast, the one-ounce American Gold Eagles Bullion Coins have a sales tally of 63,500 for the first 19 days in October. It’s not that this figure is shabby, it’s not. They are just not on par with the couple of day sales numbers of the Buffalos. Read the rest of this entry »

2009 American Buffalo Gold Bullion coins will be produced this year, despite earlier reports to the contrary, a United States Mint public notice reveals.

Coin World broke the news in June, reporting that the US Mint would (at some future time) produce only the collector one-ounce, 24 karat Buffalo gold proof coin in 2009, and not the same-designed $50 bullion coin intended for investors.

However, an updated message appearing in the US Mint press room over the weekend reveals a new direction:

2009 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coin Update — Annual production of the United States American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins is required by law. As a result, the United States Mint is presently developing a production and launch schedule to determine the earliest possible release of these coins through the Authorized Purchaser network.

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For the second time this week, the US Mint on Thursday updated American Buffalo Gold, American Eagle Gold and First Spouse Gold coin prices. The Mint also officially announced its pricing strategy for "precious metals numismatic products," and released pricing tables showing how gold and platinum coins will be adjusted in the future.

A Mint document published Jan. 6 by the Federal Register, which is the official daily source for notices by government agencies, laid the ground rules for its pricing policy. In short, prices for collector bullion coins may potentially change every Thursday. Adjustments will be based primarily on a weekly review of London Fix gold and platinum averages. The London Fix is used as a world price benchmark for immediate silver, gold and platinum delivery.

The first set of pricing updates occurred Monday when the new system went into affect. Coins were marked higher for the most part. Gold has declined over the last several days, which triggered a new round of reduced prices Thursday, as the tables reflect: Read the rest of this entry »

The United States Mint on Monday updated pricing across the board for their remaining 2008-dated American Buffalo Gold and American Eagle Gold coins.

The price changes were expected and in line with a January 7 notice where the Mint announced a new pricing policy that would adjust gold and platinum coin prices based primarily on the London Fix weekly average (covering the previous Thursday through Wednesday a.m. Fix).

The policy was introduced to "mitigate the effect that fluctuating gold and platinum commodity costs" has on coins, the Mint said. The new pricing mechanism is much more open as it contains tables of coin prices based on ranges of London Fix bullion prices. If the London Fix weekly average stays within a $50 range for gold and a $100 range for platinum, the collector coin prices would not be change. A penny beyond those thresholds in either direction kicks in a price adjustment. Read the rest of this entry »