US Mint Sales: Gold and Eagles Rise; Fractionals Sell Out

If last week’s US Mint coin sales report could be considered lackluster, the most recent figures for this week do nothing but continue that trend. Fortunately, a few entries did show some movement, even if that movement could not be called extraordinary.

Gold coins appear to have led the pack with decent demand. Most likely this is due to the $50 price reduction on gold issues that stemmed from the lower gold prices.

Sales of the American Buffalo Proofs jumped 524 units over last week to 922, bringing the total number sold to 41,553. Also possibly playing into the increased sales is the fact that the bullion versions of the Buffalos reached a sold-out state from the Mint on December 4th of this year, making the proofs the only Buffalos still available.

Showing an even greater increase in sales were the 2009 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle coins. They ran to 1,887 sold versus only 587 the week before. This brings their grand total for the year to 110,681. These 24-karat coins were first offered on January 22nd and will only be struck this year. The Mint will continue taking orders on the UHR’s until 3 PM (Eastern) on December 31, 2009, making them available for just one more week.

A few other standouts from the weekly sales report:

• Demand for proof and uncirculated sets declined almost across the board. Often used as perennial gift-giving favorites, obviously those who were planning such a present have already made their purchases leaving the sets to falter for the second week in a row.

• The 2009 Lincoln Presidency Two-Roll Sets saw a nice increase gaining more than 2,100 over the previous week. This week’s number (5,483) is still nowhere near what it had been in the past. In fact, just three weeks ago it had sold nearly double the amount at 10,928. These two-roll sets contain 50 coins from the Denver Mint and 50 coins from the Philadelphia Mint, each rolled in special Mint wrapping.

• 2009 Lincoln Cent Proof Sets have been pulled from US Mint shelves and are now listed as "sold out." The latest number stands at 201,107, which is unchanged from the prior week.

• Interest in bullion coins continues to be high. The fractional Gold Eagles have sold out, and the one-ounce size is being allocated (as is the Silver Eagle). Final numbers are directly below. You may recall the One ounce American Buffalo Bullion coins were pulled from availability on December 4th and will not return until the 2010 issues come out. 2009 Silver Eagles jumped up another 616,000 during the last week. They have topped 28 million for the year.

With the holidays here, it is doubtful sales trends will change dramatically in the short-term, but some new 2010 issues are just around the corner ready to excite collectors again.

Other major US Mint coin sales follow:

US Mint Collector Coin Sales

(Data compare previous to current Mint sales reports)

*Sold out or no longer available.

Click here for a full listing of the US Mint sales report.

Notable summaries of sales articles this week from CoinNews and sister sites follow:

• First Spouse Gold Coin Sales Rise Slightly – FirstSpouseCoins.us
  First Spouse Gold Coin sales were slightly better this round than last, according to the newest US Mint Sales figures. The total sold was 506, compared to last week’s 479. One factor to help sales was the $25 price cut on December 16 for each coin …

• Silver Eagles Top 28M, Sets Mostly Lower – SilverCoinsToday.com
  New United States Mint stats reveal that sales were lower for three of their four available silver coin products. The 2009 US Mint Silver Proof Set was the biggest unit gainer of the collectible sets with weekly sales of 10,041. That was down from 12,136 …

• 2010 Eagle Bullion Coins on Sale Jan. 19 – CoinNews.net
  2010 American Eagle Gold and Silver One Ounce Bullion Coins will go on sale beginning January 19, 2010, the United States Mint told its authorized purchasers on Tuesday. In what can be described as roller-coaster of availability due to enormous demand for 2009 bullion Eagles, this news comes as an affirmation …

The collector coin sales figures above have an "as of date" of Dec. 20. For an always updated reference of the latest articles, visit US Mint Sales.