The United States Mint officially confirmed today that the one-ounce 2009 American Platinum Eagle Proof Coin will be available for purchase at noon Eastern Time (ET) December 3, 2009 — the same date it had tentatively provided back in October. As part of the announcement, the US Mint released an image of the new theme for the reverse, which will change annually on platinum coins until 2014.

Platinum Eagles have not been available from the Mint all year and, as it announced in October, no bullion versions will be struck until at least 2010. This makes the one-ounce proof eagle the only coin available to collectors and investors who desire a 2009-dated platinum American coin. (The Mint discontinued all Platinum Uncirculated Eagles and the fractional Platinum Eagle Proofs in 2008.)

The reverse of this year’s coin will feature the first design of a six year series commemorating the core concepts of American Democracy by showcasing six principles of the Preamble of the United States Constitution. Read the rest of this entry »

Bullion 2009 American Silver Eagle coin sales have been on fire this year. Eight of ten months were "best ever" records. 2009 has already been crowned the top-selling year of all-time, and that was back in early October.

For a series which began in 1986, nothing underscores the demand for the silver eagles better. Their values in the upper grades are nothing to laugh about either.

In our latest installment of analyzing recently sold coins on eBay, we took a 40-day snapshot (Sept. 28 to Nov. 6) of more than 5,500 completed auctions of 2009-dated American Silver Eagles.

What we found, and as coin collectors would naturally expect, is that there are significant rewards in selling graded MS70s. But how values have changed over the 40 day period is illuminating. Especially in regards to the harder to get PCGS "First Strike" designated eagles. Read the rest of this entry »

October was explosive for US bullion coins. Unprecedented demand for gold and silver coins elevated the month with US Mint recorded sales levels that are either at or near the top of the all-time high charts.

Bullion American Gold Buffalo and American Silver Eagle coins enjoyed their best October ever.

For the Silver Eagles, more than double the amount were sold last month at 2,939,000, than in any previous October. The month also stands out as the time when 2009 became the best selling year ever for eagles — dating all the way back to their launch in 1986. The latest numbers pad the tally further with 23,406,500 delivered in the first 10 months of this year. Read the rest of this entry »

In what is now a touch of torment, several weeks back the United States Mint published 2009 American Eagle Silver Proof Coin images within their Press Image Library.

The torment comes from the fact that US Mint on October 6, 2009, announced that these coins were canceled for the year, which makes the images the closest collectors will ever come to experiencing what they would have been like.

In reality, their designs have remained unchanged since they were launched in 1986, so there is little left to the imagination as to how they would have looked. And, further, these images are less of a reminder of what could have been as compared to what will be an always present hole in 23 year old collector books. Read the rest of this entry »

No proof one ounce gold or silver American Eagle coins will be struck this year by the US Mint, Bob Van Ryzin relays during his "What’s In the News" segment on this week’s Coin Chat Radio.

He also informs us of several other American Eagle products that will not be available. But the Mint is planning on producing gold Buffalo coins as well as the proof one ounce American Eagle platinum coins this year.

The recent record high on gold prices is the next topic of conversation when Numismatic News Editor Dave Harper talks with Pat Heller from Liberty Coin Service. Heller’s explanation of the spike includes two reasons that can best be described as rumors at this point: Read the rest of this entry »

The United States Mint announced today that it will offer for sale 2009 one-ounce American Buffalo Proof Gold Coins and one-ounce American Eagle Platinum Proof Coins. The release dates for these products are tentatively October 29 and December 3, 2009, respectively.

In addition, the agency will release the one-ounce 2009 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coin on October 15 and the fractional 2009 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins-in the one-half ounce, one-quarter ounce, and one-tenth ounce weights-on December 3.

The United States Mint will not offer the following products in 2009:

• the one-ounce American Eagle Silver Proof Coin;

• the one-ounce American Eagle Silver Uncirculated Coin;

• the American Eagle Gold Proof Coins (all weights, as well as the four-coin set);

• the one-ounce American Eagle Gold Uncirculated Coin;

• the United States Mint Annual Uncirculated Dollar Coin Set™, which also includes a one-ounce American Eagle Silver Uncirculated Coin; and

• the American Eagle Platinum Bullion Coins (all weights)

Read the rest of this entry »

In a switch from recent months, bullion American Gold Eagles are off to the races in September while their counterpart Silver Eagles appear winded.

Both were slow out of the blocks, as the US Mint posted the first September figures only on the 9th. (The Labor Day holiday may have contributed to a delay.) But then Gold Eagles blasted off.

With just half of the month gone and 15 days still left on the books, an already 62,500 have been sold to the US Mint’s authorized dealers. In contrast, 86,000 were sold in the entire month of July. 82,000 in all of August. Of course in those months gold didn’t head up and leap over the $1,000 an ounce mark like it has this month. Read the rest of this entry »

The United States Mint sold 2.13 million Silver Eagles and 82,000 Gold Eagles during the month of August. Pretty impressive. Still, if these numbers seem lower than those from July or June, that’s because they are.

From that fact alone, it would be easy to conclude that gold and silver eagle coin demand is on the retreat. But that wouldn’t exactly be accurate.

An analysis of the historical record shows that August often tends to be a weaker month for bullion American Eagles. Any decline, should therefore be almost expected and certainly not a surprise.

What every investor or collector of the series should be studying is not just the 2009 monthly trends, but the historical performance of the coins during a given month. That offers a clearer and more complete performance picture. 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.

Read the rest of this entry »

Demand is lower for bullion coins? Poppycock. US Mint sales figures released Wednesday say otherwise.

Marking the third best month of a record setting pace year, demand in June for American Eagle Gold and Silver Bullion Coins jumped aggressively over May.

Silver eagle sales soared in June, rising 340,500 higher than May figures. 2,245,000 silver bullion eagles were sold. The total is now 13,824,500 for an annualized rate that is easily on track to smash last year’s 20,583,000 record. Read the rest of this entry »