Demand for the curved 2014 National Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coins remains strong following a tidal wave of orders on opening day, new United States Mint sales figures reveal.
Debuting on Thursday, March 27, the two gold coins went on a waiting list within hours until the U.S. Mint officially declared all 50,000 sold out. Sales as of Sunday have the splits at 32,000 for the proof and 18,000 for the uncirculated.
The fast sellout left some collectors empty-handed and pointing to the Mint’s ordering limit of 50 gold coins as an "unforced error," forgive the pun, believing it was too attractive to dealers. CoinNews.net reader "RonnieBGood" succinctly commented on the subject:
"I don’t think that the 50,000 limit on the Mintage for the Gold coins were a bad idea. It was a great idea. Look at the Reverse Proof Buffalo’s mintage of around 47,000. By limiting the mintage it caused demand and increased the desire for collectors thus a sellout.
This is fine but what we don’t like is the way this was sold. A Maximum of 5 vs. 50 would give the average collector a much better chance of getting a Gold coin and the Mint can still be assured of a sellout. The dealers can still use their tricks to get more than 5 but they have to work a little harder at it (i.e. others ordering for them for a fee).
This one will only further aggravate collectors and drive others away from ordering from the US Mint. It will even drive a few from further collecting US minted coins."
The gold baseball coins could have potentially sold out sooner. Until the day prior to their launch, the U.S. Mint did not have any ordering limits. They were added on March 26.
"These coins commemorate important aspects of American history and culture, so we want to make sure a maximum number of customers have an opportunity to purchase this coin," said U.S. Mint Deputy Director Dick Peterson ahead of the coins’ release. "We had anticipated strong interest in this coin from the outset. However, the interest in the past few days prior to the coin even going on sale has caused us to take this action."
Household ordering limits of 100 coins each are in place for the silver dollars and clad half-dollars.
Silver and Clad Baseball Coins
Next likely to sell out are the silver dollars. The National Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act, Public Law 112-152, authorized a maximum of 400,000. As is typical with silver coins, collectors prefer the proofs over the uncirculated by about a 68/32 split. The latest sales stand at 155,523 for the proof silver dollar and 73,002 for the uncirculated silver dollar for a total of 228,525, or 57.1% of the mintage.
The last commemorative silver coins from the U.S. Mint to sell out were the 2010 Boy Scouts of American Centennial Silver Dollars. It took a bit over one month for the authorized 350,000 to move.
There is less interest in the 50-cent clad versions when compared against the silver coins, at least for now. Of the permitted 750,000, a total of 111,380, or 14.9%, have sold with 67,236 in proof half-dollars and 44,144 in uncirculated half-dollars.
Here is a table offering the latest available coin sales as of Sunday, March 30:
Sales of 2014 National Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coins
| Prices | Latest Sales | Sales Total | Mintages | Remaining Coins | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proof $5 Gold Baseball Coins | Sold Out | 32,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 | 0 |
| Uncirculated $5 Gold Baseball Coins | 18,000 | ||||
| Proof Silver Dollar Baseball Coins | $51.95 | 155,523 | 228,525 | 400,000 | 171,475 |
| Uncirculated Silver Dollar Baseball Coins | $47.95 | 73,002 | |||
| Proof Clad Half Dollar Baseball Coins | $19.95 | 67,236 | 111,380 | 750,000 | 638,620 |
| Uncirculated Clad Half Dollar Baseball Coins | $18.95 | 44,144 |
Prepare to wait for the next batch of sales figures because they may not be released for another week.
Baseball Coin Sales Top $34.9 Million
Across all six baseball coins, 389,905 have sold for a sales total in dollars of $34,905,252.75.
Surcharges Top $4.5 Million
Public Law 112-152 mandated that the U.S. Mint include surcharge amounts of $35 per $5 gold coin, $10 for each silver dollar and $5 per 50-cent piece to be paid to the National Baseball Hall of Fame to help fund its operations. Prices above include those surcharges and total $4,592,150.00 based on sales through Sunday.
Ordering Baseball Coins
To place orders for the National Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coins, visit the U.S. Mint website, right here, or call 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).
Prices for the curved baseball coins are at introductory levels until April 28, 2014 at 5 p.m. ET. After that time, prices for the silver dollars increase by $5 and prices for the half-dollars rise by $4.
