Yearly Archives: 2010
2010 Lincoln Shield Cent Release in Springfield, Illinois
The US Mint on Thursday announced the ceremonial release date for the newly redesigned 2010 Lincoln Shield Cent.
The official launch will occur on Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 9:30 AM Central Time at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois.
The city is a popular destination for those wishing to follow in the footsteps of Lincoln, as it is there where he spent most of his adult life prior to becoming the 16th President of the United States.
Along with a plethora of other Lincoln related sites, to include the museum and the historic site where he lived, Springfield is home to Lincoln's Tomb.
The new Lincoln "Preservation of the Union" penny is emblematic of President Lincoln's "preservation of the United States of America as a single and united country." The reverse features a union shield with a scroll draped across it bearing the inscription E PLURIBUS UNUM. The 13 vertical stripes of the shield represent the states joined in one compact union to support the Federal government, represented by the horizontal bar above.
Gold, Silver, Metal Prices: Commentary – 2/5/2010
Gold Plunges to $1,063/oz, Silver Crumbles to $15.35/oz
US Mint Sales: 2010 Coins Debut, Silver Eagle 500K Pop
Coin Composition Changes Proposed Yet Again, but Now in Obama’s Budget
Buried deep in the proposed Fiscal Year 2011 Budget released by President Barack Obama is one page that could have far reaching consequences into American circulating coinage, and reads as if it came straight from US Mint Director Ed Moy's Congressional testimony nearly two years ago.
Titled "Other Savings: Coinage Material - Department of the Treasury," the proposed section seeks to grant the Department of the Treasury authority to change the composition and weights of the most common circulating coins: the penny (cent), the nickel, the dime, the quarter and the half dollar.
Stating that the primary cost driver for the United States Mint is something that it has no control over, namely the price of metal, the Budget goes on to cite the fluctuating prices of the two main metals used in circulating coin composition, copper and zinc. Both have seen 100% plus increases over the last several months, which is tame compared to the swings nickel has experienced in the last few years of over 500%.
According to the 2009 Annual Report recently released by the United States Mint, the total cost of producing a cent was actually 1.62 cents, for a net loss of .62 cents on each one. The nickel, only worth five cents, actually took 6.03 cents to strike during the last fiscal year, losing the Mint 1.03 cents a piece. With these figures firmly in mind, it is easy to understand why some parties are concerned with the costs associated in making the coins.
2010 Millard Fillmore Presidential Dollar Launches Feb. 18
The United States Mint will send the Millard Fillmore Presidential $1 Coin into circulation on Feb. 18, 2010. On the same day the US Mint will ceremoniously unveil the new dollar at the Moravia Central School in Moravia, N.Y. at 10 AM ET.
Millard Fillmore Presidential $1 Dollar Image - Click to Enlarge
Fillmore was born only five miles east of Moravia. He served as the 13th President of the United States from 1850-1853 after assuming the office when President Zachary Taylor passed away. These were tremulous times for the country which was already on the verge of a civil war, postponed by the Compromise of 1850. Fillmore is credited with the 1854 Treaty of Kanagawa effectively ending the isolationism of Japan.
MSNS Spring 2010 Convention Features Counterfeit Detection Seminar
Gold Stumbles 0.5% to $1,112/oz, Silver Falls 2.5%
Gold, Silver, Metal Prices: Commentary – 2/3/2010
US Mint 2010 Coin Production Crawls in January
Coin production at the United States Mint limped into January with only 218,410,000 coins struck. The pace was quicker than in December, but that is a non comparison since no coins were minted during the final month of last year.
| Denver | Philadelphia | Total | |
| 2010 Lincoln Cents | 50,000,000 | 65,230,000 | 115,230,000 |
| 2010 Jefferson Nickels | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 Roosevelt Dimes | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 Quarters | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 Kennedy Half Dollars | 1,700,000 | 1,800,000 | 3,500,000 |
| 2010 Native American $1 | 14,000,000 | 11,200,000 | 25,200,000 |
| 2010 Presidential $1s | 36,960,000 | 37,520,000 | 74,480,000 |
| Total | 102,660,000 | 115,750,000 | 218,410,000 |
Measuring apples to apples to a better degree, production in January 2010 was less than half that of January 2009. And the first month of last year was a snail's pace from prior months, registering a production total of 513,420,000 that was predictive of even slower months ahead. The new figures appear to be waving a red flag, signaling that the tepid economy is likely to seriously impact coinage mintages for a second straight year.