Collectible 2015-W Proof American Platinum Eagles will go on sale Dec. 3 with a surprisingly reduced mintage, the United States Mint revealed earlier today. The U.S. Mint also announced that it would not produce a companion bullion edition "due to a lag in obtaining a sufficient quantity of production platinum blanks."
The struggle in acquiring those blanks has sharply trimmed this year’s proof Platinum Eagle mintage. It fell to 4,000 coins from last year’s announced limit of 15,000 coins.
Increased Demand
Collectors will have extra incentives to get the new proofs given their lower mintage, cheaper price and appealing design — the first in a new two-year series with reverse designs representative of the core values of liberty and freedom. The lack of a bullion option should also boost sales of the collectible.
Last year’s proof Platinum Eagle opened with first week sales of 3,341 coins and ended at a new series low of 4,596 coins. It opened at a price of $1,650 — down $150 from the previous year. The bullion edition logged final sales of 16,900 coins.
This year’s coin is listed for $1,250. By release time, it could drop to $1,200 with the latest declines in platinum prices. It’s actual launch price will be determined on Dec. 2 based on the latest weekly average of LBMA Platinum.
United States Mint Statement on Availability
The following statement about this year’s issue was sent to news media:
"The United States Mint announced today that it would begin sales of the 2015 American Eagle Platinum Proof Coins on December 3, 2015. The mintage level of the 2015 Platinum proof coins is 4,000. In addition, the Mint announced that it will not produce 2015 Platinum Bullion coins this calendar year due to a lag in obtaining a sufficient quantity of production platinum blanks.
The Mint sold 16,900 platinum bullion coins in 2014, the first time the coins had been offered since 2008. As the program moved forward to 2015, the Mint began the process of expanding its supply base for platinum, completing trial strike testing and full production validation with two new suppliers. These steps were completed in late October, and Mint officials decided to use the available blanks for the 2015 Torches of Liberty Proof coin program instead of the platinum bullion program.
The Mint looks forward to resuming platinum bullion production at its West Point facility as additional blanks become available in 2016."
The U.S. Mint’s product page for the 2015-W Proof Platinum Eagle is right here.
We’ll talk more about the coin closer to its Dec. 3 release. We’ll also throw our hat in the ring to try and get one to photograph.
