Monthly Archives: August 2009

The US Mint will launch the third design of the 2009 Lincoln Cents on August 13, 2009 during a ceremony held on the Old State Capitol grounds in Springfield, Illinois at 10 AM (Central Time).

The 2009 Professional Life Cent will be unveiled by United States Mint Directory Ed Moy, who will be joined by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill), Illinois state officials and Mayor Tim Davlin.

The third design features in image of Abraham Lincoln posing in front of the old state capitol. It was designed by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program Master Designer Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Don Everhart.

Lincoln actually served in the Illinois General Assembly and practiced law right across the street from the capitol. As such, this coin is dubbed 'Professional Life in Illinois.'

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Julia Tyler First Spouse Gold Coins launched today at noon. The coins mark the eleventh in a series honoring First Ladies of the United States.

Each coin is struck from 1/2 ounce of 24-karat gold from the United States Mint at West Point. Proof and uncirculated versions are available, with a maximum mintage of 40,000 across both options. The exact ratio of proof to uncirculated are determined by customer demand.

Julia was the second wife of President John Tyler. His first wife, Letitia, had passed away while he was in office. (The US Mint released Letitia Tyler Gold Coins in July.) Julia was 30 years younger than the President, but a romance started to blossom a few months after Letitia's passing.

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UHR $20 gold coins roared, Silver Eagles soared, American Samoa quarters performed and US Mint Proof Sets marched forward.

The latest US Mint sales figures also include a fair share of average and sub-par numbers, but the highlights are more interesting:

• Ultra High Relief $20 Gold coins awakened from a several month slumber. Lifting the one-coin order limit to ten helped prop the gold pieces up by 3,799 to reach 75,048. The weekly number jumped fivefold.

• Bullion Silver Eagles are coins to watch. They recorded the best July since the series launched in 1986. More than 2.8 million were sold. 200,000 are already gone in a young month of August.

• American Samoa quarters also made headlines. New Mint production figures show them to be the least minted quarter in generations. Their inaugural week quarter-dollar sales were also impressive. Buyers scooped up more than 17,000 two-roll sets.

• 2009 Proof Sets are cooling, but their weekly increases are still worthy of notice. Collectors purchased more than 915,000 proof sets since June 1 and nearly 386,000 silver sets since July 17.

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