CoinNews

Commemorative coins honoring the bicentennial writing of the Star-Spangled Banner are one step closer to becoming a reality. The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed its versions of the Star-Spangled Banner Commemorative Coin Act (H.R. 2097) by a roll call vote of 419 to 1, with 13 members absent.

H.R. 2097, like the Senate companion bill S. 653, would authorize the US Mint to strike up to 100,000 $5 gold coins and a maximum of 500,000 silver dollars that are "emblematic of the War of 1812 and particularly the Battle for Baltimore that formed the basis for the Star-Spangled Banner." The coins would be minted in 2012.

Surcharges of $35 for each gold coin sale and $10 for each silver coin sale would be paid to the Maryland War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission for the purpose of supporting bicentennial activities.

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US Mint coin sales increased across the board, except for a few gold coin and roll stragglers that fell behind their previous pace. Proof sets and silver coins shined the brightest. And a couple of notable barriers were smashed to rubble.

Several sales highlights follow:

• 2009 Lincoln Cent Proof Sets hurdled over the 100 thousand mark with less than two weeks on the sales block. Between their launch on Wednesday, Aug. 26, and Sunday, Sept. 6, a total of 101,758 were scooped up by collectors. 35,408 more were sold since the last report.

• UHR $20 Double Eagles couldn't surpass their prior weekly performance which was the highest in months with 4,110 new sales. But they did leap over 90,000 and added another 2,979. Coin dealers may have liked the new 25-coin order limit, but the recent UHR $50 price increase looks to have been a detraction. The gold piece was one of the few coins to show slippage this week.

• As we predicted last week in a pure common sense call, the 18-coin clad 2009 Proof Sets passed 1 million. Numbers jumped an eye-brow raising 27,913 versus the prior 18,448.

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