The US Mint on Friday launched the 18-coin 2009 Silver Proof Set for $52.95. The annual set is a favorite with collectors, highlighted by the no longer available 2008 Silver Proof Set with sales of 774,874 as of Sunday.

The 2009 set is actually $8 more than last year’s offering, but it also includes an additional silver quarter and four bicentennial 2009 Lincoln cents specially struck in 95% copper, 3% zinc and 2% tin — the same alloy used in the original 1909 penny.

Similar to the fast-selling 2009 clad proof set that was issued by the Mint in June, the silver set contains collector proof versions of circulating 2009 coinage. All coins bear the "S" mint mark denoting they were minted at the United States Mint in San Francisco. Additionally, the dime, half-dollar, and six quarters are struck in lustrous 90 percent silver. The set has an intrinsic silver value of $19.99 at Friday’s silver spot price of $13.16 an ounce. Read the rest of this entry »

With the US Mint announcing the upcoming 2009 US Mint Silver Proof Set launch, coin collectors are reminded of the still available — but for a short time only — 2008 Silver Proof Set.

For marketing focus and to avoid confusion, the US Mint generally ends the sale of prior year proof sets immediately before new year replacements are issued.

The 2009 silver set goes on sale Friday at noon ET so expect the Mint to pull the 2008 set from its online store before then — likely Friday morning.

Demand has been strong for the 14-coin proof offering, although easing of late to around 2,000-3,000 sold per week. In total, collectors have purchased 774,874 sets between its release on Aug. 26, 2008 through to Sunday, July 12. Read the rest of this entry »

The United States Mint pulled out all the stops in the final week of August with the launch of several new coin products and the resumption of American Eagle gold coin sales to authorized dealers. The active week concludes with the Mint’s ceremonial release of the newest state quarter at the Alaska State Fair on Friday.

The scope of the Mint’s releases are best seen through a summarization of published articles that were released toward the end of August.

2008 U.S. Mint Silver Proof Sets Arrive August 26

The 2008 United States Silver Proof Set™ will be offered by the U.S. Mint Tuesday, August 26 at noon (ET). The 14 coin proof set carries the same $44.95 price tag as the 2007 sets, and no order limits are in place.

Each coin in the set bears the “S” mint mark, denoting they were manufactured at the United States Mint at San Francisco.

This year’s set includes the final five commemorative quarters to be issued in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters® Program…

Read full article…

Alaska State Quarters in Bags and Rolls

The newest state quarters honor Alaska with bags and rolls of the coins available Monday from the United States Mint.

Collectors can order 100- and 1,000-coin quarter bags or two-roll sets with 40 coins each from the U.S. Mint facility at Denver and Philadelphia.

The Alaska state quarter is the 49th, and second to last coin released in the United States Mint 50 State Quarters® Program. The popular program began in 1999…

Read full article…

Andrew Jackson Individual Proof $1 Coins

The Andrew Jackson Individual Proof $1 Coin will be available through the United States Mint Thursday, August 28, at 12 noon (ET).

Andrew Jackson was was the seventh President of the United States and the special individual proof coins honoring his presidency are priced at $5.95 each.

There is a $4.95 standard shipping and handling charge, which makes the total cost…

Read full article…

US Mint Resumes Limited American Eagle Gold Coin Sales

Overwhelming demand forced the United States Mint to suspend one-ounce American Eagle gold coin sales to their network of Authorized Purchasers on August 17.

The suspension of the investment gold coins has been lifted — at least on a limited basis, according to a U.S. Mint memo to its authorized dealers on August 22.

Read full article…

Alaska State Quarter to Roll Out at State Fair, Public Coin Forum

The ceremonial launch of the commemorative Alaska state quarter will occur at the Alaska State Fair, the United States Mint announced Thursday.

The Alaska state quarter is the 49th coin in the popular United States Mint 50 State Quarters® Program.

The reverse or tails side of the coin features a grizzly bear emerging from the water clutching a salmon in its jaws.  The North Star is depicted above the inscription “The Great Land.” 

Read full article..

Jackson Liberty First Spouse Gold Coins Arrive Aug. 28

Jackson Liberty First Spouse gold coins will be available from the United States Mint on Thursday, August 28.

The 1/2-ounce proof and uncirculated versions are priced at $619.95 and $599.95, respectively. Both versions have a face value of $10, are composed of 24-karat gold, and have a total mintage of 40,000.

The current prices are the same as the Louisa Adams and Elizabeth Monroe spouse gold coins, even though gold has come down in price recently.

Read full article…

Read the rest of this entry »

The 2008 United States Silver Proof Set™ will be offered by the U.S. Mint Tuesday, August 26 at noon (ET). The 14 coin proof set carries the same $44.95 price tag as the 2007 sets, and no order limits are in place.

Each coin in the set bears the “S” mint mark, denoting they were manufactured at the United States Mint at San Francisco.

This year’s set includes the final five commemorative quarters to be issued in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters® Program:

• 2008-S Silver Oklahoma Quarter
• 2008-S Silver New Mexico Quarter
• 2008-S Silver Arizona Quarter
• 2008-S Silver Alaska Quarter
• 2008-S Silver Hawaii Quarter

In addition, the proof set contains the following five $1 dollar coins:

Read the rest of this entry »

2008 State Quarter Proof Sets are now for sale by the United States Mint. The set cointains five proof quarters with their commemorative designs honoring:

• Oklahoma
• New Mexico
• Arizona
• Alaska
• Hawaii

These states represent the last to be honored in the 50 State Quarters® Program - a ten year program that started back in 1999 with the release of a new state quarter design every 10 weeks.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today the U.S. Mint released their latest offer, the 2007 United States Mint Silver Proof Set™. The brother to this set, the clad (non silver) proof set, was officially released just slightly over month ago.

As of last week, the mint reported slightly over 650,000 units sold of those so far. It’ll be interesting to see how the silver series goes. It’s not much of a barometer but the 2006 clad proof set sold slightly over 2 million sets while the 2006 silver proof set sold, as of last week, a little over 1 million. Or, the 2006 clad had about a 2 to 1 advantage of the 2006 silver sets. That’s interesting, but maybe that’s as far as it goes…

But wait… What is a proof set? An "official definition" from the mint’s sales site:

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the beginning of a new month and now time to recap what the United States Mint released last month. July wasn’t as busy as June in terms of separate releases. Yet, to spark that memory and make sure I didn’t miss anything, I like to look back and sum everything up even on slower months. Here’s that look-back:

Read the rest of this entry »