Today, Aug. 11, the United States Mint published product details for the 2016 American Liberty Silver Medals, including images of the pair and their limits.
Launching Tuesday, Aug. 23, the two 1-ounce, .999 fine silver medal versions of last year’s 2015 $100 American Liberty High Relief Gold Coin are limited to 12,500 each and further restricted to 4 medals per household — 2 for the medal made in West Point and 2 for the one produced in San Francisco.
The limits seem surprisingly low, and may suggest a frustrating situation for some collectors who could miss out on buying them. The 2015 $100 Liberty gold piece launched at a price of $1,189 and the U.S. Mint stopped reporting its sales at 49,325 coins. Medals are much less popular than coins, but you don’t see them in proof quality like these and, also, many collectors who bought the gold piece will want the silver medals as companions. Plus, they’re much more affordable at $34.95. There are those who didn’t spend on the gold coin but have voiced interest in getting the cheaper medals.
With all this being said, the U.S. Mint has the freedom to strike more of them. Congress doesn’t restrict the agency in this regard as it does for silver coins.
Aug. 23 will still be a very interesting day. The launches will likely test the Mint’s website to see how well can handle a lot of traffic in just a few minutes.
Sales of the two medals will begin on the 23rd at noon ET. The U.S. Mint’s online product pages for the pair are here and here.
