Gov. Benigno R. Fitial revealed the selected Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) quarter design and has forwarded the decision to the United States Mint.

Unlike the quarter selection process for the District of Columbia and other U.S. Territories which involved public voting, the CNMI design was chosen by a three-member commission set up by the governor — attorney Teresa Kim, the governor’s special assistant for administration Esther Fleming, and Catherine Perry Anderson.

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The United States Mint pulled the trigger this afternoon in announcing a sale date of July 15 for fractional American Buffalo gold coins, and then just as quickly snuffed the message.

Currently, the U.S. Mint offers only proof one ounce American Buffalo gold coins. The Mint sent out a message through its press release RSS feed indicating American Buffalo gold coins in proof and uncirculated versions would be sold July 15 at noon (ET) in the following sizes:

• one ounce,
• one-half ounce,
• one-quarter ounce.
• one-tenth ounce, and
• a four-coin set which contains one coin in each size.   

Essentially, the Buffalo gold coins will be sold similar to American Eagle Gold coins.

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The United States Mint 2008 Arizona Official First Day Cover went on sale today, June 30.

The 35,000 limited edition covers are the 48th in the series and include two shiny Arizona state quarters featuring an image of the Grand Canyon with a Saguaro cactus in the foreground. 

The quarter-dollars were collected from the first day of their production — May 8, 2008. One quarter is from the Mint’s Denver facility while the other is minted from Philadelphia.

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The official announcement is in… V.I. Beauty wins the commemorative quarter design contest. It’s been selected by residents and Governor. John P. deJongh, Jr. to represent the Virgin Islands. Public voting for three designs ended Friday, June 13. “V.I. Beauty” received 6,882 votes. The “First in Freedom” and “Three Queens” designs garnered 4,553 and 1,887 votes respectively.

The quarter designs and original narrative descriptions for each, as provided to the United States Mint to create artist renderings/drawings, were provided to Virgin Islands residents by Governor deJongh for public voting on May 29. The “V.I. Beauty” quarter design won handily with 52 percent of the vote.

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Collectors will first see the 2009 Ultra-High-Relief Saint-Gaudens $20 gold coin July 30 at ANA’s World’s Fair of Money® in Baltimore.

The United States Mint announced today that Mint Director Ed Moy will reveal the coin, which is a modern version of the 1907 Augustus Saint-Gaudens $20 Double Eagle — often described as the most beautiful gold piece ever made.

The coin will contain one once of 24-karat gold, have a diameter of 27 millimeters, and will be 50 percent thicker than other U.S. one-ounce coins.

The mintage of the new coin will be unlimited for one year and sold only in 2009, unless inventory remains for 2010. Should proposed coin legislation entitled Original Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle Ultra-High Relief Palladium Bullion Coin Act become law, palladium versions of the coins will continue past 2010.

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Today, many citizens and conservation organizations across the country are celebrating both past and future efforts to restore and recover the American bald eagle, after the U.S. Senate declared June 20th "American Eagle Day" by unanimous consent.

The American Eagle Day resolution (S. Res. 583) was introduced in the U.S. Senate on June 5, 2008 by Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Robert Byrd (D-WV). The national effort was spear-headed by the non-profit American Eagle Foundation (AEF) of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, headquartered at Dollywood.

In addition to establishing American Eagle Day, the resolution celebrates the recovery and restoration of the bald eagle, the national symbol of the United States, as well as the American traditions and ideals for which it stands.

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District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty announced Thursday the winning Washington, D.C. quarter design featuring historical jazz legend, Duke Ellington. The Mayor officially communicated the selection to United States Mint Director Edmund Moy.

On May 23, D.C. residents were given three quarter design concepts and asked to vote for their favorite. Public voting ended Wednesday, June 18. Over the four week voting period, 6,089 District residents cast online, mail or telephone votes.

The voting was close across each, but the winning quarter design of Ellington won by 3 percentage points.

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Public voting ended Saturday for Guam’s commemorative quarter set for release in 2009. Just as Guam residents were asked to help create the quarter designs, they were asked once again by Governor Felix P. Camacho to vote for their favorite.

Two quarter-dollar artist renderings prepared by the United States Mint and based on Guam narratives battled each other since May 20, 2008. Nearly 12,000 votes were cast online. The winning design, GU-01, won by a margin of nearly 700 votes.

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The United States Mint announced the 2008 U.S. Proof Set release starting June 24 for $26.95. These 14-coin sets are popular with many coin collectors, as exemplified by the same priced 2007 sets experiencing over 1.7 million units sales to date.

The 14-coin sets are less expensive and offer more coins compared to purchasing both the already available Mint products:

• 2008 United States Mint 50 State Quarters Proof Set™ for $13.95, and
• 2008 United States Mint Presidential $1 Coin Proof Set™ for $14.95

These two sets are included in the 14-coin proof set for $1.95 less. Plus, the 14-coin set includes the penny, nickel, dime, half-dollar and Sacagawea dollar.

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The United States Mint announced a new "Direct Ship" program today that will place $1 Presidential Coins directly into the hands of retailers, financial institutions, or anyone interested in buying dollar coins. Even better, orders may be placed at face value — no shipping costs — and in smaller quantities.

Beyond the natural hurdles $1 coins have with paper money, a barrier to the success of the $1 Presidential Coin program is actually finding the coins in circulation, or in banks for that matter.

Of course, an argument can be made that demand dictates supply and the demand simply hasn’t been there for the coins. Yet, there is absolutely no question that at least some demand has hit road-blocks due to coin channels.

The U.S. Mint reported a production of some 941 million $1 coins in 2007 and 240 million (so far) in 2008. That’s over a billion coins, and yet, even many dedicated coin collectors have trouble tracking down the coins for their collection.

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